Vietnamese civil servants likely not allowed to receive high-value gifts

Each Vietnamese civil servant will be permitted to receive gifts worth below 500,000 Vietnamese dong (VND) (31.4 U.S. dollars), local newspaper Saigon Liberation reported Friday.

Under a draft regulation to be submitted by the Finance Ministry to the government in October, public servants and their close relatives (parents, spouses, brothers, sisters, and children) will be allowed to receive the gifts no more than twice a year. The gift giving and taking must take place openly at the public servants'office.

Also under the draft regulation, state organizations and state cadres are not allowed to use state monies and assets to give presents to others, who are not eligible for receiving them.

The future regulation is considered Vietnam's new move in the fight against corruption, the newspaper said.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Tuesday instructed all agencies concerned to carefully investigate, take radical steps, and report to the government by Aug. 30 at the latest.

Source: Xinhua