An amnesty for corrupt officials to report their misdeeds and pay restitution without prosecution has been suggested at Vietnam’s National Assembly. The representative from Dong Thap asserted that corruption was so widespread that by investigating almost anyone it would be possible to find some form of corruption.

This proposal comes amidst the ‘blazing furnace’ corruption crackdown, which has been blamed for a slowdown in project approvals. Officials, fearful of becoming subjects of corruption investigations, have often opted to avoid approving projects, leading to bottlenecks in a number of projects.

Of note, in May Reuters reported that the cancellation of US$2.5 billion in funding pledged by the World Bank was linked to the corruption crackdown and the aforementioned funding delays. These delays have also been widely reported in the local press, hence the search for a way to end the campaign.

It’s also worth noting that To Lam, the former Minister of Public Security that was leading the charge has now resigned his position to take on the role of President of Vietnam. With this in mind, it is likely the corruption campaign will change direction though in which direction it will head is an opened ended question.

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