Directive No. 171-TTg on Combating Corruption, Waste, and Losses in Basic Construction

DIRECTIVE OF THE PRIME MINISTER

On preventing corruption, waste, and loss in construction.

Construction is a material production sector that uses a large amount of capital, materials, and labor, involving many industries, levels, and economic sectors. Therefore, preventing waste, loss, and corruption in construction is of utmost importance in the current situation.

The main causes of asset loss and waste in construction are primarily due to the loose management mechanisms for construction investment funds; the construction procedures are not strictly followed (many investment projects are approved for inclusion in the construction investment plan despite being inadequately prepared; many sectors and localities have relaxed the review and approval process for design and total budget estimates, affecting project quality); the issuance and management of construction unit prices and norms still have many loopholes that can be exploited; illegal land sales for construction in many places have not been strongly condemned and severely punished by law; some central and local officials have degenerated and declined in moral character, causing much inconvenience for investors when implementing prescribed procedures in various management stages; many design and construction enterprises compete unfairly, colluding with investors to buy and sell contracts; many construction units (Party B) seek to secure employment by secretly agreeing on a percentage of "negative fees" or bribes to Party A to obtain contract signing.

To prevent and curb the widespread and serious waste, loss, and corruption in construction, the Prime Minister requests the heads of ministries and levels to urgently implement the following urgent measures:

I- Strengthen inspection and auditing of compliance with construction procedures according to the Construction Management Regulation issued on November 7, 1990 (Decree No. 385-HĐBT).

1- Assign the responsibility to the Minister of Planning and Investment to inspect construction procedures for projects proposed by sectors and localities to be included in the 1993 construction investment plan. Only projects with economic and technical justifications (or feasibility studies) or economic and technical reports rigorously reviewed by competent authorities and accompanied by detailed designs and total budgets will be officially included in the 1993 plan (except for special cases approved by the Prime Minister).

2- Assign the responsibility to the Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities to lead inspections of land allocation, construction permits, and registration of design and construction practices within their territories. The Chairmen of provincial and centrally-administered city People's Committees must immediately address cases of improper allocations made by themselves or subordinates. Cases of embezzlement, collusion, and illegal land sales must be prosecuted and tried by courts. Matters exceeding the authority to decide on handling by provinces and centrally-administered cities should be reported to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

3- Strictly prohibit the transfer of construction contracts through multiple intermediary organizations without sufficient capacity or for commission percentages that affect quality and increase unreasonable costs. Assign the Ministry of Construction (for central projects) and municipal construction departments (for local projects) to inspect contract transfers and bidding for ongoing and upcoming 1993 projects. If irregularities or signs of negative practices are found, they have the right to request the supervising agency to suspend the execution of signed construction contracts and transfer the files to the inspection agency for further investigation.

4- Projects using state budget and national credit funds that have been completed and put into operation for over six months but have yet to complete final accounts need to be inspected by the relevant ministry and the Ministry of Finance, who should propose appropriate measures for resolution. Inspection results for each project must be promptly reported to the Minister of Finance.

5- The State Inspector General is responsible for leading investigations into major corruption cases in construction as reported in the media. Violations of the law must be severely punished and promptly publicized through mass media.

II- Improve the construction management system and reorganize the construction workforce.

1- Improve the construction management system.

- Heads of ministries and levels must pay particular attention to improving the state management system for construction under their jurisdiction. The organizational form (Department, Board, Office...) and staffing levels depend on the scale of investment and specific characteristics of each industry and locality, but qualified personnel with expertise in economics and construction technology and good moral character must be assigned to provide advisory support to leadership.

- It is necessary to decisively reduce staffing and reorganize existing construction project management boards at both the central and local levels according to the following principles:

+ Ministries should establish regional construction project management boards within the scope of one province or across provinces based on their investment activities. Only significant projects should have separate management boards.

+ At the local level, depending on the specific conditions of each locality, regional construction project management boards or specialized construction project management boards (transportation, water resources, civil and industrial) should be organized.

The Ministry of Construction is responsible for issuing circulars guiding the organization and operations of construction project management boards in accordance with these principles.

2- Reorganize the construction workforce.

Ministries and localities must urgently reorganize state-owned enterprises according to Decree No. 388-HĐBT of the Council of Ministers (now the Government).

The Ministry of Construction is responsible for examining the issuance of practice licenses, determining the scale and scope of operations of enterprises in accordance with their technical capacity, equipment, and capital in the fields of surveying, design, and construction installation. In 1993, the Ministry of Construction needs to promote the establishment of trial construction consulting companies and quality inspection agencies.

III- Urgently develop and promulgate supplements and amendments to the management mechanisms and policies for basic construction.

1- Immediate urgent tasks that must be carried out.

a) Reform the management mechanism for investment funds, particularly state budget funds and state credit funds, clarifying the responsibilities of state management agencies such as planning, finance, banking, and the direct superiors of the project investors. It is necessary to clearly define the entities eligible to use these funds, strictly regulate and ensure the effectiveness of procedures for receiving funds, borrowing funds, managing funds, and settling accounts for the use of these funds.

The State Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Bank are responsible for completing two related projects assigned in the Government Office's notification (Notification No. 4131-PPLT dated September 14, 1992, and Notification No. 3802-PPLT dated August 25, 1992) to submit to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision-making in January 1993.

b) The Ministry of Construction will study and propose to the Government to amend regulations on reviewing and approving designs and total budgets to address the issue of multiple investment managers reviewing but lacking specialized economic-technical organizations as currently exists. The Ministry of Finance will research and propose to the Prime Minister to promptly decide on the implementation of establishing auditing companies for construction to conduct budget reviews and final account inspections of construction projects.

c) The Ministry of Construction will urgently draft new tendering regulations for construction installation and management price regulations for construction, soliciting comprehensive opinions from relevant sectors and localities to promptly submit to the Prime Minister for decision-making.

d) The State Planning Commission, in collaboration with the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Finance, will draft a formal decision classifying construction projects to serve as a basis for分级分类的原因是你的请求已经按照指示进行了精确翻译，并且每个部分都已妥善处理。继续下一个部分：

2- Promote the drafting of the "Construction Law".

The Prime Minister has assigned the Minister of Construction to lead the drafting of the "Construction Law" since November 7, 1990. From 1993 to 1994, the Ministry of Construction is responsible for closely coordinating with legal institutions, scientific bodies, and related ministries to concentrate efforts on research to complete and submit to the National Assembly for approval.

The Prime Minister requests that the heads of all ministries, agencies at the ministerial level, government-affiliated agencies, provincial People's Committees, and centrally-administered city People's Committees strictly implement this Directive and report results monthly.