In the case, Huynh Ngoc Si, former head of the East-West Highway and Water Environment project, has already been convicted of abuse of power.

Si and his former deputy Le Qua were arrested in February after a Japanese court convicted three executives from Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International (PCI) of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, which bans the bribing of foreign government officials.

At the assembly session Thursday, representative Nguyen Van Thuyet asked how the government would deal with similar cases as Vietnamese laws do not regulate the use of evidence provided from abroad.

Dung said authorized agencies could be instructed to add new regulations to Vietnamese laws during investigations of such cases.

Hydropower dams

Answering questions about hydropower dams’ inability to regulate floods, Dung said the government aimed to ensure that dams in the central region regulate floods effectively.

Earlier at the session, several ministers took the floor to answer questions from deputies, including Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen.

Hoang said it was necessary to review hydroelectricity development plans and adjust them if any shortcomings are detected.

He said surveillance over the operation of reservoirs, including those serving irrigation and electricity, should be strengthened.

But Hoang rejected accusations that hydroelectricity projects were to blame for flooding in the central region. “We should not put all the blame on hydropower projects,” he said, explaining that the three hardest-hit flooding districts in central province of Phu Yen were not in areas with hydroelectricity projects.

However, the minister admitted that supervision over hydroelectricity development in some areas had been lax.

“The Ministry of Industry and Trade has monitored only one-third out of the 35 provinces and cities with small- and the medium-sized hydroelectricity projects,” he said

The central region is now home to 335 out of 800 small-and medium sized hydroelectricity nationwide.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen said most projects were implemented with the ministry’s regulations, but he said some had encroached too much on forest land.

He said projects should prove their ability to offset deforestation before gaining state approval.

Lobbying

Answering questions from Thanh Hoa Province assemblyman Le Van Cuong about whether internal lobbying was causing some party officials to win promotions without meriting them, Minister of Home Affairs Tran Van Tuan said most cadre appointments by party committees are sound. “However, it is rumored that a number of people have lobbied influential figures to be appointed to the posts they desire.”

He said it would be necessary to follow appointment procedures set by the Party strictly. “We will intensify guidelines and inspections pertaining to cadre appointments.”

But Tuan said an end to lobbying would require a sea change.

“It would require the whole system to get involved.”

Reported by Bao Van