The Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has issued a pilot regulation to allow a third party to participate in the bidding process for Japanese-funded projects, aiming to detect violations.

The move is among Vietnam’s tough measures to fight against corruption in projects using Japanese official development assistance (ODA).

Under the regulation, the third party is entitled to directly join tenders; study documents related to the bidding process and send their reports to investors, the MPI and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on bidding wrongdoings.

Japan is now the largest bilateral donor of Vietnam with roughly US$16 billion committed to the country, accounting for one third of Vietnam’s pledged ODA, the MPI said.

It, however, added that construction of many Japanese-funded projects in Vietnam is likely lag behind scheduled due to sluggish site clearance, including VND13.6-trillion Nhat Tan Bridge in Hanoi and US$600-million Hanoi and East-West Boulevard in Ho Chi Minh City.

The MPI has also asked ministries, agencies, localities and economic groups to submit report on the implementation of all ODA-funded projects in the first half of this year.

The reports, to be sent to the MPI prior to July 15, aim to help the ministry to enhance its management on ODA-funded projects in order to quicken the capital disbursement, avoiding squandering public investment.