Vietnam PM admits shipping scandal responsibility

Vietnam’s prime minister admitted government failures Wednesday in the case of state-run shipping group Vinashin, which has been driven to the brink of bankruptcy ahead of a key Communist Party Congress.

“As head of the government, I would like to take responsibility over the limits and weaknesses” of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin), premier Nguyen Tan Dung told the National Assembly in a live broadcast.

“Control and inspection had not been really effective and the government failed to prevent Vinashin’s wrongdoings,” said Dung, who admitted the group’s weaknesses have had “serious consequences”.

Vinashin’s accumulated debts amounted to at least 86 trillion dong (4.3 billion dollars), an equivalent of about 4.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product last year, the transport minister said Tuesday.

The government “will do its best… to prevent any further cases like Vinashin”, Dung said, adding that any of the shipbuilder’s managers who are found to have broken the law would be “seriously punished”.

The scandal has been exploited by opponents of the premier in the ruling Communist Party ahead of its five-yearly Congress in January, when top leadership posts are determined.

Earlier this month lawmakers demanded answers in the case and one, Nguyen Minh Thuyet, called for a vote of no confidence in the prime minister, who appointed the former chair of Vinashin, Pham Thanh Binh.

Binh was suspended in July and later arrested on suspicion of “having intentionally violated state regulations on economic management.”

Other senior managers were also told to step aside to allow a probe into the company’s operations.

Thuyet had called on the chamber for a standing committee to investigate the government’s responsibilities, but the National Assembly refused Wednesday, with chair Nguyen Phu Trong saying it was “not yet necessary”.

Observers say the Vinashin case highlights a lack of oversight and easy access to capital by large and inefficient state business groups.

“This was the first time the operation of a group created such a major shock for the party, the government, the national assembly and the people,” lawmaker Tran Du Lich said on Vietnam Television at the weekend.

Although more than 90 percent of Vietnam’s nearly 500 lawmakers are Communist Party members, they have in recent years become more vocal over the country’s major problems. – AFP

Tags: Vietnam Shipbuilding industry, Vinashin restructure