Vietnam feasibility study - EITI

Finance and Budget of the National Assembly in cooperation with other related parties to carry out
the EITI program. Besides, there is one opinion that claims that the EITI implementation is considered
as a tool against corruption in the extractive sector, so that the National Anti-Corruption Steering
Committee is a suitable body to lead the EITI committee.
d. Possible barriers when Vietnam implements the eItI
Institutional and law enforcement barriers
Some respondents claimed that a big gap exists between regulations and law enforcement in Vietnam.
The regulations on transparency, information disclosure and anti-corruption have been stated in many
legal documents. However, law enforcement is rather low. Many regulations when implemented at
the local level have a low efficiency because of weak oversight mechanisms and sanctions. Often the
extractive company incorrectly informs about its payments to government, which together with a
lack of oversight discipline of the institutional system is a considerable challenge. Particularly, the
so-called “beg-give” mechanism in licensing occurs widely, so it is hard to achieve transparency in
the extractive sector. Furthermore, a low privatization in the extractive industry in which the state
companies currently own almost all crucial minerals have resulted in state monopoly in the business
environment. Therefore, it could be difficult to promote transparency in those companies due to
conflicts of interest.
Political barrier
Some respondents argued that while Vietnam and neighboring countries dispute territories in
the Southeast Asia Sea, transparency in the petroleum industry is almost impossible. Moreover,
“transparency” in Vietnam is a sensitive issue, even though it is much referred to in national laws and
policies. Implementation of the EITI would certainly affect some interest groups. Meanwhile corruption
in Vietnam widely occurs in most sectors. Therefore, the EITI would be hard to implement without
strong political commitments.
Financial barrier
Some interviewees claim that while the government aims at reducing its governance system and
public expenses, the establishment of a new organization will lead to an increased public expense
and human resources.
Human resource barrier
Companies and governmental authorities all claimed that Vietnam lacks human resources to undertake
the EITI implementation.
e. solutions to overcome the barriers and challenges
When asked to provide a solution to cope with the barriers and challenges in promoting transparency
in the extractive industry, as well as when implementing the EITI, the respondents opinions can be
summarized, as follows:
• The central governmental authorities should develop specific guidelines for public disclosure
of revenues and payments so that the local governmental authorities could implement them
easily. Moreover, the government should have clear criteria for companies in terms of disclosing
payment information. The payment data of the company should be available on one website
managed by the government, which the companies can access and often update their data.
These activities could help reduce illegal trading of minerals.
• About the disclosure of financial information of the company, the government should have
regulations for examining the accuracy between what data the company discloses and what
the government receives. Moreover, the government needs to complement its regulations on
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the Implementation Perspective of Vietnam
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