The Deputy Director of Department C03 points out 5 signs to identify violations related to wastefulness.

On the morning of May 16th, in Vinh City, the Party Committee of the Central Public Security Ministry, in coordination with the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, the Communist Magazine, and the National Political Publishing House, organized the National Scientific Conference: “Building a Culture of Thrift and Combating Waste in the New Development Era”.

Over 1,249 projects show signs or risks of causing waste.

Accordingly, based on intelligence gathered by the Economic Police force, as of the end of 2024, there were over 1,249 ongoing projects nationwide showing signs or risks of wasting state budget funds.

Specifically, the construction sector has 186 projects; the transportation sector has 53 projects; the agriculture, land, and housing sector has 377 projects; the industrial sector has 154 projects; the trade and service sector has 67 projects; the culture, health, and education sector has 64 projects; the energy sector has 33 projects; the tourism sector has 55 projects; and other sectors have 260 projects.

Colonel Nguyen Huu Son stated: From 2020 to the present, the Economic Police force has detected and prosecuted 426 cases/1,935 defendants for crimes related to waste; causing losses and damage to state assets amounting to tens of thousands of billions of dong. In 2024 alone, 81 cases/339 defendants were prosecuted. Among these, there are many complex and particularly serious cases under the monitoring and direction of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption, Waste, and Negative Phenomena nationwide.

Based on practical experience in gathering information, detecting, investigating, and handling cases related to wastefulness over the past period, Colonel Nguyen Huu Son stated: The Economic Police force identifies violations and crimes related to wastefulness through several groups of behaviors, including:

Wastefulness in financial and budgetary management, with violations such as: giving and receiving bribes; abusing positions and authority while performing official duties; embezzlement of assets... to prepare, appraise, approve, allocate, and assign budget estimates improperly, exceeding prescribed procedures, timelines, and standards; violations in bidding and procurement of public assets. A typical example is the Dong Nai General Hospital Construction Investment Project, where individuals colluded to allow AIC Company to win 16 medical equipment supply contracts, causing losses to the State budget exceeding 152 billion VND.

Tax evasion or delayed fulfillment of tax and fee obligations by businesses, organizations, and individuals has significantly impacted the country's socio-economic development resources. As of January 2025, the country had approximately 200,000 billion VND in outstanding tax debts. A typical example is the case at Hai Ha Water and Land Transport Company Limited (Hai Ha Petro), where individuals, taking advantage of being entrusted by the State with managing the fuel price stabilization fund, delayed payments to the fund and used it for purposes beyond repayment, causing losses and waste exceeding 317 billion VND of the State budget.

Wastefulness in investment and construction, with violations and crimes primarily including: giving and receiving bribes; brokering bribes; falsifying documents; violating regulations on the management and use of state assets in public construction projects... occurs in all stages from investment policy decisions, surveys, design, compensation, land clearance to construction, acceptance, and final settlement, leading to incorrect investment decisions, prolonged cost overruns, low or no efficiency, benefiting certain interest groups, causing significant waste and loss of capital, and serious damage to the state budget. A typical example is the Da Nang - Quang Ngai expressway project, with a total investment of nearly 35,000 billion VND, but immediately after being put into use, it suffered damage and subsidence, requiring additional repair costs of thousands of billions of VND. The "Vicem Operations and Trading Center" building project, with an investment of 1,245 billion VND, has been abandoned since 2015 after the completion of the building's structure.

Wastefulness in the management of resources, minerals, and land, with the main violations and crimes being: "Violation of regulations on research, exploration, exploitation, processing, and use of resources; smuggling of rare minerals."

For example, the case of Hung Thinh Titanium Company in Binh Thuan province, which exploited and sold unprocessed titanium ore, caused exceptionally large losses and waste of mineral resources and tax revenue for the State budget.

Violations in granting construction permits for projects, investment in public works that are not implemented or are implemented behind schedule, leading to abandoned land; inefficient use of public land, turning public land into privately owned land causing particularly large losses and waste with acts such as: Violations of regulations on compensation, support, and resettlement when the State reclaims land; violations of regulations on the management and use of State assets... A typical example is the Thinh Liet new urban area project in Hoang Mai district, with a scale of 351,618 m² and a total investment of 4,000 billion VND, launched in 2004 but still remaining a barren wasteland to this day.

Waste of time, opportunities, and investment capital for businesses and citizens is caused by the irresponsibility of officials and civil servants in receiving and processing requests and procedures from citizens and businesses. The main behavior involves abusing their positions and authority to create difficulties for businesses and citizens in obtaining licenses and approvals for administrative procedures, investment, and business processes... thereby hindering opportunities for socio-economic development.

4 proposals to improve the quality and effectiveness of the work.preventing and combating waste.

According to Colonel Nguyen Huu Son, the practical work of preventing, detecting, and combating violations and crimes related to wastefulness by various sectors and levels, including the police force, has achieved some positive results such as: The legal framework related to the practice of saving and combating wastefulness has been gradually improved, its quality has been enhanced, and it has initially met practical requirements.

The management of state budget revenue and expenditure has become stricter, more economical, and more efficient. The management, exploitation, and use of land, resources, and minerals have been strengthened, gradually preventing and overcoming the situation of loss and waste.

Changing the awareness and actions of officials and civil servants regarding their responsibility to practice thrift and combat waste.

The results of streamlining the organizational structure, reducing the workforce, and reforming administrative procedures have left many outstanding marks, creating an important foundation for institutional reform to become more substantive, accumulating more resources, removing bottlenecks, and creating momentum to promote socio-economic development... Through this, it has made an important contribution to building a culture of thrift and combating waste in the new era of development, the era of the nation's progress.

To further improve the quality and effectiveness of this work in the future, Colonel Nguyen Huu Son put forward several suggestions and proposals:

The Party and State must thoroughly understand and strictly implement their current policies and regulations on practicing thrift and combating waste. The roles and responsibilities of Party committees, Party organizations, government agencies, and heads of organizations and units in preventing and combating waste must be institutionalized and clearly defined. Full regulations must be established, linking the responsibility for managing related violations to the heads of organizations and units, thereby enhancing the accountability and efficiency of each individual; and eliminating the "request-and-grant" mechanism in the allocation and use of state budget funds.

Ministries, departments, and localities need to urgently review legal regulations related to socio-economic sectors prone to waste, such as public investment, infrastructure construction, procurement, public asset management, science and technology programs and projects, and education, in order to amend, supplement, and address loopholes and shortcomings. This will contribute to creating a complete and synchronized legal basis for monitoring, inspection, detection, and strong, deterrent handling of wasteful practices.

Proactively implement self-prevention measures and promptly prevent acts of corruption, waste, and negative practices occurring within agencies and units... At the same time, rectify and strengthen specialized inspection, examination, and supervision at all levels in areas prone to waste. In case of discovering incidents or individuals involved in violations or crimes, promptly inform and exchange information with functional units of the Ministry of Public Security to coordinate solutions in accordance with the law.

On the part of the Ministry of Public Security, the police forces at all levels and localities will continue to implement comprehensive measures based on closely adhering to the Party and State's socio-economic development policies and guidelines to proactively forecast and assess the situation, identify emerging issues in each sector, field, and level; point out new methods and tactics of crime as well as loopholes and shortcomings in regulations, rules, management, and administration to advise, propose, and recommend corrective measures and remedies; and coordinate with ministries, sectors, and local authorities to strengthen management, supervision, inspection, and auditing; preventing small violations from accumulating into large violations. They will promptly detect acts and incidents causing waste to investigate and clarify, with the motto "handling one case serves as a warning to the entire region and sector," and thoroughly recover lost and wasted assets for the State.