Vietnam labor minister reprimanded for lax management

The Politburo, Vietnam’s top decision-making body, has reprimanded Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) Dao Ngoc Dung for lax management and violation of Party rules and State laws.

The reprimand was issued Friday at a meeting of the Politburo and Party Central Committee's Secretariat in Hanoi.

The Politburo determined that Dung, a Party Central Committee member and Secretary of the ministry’s Party Committee, had “violated the principle of democratic centralism, Party regulations, and State laws, as well as regulations on what Party members must not do.”

The minister was also found to have shown “lax leadership and management,” leading to his ministry and a number of groups and individuals under the ministry committing violations and shortcomings, risking huge losses and waste of state budget. This had led to “serious” consequences and negative public opinion, undermining the ministry’s reputation.

Dung’s predecessor, Pham Thi Hai Chuyen, who headed the ministry between 2016 and 2021, was found to have facilitated the joining of bids by Advanced International JSC (AIC Group), whose chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan has been convicted in several cases and is absconding.

The Politburo also issued an official warning to former deputy MoLISA minister Huynh Van Ti.

The Party Secretariat also issued a warning to the 2012-2016 MoLISA Party and a reprimand to the ministry’s 2016-2021 Party Committee.

Dung, 62, has been a Party Central Committee member since 2006. Before being appointed to head the MoLISA in April 2016, he was the First Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Youth Union, Secretary of Yen Bai province’s Party Committee, and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Agencies.