Party General Secretary Tô Lâm addresses a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the traditional day of Việt Nam’s inspection sector (November 23, 1945) on Monday. —VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Party General Secretary Tô Lâm on Monday outlined crucial, forward-looking requirements for Việt Nam’s inspection sector, stressing the need for its work to fundamentally shift its focus from merely handling violations to proactive prevention.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the traditional day of Việt Nam’s inspection sector (November 23, 1945) in Hà Nội, Lâm said that as Việt Nam entered a new development phase, striving to become a strong, prosperous and happy nation and a developed, high-income country by 2045, the role of inspection had become more critical and comprehensive.

"Inspection is no longer just a tool for detecting wrongdoings, but an institution that fosters transparency, promotes innovation and safeguards social stability and public trust," he said.

"A sound governance system requires a robust oversight mechanism, and the inspection sector is the pillar of this structure."

With this vision, Lâm called for the sector to pursue comprehensive reform and strong modernisation, linking inspection work with national development goals and placing the people at the centre of all activities. "The ultimate goal is to build an efficient, integrity-driven public administration that truly serves people," he said.

The General Secretary noted several key directions and priorities for the sector, stressing that it must grasp the Party’s guidelines on building and rectifying the Party and the socialist rule-of-law State.

A major shift in mindset and method is a must, as inspection must move beyond detecting and penalising violations to proactive prevention, value creation and promoting development, according to the Party leader.

Every inspection must serve a dual purpose, which is to detect wrongdoings early to protect public assets, and to help address challenges for organisations, businesses and people.

Inspection must stay one step ahead, providing early forecasts and warnings of risks, and preventing small breaches from accumulating into major violations.

The work must pivot its core focus from “handling violations” to “prevention early and from afar,” combining administrative inspection with specialised thematic inspection and merging on-site checks with digital data analysis, Lâm added.

He stressed that all inspection activities must be objective, impartial and transparent, adhering to the motto: “No forbidden zones, no exceptions, but also no extremism or formalism."

The General Secretary also noted that inspection results should be used to review practices, identify problems and propose improvements to policies and laws, thereby addressing legal gaps or loopholes in State management.

A major push toward modernisation, technology application and digital transformation across the sector would be needed, he said. This included building and operating the national database for handling citizens’ complaints as well as controlling assets and incomes of public officials.

The goal was to move towards conducting inspections, resolution of complaints and supervision entirely within a digital environment, making the process transparent, fast, efficient and cost-effective.

The Party leader asked that the inspection sector strengthen the Party’s leadership in inspection work to meet the requirements of preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness and misconduct.

He stressed the importance of building a contingent of inspection officials who are truly integrity-driven, brave, intelligent and proficient.

Inspection officials must possess “a bright heart, a steady mind, refined expertise and correct actions” and have the courage to protect what is right, fight against what is wrong and dare to take responsibility for the common good.

Lâm urged the sector to coordinate closely with internal affairs agencies to ensure synchronicity and effectiveness.

He expressed his confidence that, through concerted efforts, the inspection sector would continue its glorious tradition and make worthy contributions to building a clean, legal and development-facilitating State. — VNA/VNS