Article 279 of the Criminal Code imposes criminal liability on the act of receiving bribes (tội nhận hối lộ), which is defined as an act, among others, of a person who holds an official position or power and directly or indirectly has received or will receive money, properties or other “material benefit” in any form, which has a value of VND 2,000,000 (approx. USD100) or more “with the intent of taking advantage of his/her official position or power in order to perform or refrain from performing certain acts for the benefit of, or as requested by, the person who offers the bribe”.

A manager of a State-owned enterprise (SOE Manager) is not a public official who may be “cadre” (cán bộ), “civil servant” (công chức) or “public employees” (viên chức) under Vietnamese law. This is because SOE Manager is not covered by the legal definitions of public officials under Vietnamese law. There are certain specific regulations relating to public officials which are applicable to the appointment, demotion or performance review of certain SOE Managers at a wholly State-owned enterprise.  These managers include: