HANOI, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen TanDung has ordered ministries, agencies and localities nationwide to step up their fight against corruption next year, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Monday.

    In a conference attended by representatives from 32 northern provinces and cities on Dec. 22, Dung said ministries and government agencies should join hands to perfect policies and procedures to combat corruption in land management, the construction sector, project management, budget spending and asset management.

    Reports presented by Vietnam's Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption showed that there were 584 cases of corruption involving 1,299 people uncovered this year. The cases resulted in losses totaling nearly 865.4 billion Vietnamese dong (54.1 million U.S. dollars).

    Of the total cases, 360 cases involving 843 defendants went to court, and 75 cases involving 135 people are undergoing legal proceedings.

    The committee, headed by the prime minister, said the government should focus on raising public awareness of corruption and step up monitoring activities.