HANOI, July 2 (Xinhua) --Australia will help train senior members of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in fighting corruption, Wednesday's Vietnamese newspaper Yong People quoted visiting Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith as saying.

    Australia would provide up to 500,000 U.S. dollars to support at raining program for Vietnamese senior officials to strengthen Vietnam's corruption prevention, detection and enforcement efforts, he said.

    Smith, who is in Hanoi for a two-day visit that began Tuesday, said corruption was a "major threat" to Vietnam's future economic growth and the country's development.

    "It harms foreign investment and undermines the quality of basic health and education services, and it hits the poor the hardest," he said.

    Smith held talks with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem Tuesday. He is scheduled to meet with General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee Nong Duc Manh and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Wednesday.