Chu Ngoc Anh, 57, has tens of years working in the field of science and technology at the Ministry of Science and Technology. He was Secretary of the Party Civil Affairs Committee and Minister of Science and Technology from April 2016 to September 2020. He resigned from the post of Secretary of the Party Civil Affairs Committee of the ministry in September 2020 to hold the post of Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee.

On September 25, 2020, the Hanoi People’s Council elected Anh as the new Chair of Hanoi People’s Committee for the 2016-2021 tenure to replace Nguyen Duc Chung.

At the 17th Congress of the Hanoi Party Committee on October 10, 2020, he was re-elected Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee for the 2020–2025 term.

Anh took the post of the leader of the Hanoi authorities at a time when the leadership of the city witnessed upheavals: former chair Nguyen Duc Chung was dismissed and arrested and the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

During the fight against the pandemic, Anh gave many instructions and made remarkable statements.

Anh became Hanoi Mayor on September 25 and three months later, on December 2, 2020, he presided over a meeting of the city’s steering committee for Covid-19 prevention and control for the first time.

Noting the spread of Covid-19 among the community in HCM City, Anh said “this is not a joke” and Hanoi needs to gather strength to fight the pandemic. Emphasizing the role of the leader in the pandemic prevention and control, Anh said he will take responsibility if Hanoi’s situation becomes serious.

The head of the local government must be aware of his responsibility, and stay on high alert, but must not cause panic and anxiety to people.

“We have been doing well and we need to continue this way,” Anh said, adding that there was no other locality where the steering committee for pandemic prevention and control met so regularly and controlled the situation.

On December 9, 2021, at the third session of the 16th-term Hanoi People’s Council, Anh answered delegates about the issues within the competence of Hanoi Mayor. He used 45 minutes out of the 50-minute speech to talk about the achievements Hanoi had gained before answering deputies’ answers.

Four out of eight delegates raised questions, but when Anh finished answering one question, the time had run out. The chair of the Hanoi People’s Council then asked Anh to reply to the questions in writing.

During the two years in the post of Hanoi Chair, Anh completed the last parts of the capital city planning, and approved the Red River and Duong River area subdivision planning and Hanoi’s underground space planning.

Wrongdoings related to Viet A

According to the Central Inspection Committee at the meeting in late March, Anh’s wrongdoings all relate to the Viet A’s case of test kit price gouging.

Anh, who then held the post of Minister of Science and Technology, was the person who approved the national project on researching and manufacturing RT-PCR and real-time RT-PCR biological kits to detect 2019-nCoV.

In December 2021, the official information portal of the Ministry of Science and Technology published a detailed report related to Covid-19 test kits developed by the Military Medicine University and Viet A. 

The unit in charge of implementing the task was the Military Medicine University led by Hoa Anh Son (Son has been prosecuted). The team implementing the task had 16 other members, including four from Viet A. One of the four members was Phan Quoc Viet, president and CEO of Viet A, who has been prosecuted. The total budget for the task implementation was VND18.98 billion.

On October 20, 2020, WHO released a report about the result of the examination of Viet A’s test kit, stating that the product still could not meet some standards.

The Ministry of Public Security said it found signs of violations in the management, research and transfer of the scientific research work on test kit products at the Ministry of Science and Technology, and in the granting of license for the circulation and negotiation of prices of test kits at Viet A and the Ministry of Health (MOH).

To date, Viet A has provided test kits to CDCs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and other medical centers in 62 cities/provinces with total revenue of VND4 trillion.

The investigation agency has filed charges against 40 individuals involved in Viet A case, including leaders and cadres of CDC) and local healthcare departments.

Thanh Nam