The number of State employees will remain the same until 2016, as a restructuring and staff refinement process continues in the public sector, it was reported at a recent conference.

The conference, held by the Ministry of Home Affairs on December 20, reviewed its performance this year and discussed the Ministry's responsibilities for next year.

According to Deputy Minister Tran Anh Tuan, staff management in the public sector will participate in reforms, with many measures to be taken. Among those are the enhancement of the policy on favourable treatment towards talented officials, the development of a policy for the recruitment of ethnic people, the development of tests for staff recruitment, and enhancement of discipline and a sense of responsibility among State employees.

Tuan added that the Ministry would step up inspections and supervision of the performance of State agencies and organisations, as well as continue to fight against fraud in staff arrangements and management, in order to ensure productivity and efficiency in the operation of the public sector.

At the conference, Minister Nguyen Thai Binh said the quality of the consultation work and advice made by State officials and some State agencies had not always been satisfactory, while the progress of developing legal documents was slow, without producing expected results.

The participants, however, agreed that administrative reforms in local and central governmental agencies had seen positive progress during the year.

Examples cited include the pilot recruitment through examination of senior State officials in certain ministries, sectors and localities and the application of advanced information technology in staff recruitment.-VNA