The heads and senior officials of public offices should set examples for their subordinates in order for public administrative reforms to gain better results, voters said after the Minister of Home Affairs appeared at the National Assembly’s question and answer session on November 18 morning.

Vu Anh Thu from Ngo Quyen district, the northern port city of Hai Phong, said Minister Nguyen Thai Binh spoke of the need to enhance political and ideological education for public servants and promote the campaign of “Studying and following the moral example of President Ho Chi Minh,” which is just a general solution.

“Reality shows that when senior officials keep close monitoring and lead by example, it will have a strong impact on their subordinates,” the voter said, adding that there should be training courses for public servants on appropriate behaviours when on duty.

Lawyer Pham Ngoc Hung, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association, was of the opinion that the administrative reform has gained good progress during the past two years, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, where remarkable results were seen in the customs, taxation and planning and investment sectors.

He said many procedures have been streamlined and made public for easy access by citizens and businesses, adding that holding dialogues and meetings between the authorities and businesses is a good way to update businesses on the latest economic and investment policies and timely remove any arising problems.

At the same time, the lawyer noted the existence of overlapping procedures, resulting in inconsistency in implementation due to different interpretation. He suggested accelerating the use of information technology in administrative procedures and reducing the use of “administrative papers” such as notarized photocopies of documents, which he said will help streamline the State apparatus and reduce red tape as well as expenses for citizens.

Regarding the project on streamlining the contingent of public servants, Hung said it failed to meet expectation, with the apparatus even growing larger in some places. He urged the Ministry of Home Affairs and related agencies to evaluate the efficiency and working time of each position and assign personnel accordingly. In addition, professional working procedures should be developed to define the specific responsibility of each public servant and allow the timely detection of mistakes and violations.-VNA