Vietnam has made significant strides in administrative reform which is set to raise productivity and production efficiency, support citizens, and attract more domestic and foreign investments.
Despite remaining challenges and obstacles, the country has gained remarkable achievements in this regard, especially in handling administrative procedures through the one-stop-shop (OSS) mechanism.
Specifically, Vietnam has established 11,956 OSS units at various levels to receive and process administrative documents, aiming to improve productivity and production efficiency, and save waiting time for residents.
As many as 867 OSS units have been set up at ministries and ministry-level agencies, and 11,089 in localities. Up to 58 out of the 63 centrally-run cities and provinces nationwide have established provincial-level public administrative service centres. There are 754 OSS units at the district level, and 10,277 others at the commune level.
It is noteworthy that such units in many ministries, agencies, and localities have been upgraded and reformed, resulting in higher quality. The Ministries of National Defence, Industry and Trade, and Agriculture and Rural Development, along with 20 localities, have picked up documents at home or made appointments to handle administrative procedures upon request.
Such localities as Lam Dong, Yen Bai, and Ha Giang have put in place new models in reception and result delivery to improve the quality and efficiency of their OSS units. For example, they have piloted the reception and handling of administrative dossiers under a non-administrative boundary model or by assigning public postal firms to guide, receive and digitise documents, and deliver administrative results.
Hanoi is one of the localities that have rolled out many good models in this regard. Its outskirts district of Phu Xuyen district has applied the “three at home” model (filling in documents, receiving documents and delivering results, all done at home). The district also employs a method under which results are returned not long after document submission, helping save time and money for many individuals, organisations, agencies and businesses, and raise public satisfaction of the administrative work to nearly 100%. Last year, more than 15,000 people were assisted in administrative procedures, with 1.4 billion VND (56,668 USD) and 74,133 travelling hours saved.
At a meeting held on February 2, 2024 to review administrative reform in 2023, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who is also head of the Steering Committee for Administrative Reform, said:
“Investing in administrative reform means investing in development. Promoting administrative reform and building a state administration that serves the people and works professionally and effectively is always identified by the Party and State as a focus and strategic breakthrough in building a law-governed socialist State.”
However, despite positive results in streamlining administrative procedures, providing public services to citizens and businesses, reforming models, and raising the quality and efficiency of OSS units at various ministries, agencies, and localities, limitations still remain in some others.
Administrative productivity in some localities has not improved. In some areas, even online public services are frequently overloaded, resulting in increased waiting time for the public, and subsequently reducing satisfaction in administrative procedures.
According to Ngo Hai Phan, Director General of the Administrative Procedure Control Department at the Government Office, some pilot models of administrative reform have proven effective, yet the duplication remains stagnant. Besides, the empowerment of public postal firms to perform administrative services, either in full or in part, still faces obstacles due to the lack of regulations. Additionally, mechanisms and policies in support of the OSS staff remain inharmonious, failing to encourage them to make better performance.
Administrative reform has helped facilitate the country’s investment attraction. Therefore, amidst a host of economic difficulties, efforts to streamline administrative procedures, especially OSS services in localities, should be intensified to maximise resources for national development./.
