President Truong Tan Sang presented the Ho Chi Minh Order to the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) at its 55th founding anniversary in Hanoi on May 29.

The Ho Chi Minh Order, Vietnam’s second highest honour, is conferred on collectives or individuals who have rendered outstanding services in various domains to the country.

As a leading institution in training personnel for the State apparatus, NAPA has educated tens of thousands of officials and public servants for central and local agencies in the past five decades.

It has also undertaken numerous pieces of research assisting administrative reform and policy making in Vietnam.

The NAPA is a member of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration, the Eastern Regional Organisation for Public Administration, and the Asian Group for Public Administration.

At the ceremony, President Sang said that one major mission set up at the Party’s 11th Congress in 2011 is accelerating administrative reform and improving the effectiveness of State management.

To that end, it is of great importance to have professional and devoted staff, thus the academy plays a major role in performing this mission, he noted.

At the event, the State leader also granted the Independence Order (third class) to NAPA Director and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Dang Thanh.-VNA