SUMMARY

I.Consistent policies o­n administration reforms of Vietnam Communist Party

Practices of the past 20 years implementing the Party’s renovation policies have indicated that the cause of state administration reforms is always a consistent direction, reflecting the Party’s guiding vision o­n State organization and performance via concrete measures in different national development stages, to implement reforms and renovation of state management pursuance to requirements of development process.

Since the 6^th National Party Congress, policies of accelerating administration reforms, building a democratic, transparent, and substantial administration, and gradually modernizing, renewing governmental organization and operation have been unceasingly affirmed as well as strengthened. By 2006, the 5^th Central Resolution of10^th Party Congress clarified and concretized crucial issues related to the country’s administration reforms for the time to come, including building a democratic, transparent, and substantial administration; personnel with sufficient quality and capacity; an effective state management system in consistent with socialist market economy and international economic integration; and satisfaction of national requirements regarding rapid and sustainable economic development.

II.Achievements and shortcomings of administration reforms over the last time

1. Achievements

-Gradual renovations and completion of institutional and legal systems, initial establishment of socialist market economy, and ensuring better people’s democracy.

-Better adjustments and rearrangement of functions, tasks, and structural organizations of agencies belonging to the state administration system; better state administration in new conditions.

-Enhancements regarding quality and capacity of cadres and public servants working for the state management apparatus, better fulfilling their responsibilities.

-Proactive establishment and completion of institutions and legal regulations o­n public finance management.

-Reforms of administrative procedures and state administration agencies’ operation towards more effective and disciplined manners.

2. Shortcomings and limitations

-Insufficient, inconsistent legal system with many shortcomings, contradictions, and overlaps.

-Functions and tasks of some units in the state administration system are found unclear, overlapping, and incomprehensive given their state management areas; organizational structure of the state apparatus remains cumbersome and relatively inconsistent.

-Quality of public servants is rather limited in comparison with actual requirements; bureaucracy, corruption, and wastefulness are still serious.

-Despite reforms with public finance management institutions and regulations, there are still some existing problems.

-Administration procedures are found problematic to organizations and people; state management effectiveness remains some weaknesses.

3. Rationales

-First, policies and awareness of core and significant matters related to reform process generally and administration reforms particularly are unclear enough.

-Second, guidance, directions, and management by the Government and governments of lower levels regarding the implementation of administration reforms are not decisive enough; disciplines and rules o­n administration reforms are not really strict; responsibilities and powers of leaders are not clearly defined.

III.Policies and measures o­n further acceleration of administration reforms in the time to come

-To improve the Party’s leadership towards administration reforms.

-To implement administration reforms and legislation and judicial reforms in a consistent way.

-To continue building and completing institutional and legal systems.

-To further accelerate administrative procedure reforms.

-To define functions and tasks of the Government and state administration agencies more clearly.

-To further reform public servant mechanisms.

-To conduct public finance reforms.

-To modernize the administration.

-To properly define the relationship between administration bodies and the people, taking advantages of effective supervision of and involvement in state administration units’ activities by people and the society.

-To increase awareness and responsibility of any single cadres and party’s members towards administration reforms.

IV.Some things for further consideration o­n administration reforms in Vietnam

It is possible to confirm that the policy of administration reforms is acute. However, what have been wrong with the implementation of administration reforms that make its results limited in reality? Followings are 7 things needed for further consideration for more effective and more significant administration reforms in the future.

-Sluggishness, conservativeness, and slackness of the administration: administration often follows economic development which raises challenges requiring the administration to make changes. But these changes take time. Good leadership is o­ne able to shorten such time. Administration always accompanies with settlement of issues directly relating to individual people and organizations. So, it is necessary to change ways of thinking and working of public servants towards dedicatedly serving individual and organizations.

-Administration reforms in Vietnam is carried out under controls of a single ruling Party: this is seen as a characteristics of administration reforms in Vietnam, leading to both positive effects (consistent political directions; concrete and unified policies and measures regarding administration reforms; etc.) and negative effects (dependence and reliance o­n the others of units and agencies in administration system as carrying out administration reforms).

-Administration reforms with comprehensive content: characteristics of administration reforms in Vietnam lead to two related requirements. First, comprehensive and consistent reforms programs and plans covering all aspects of administration system. Second, practical and realistic objections and targets of administration reforms.

-Breakthroughs of reforms: Administrative procedure reforms relate to reforms of institutions, state apparatus and personnel. Thus, o­nce administrative procedure reforms are properly carried out, there will be breakthroughs created to push reforms in other fields of the state administration.

-Administration reforms in Vietnam make up a learning-from-real-work process: some issues are able to be defined right from the beginning, but some others are rather vague, thus related lessons and measures may be drawn and studied during experimental process. The matter is to define contents of policies to build a unified and consistent administration system.

-Personnel in the state administration apparatus: Human resource is a crucial factor for the success of administration reforms. Therefore, it requires to improve national education quality, to strengthen and tighten staff enrollment, to renew staff training work, particularly content and approach of specific training courses and facilities, and to continue salary reforms with a view to ensuring public servants can live o­n their official salary.

-Renews of working modality of state administration bodies: working modality of state administration bodies should be changed towards granting power and responsibility of dealing with related issues within their functions and tasks to the heads of such bodies, heading for the enforcement of “one-door” policy. However, this requires conscious and practical thinking and studies.


Source: Center for Information and Documentation - CIEM,
              VNEP, Oct. 2007.