Removing barriers to development

At the same time, it is also a requirement when implementing the revolution of streamlining the organizational apparatus of the political system.

There are still “bottlenecks”

Administrative reform associated with digital transformation, building a transparent, honest and efficient administrative apparatus, reducing hassles, saving time and costs, improving social satisfaction, creating trust for people and businesses in public authorities. These are issues that have received public attention in recent times, and are also key tasks that all levels and sectors have focused on continuously implementing, especially in reducing the number of focal points for receiving records and documents, digitizing to carry out online procedures, saving a lot of time and effort for people and businesses. Thereby, contributing greatly to creating changes in improving the investment and business environment, improving people's satisfaction. Government statistics show that from 2021 to August 2024, more than 3,000 business-related regulations have been reduced, simplified, and nearly 700 administrative procedures have been decentralized to localities.

People do administrative procedures at the Hanoi Land Registration Office. Photo: Cong Hung

Looking at this figure, many opinions say that cumbersome administrative procedures in business are the bottleneck, the big obstacle for people and enterprises. From that reality, at the National Assembly forum, delegates also continuously mentioned the "bottlenecks" related to institutions and administrative procedures. Although it has been simplified, a licensing process or completing investment procedures sometimes has to go through many different agencies and departments, causing time loss and unnecessary costs. This not only puts pressure on enterprises, but also reduces the efficiency of resource use, causing loss of business opportunities. In reality, there has been a situation where documents are going around in circles because they are related to many units, but no unit is primarily responsible. Or many administrative procedures, people still have to be tired of having to photocopy documents, prove information, while it is completely possible to simplify and integrate.

In the article “Slim – Lean – Strong – Effective – Effective – Efficient”, General Secretary To Lam also pointed out that the overlap and unclear division of functions and tasks between units leads to unclear responsibilities, “encroachment”, obstruction, even “neutralization” of each other, reducing initiative and creativity, leading to low labor productivity and work efficiency, shirking responsibility, negativity, hindering development, causing annoyance, reducing effectiveness and efficiency of operations. Intermediate levels lead to time wasted through “multiple doors” of administrative procedures, causing obstruction, even creating bottlenecks, missing development opportunities.

Therefore, in this revolution of streamlining and streamlining the apparatus, the requirement for strong and substantial administrative reform is also raised with many expectations. Because as experts and National Assembly delegates have commented, if the apparatus is streamlined but administrative procedures are not streamlined, it will not be effective. Streamlining the apparatus must go hand in hand with synchronous reform of administrative procedures, application of information technology, digital transformation, and removal of difficulties to help the business community and the economy. In particular, decentralization and delegation of power between the Central and local levels with the motto "locality decides, locality does, locality is responsible" and "one job - one focal point" will promote initiative, self-determination, self-doing and self-responsibility and ensure smoothness in handling administrative procedures.

Removing barriers, towards real transparency

In Official Dispatch No. 131/CD-TTg dated December 11, 2024 on cutting and simplifying administrative procedures, reducing hassles and compliance costs for people and businesses right from the stage of drafting legal documents, the Prime Minister emphasized the need to immediately eliminate administrative procedures that are barriers to production and business activities under authority. At the same time, promote the cutting and simplifying of administrative procedures, reduce hassles and reduce compliance costs right from the stage of drafting legal documents. Draft, submit for promulgation or promulgate under authority amendments to legal documents in the form of one document amending many documents to cut and simplify administrative procedures, business regulations and citizen papers related to population management according to the cutting and simplification options...

Along with the arrangement and streamlining of the apparatus, the Ministry of Justice has also conducted a preliminary review, there are up to 184 laws, about 200 decrees related to the apparatus organization that need to be revised and supplemented. As many opinions commented, this is also an opportunity for ministries and branches according to their functions to review the overall administrative procedures, cut down on overlapping, unnecessary procedures or those that hinder development, to move towards a more effective political system and public authority apparatus, with components operating smoothly, transparently, consistently, synchronously and rhythmically at all levels. Efficiency is not only reflected in reducing costs from the budget for the operation of the political system, but more than that, the operation of the organizational apparatus must become one of the driving forces to promote "substantive" administrative reform, serving the people, aiming at the goal of improving life, eliminating barriers to development.

According to Dr. Nguyen Tien Dinh (former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs), to minimize the situation of issuing administrative procedures and then reviewing them to reduce them, the most effective solution is to focus on reviewing right from the stage of building and promulgating legal regulations. From the "bottlenecks" that have been clearly identified and reviewed in general, there are proposals to shift management thinking to unblocking resources, strengthening decentralization and delegation of authority thoroughly and substantially, ensuring sufficient capacity for individuals and decentralized agencies to organize and perform work; cutting down and simplifying unnecessary or overlapping administrative procedures will bring convenience and speed to people and businesses when implementing.

From the perspective of wanting to quickly bring legal regulations into life, life must be brought into legal regulations first, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Judicial Committee Nguyen Thi Thuy said that in order to innovate thinking in the work of drafting legal documents, we must resolutely abandon the mindset of "if you can't manage it, then ban it" as General Secretary To Lam requested. Accordingly, we must strongly decentralize and delegate power in the direction of "locality decides, locality does, locality takes responsibility". Along with that, we must review, detect "bottlenecks" and remove these "bottlenecks", thereby having a legal basis and legal tools for us to implement and remove in practice.

Streamlining the organizational apparatus is also an opportunity to review and simplify administrative procedures, taking people and businesses as the center, demonstrating a breakthrough spirit in decentralization and delegation of power, truly shifting the strong management method from pre-inspection to post-inspection, creating favorable conditions for businesses, this is the requirement to create development in current reality.

 

Unnecessary and cumbersome administrative procedures in business are bottlenecks and major obstacles for people and businesses; they waste time, waste social resources and waste investment opportunities for businesses. The number of more than 3,000 administrative procedures being cut and simplified brings both good and bad signals. The good signal is because this is the result of active, responsible and scientific review; but the bad signal is because this number is also the result of limitations in the work of building and promulgating legal documents in recent times.

National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga (Hai Duong Province Delegation)