The report provides an important picture of the performance of local government apparatuses in the second year of the 2021-2026 term, and shows a shift in public perception regarding the effectiveness of local anti-corruption efforts, in the context of public expectations for effective and efficient governance that meets the increasingly high demands of the people.
Vietnam's efforts in 2022 to mitigate the socio -economic impacts of the two-year pandemic helped boost public confidence in the economic conditions of households and the nation over the past year. Notably, 66.1% of respondents rated the national economy as "good" in 2022 – a 19.4% increase from the previous year. Similarly, the percentage of people rating the country's economic conditions as "poor" decreased by 13.7% from 19.8% in 2021 to 6.1% in 2022. Likewise, at the household level, the percentage of people who considered their household economic conditions "poor" decreased from 15.3% in 2021 to 11.4% in 2022.
Despite improved perceptions of economic conditions, the impact of the two years of the pandemic remains. Although 56% of respondents stated their household economic conditions were better in 2022, higher than the 52% in 2021, this figure is still the lowest since 2012. Similarly, those who reported poor household economic conditions rose to their highest level since 2012, except for 2021. These figures suggest that many people still harbor concerns about the impact of the pandemic, with ethnic minorities and women being most severely affected due to higher rates of poverty and unstable employment in these two groups.
The shift to a post-pandemic era is also reflected in people's opinions when asked about the most important issues that the State needs to focus on addressing in 2022. The percentage of respondents choosing health and health insurance as the most important issue decreased sharply from 23.84% in the 2021 PAPI survey to 6.38% in the 2022 PAPI survey. Poverty returned to the top position with 22.13% of respondents choosing this issue in 2022. Poverty has also consistently topped the list of issues of concern to the people since 2015, except for 2021 when Vietnam was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the highest number of interviews ever, reaching 16,117 randomly selected respondents from all 63 provinces and cities of Vietnam, the PAPI 2022 Report provides invaluable data and information on the performance of governments at all levels during the first two years of the 2021-2026 term and contributes to the development of important policies and laws in 2023.
At the PAPI 2022 Report Announcement Conference, Dr. Nguyen Huu Dung, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, stated: “Over the past 14 years, the PAPI research program has had a positive impact, transforming the awareness and actions of provincial-level governments, practically contributing to promoting state administrative reform – one of the key contents of the three strategic breakthroughs for socio-economic development that the Vietnamese Party and State have been striving to implement. Therefore, researching and analyzing the people's assessment of the effectiveness of provincial-level governance and public administration provides important indicators, helping policymakers to promptly adjust and improve policies and innovate working methods to suit practical requirements.”
In his opening remarks at the conference, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrew Goledzinowski shared: “I am delighted to see the Vietnamese Government monitoring the PAPI results to adjust policies and improve the quality of public services, particularly at the provincial level. It is important that PAPI reflects the views and voices of a wide range of people, including women and men, as well as people with disabilities. Listening to citizens' opinions in this way is essential for improving public services. Australia has been supporting this important governance initiative for the past seven years because we see the value this research brings to Vietnam.”
Against the backdrop of the government's intensified anti-corruption efforts as a key focus during this term, the 2022 PAPI survey results show a changing public attitude towards this issue. The percentage of respondents who believe corruption is a serious problem requiring government attention increased by 4.8% in 2022 compared to 2021. This trend is consistent with the findings of the "Controlling Corruption in the Public Sector" index, which saw a decline in the number of people who perceived the effectiveness of local government corruption control as a first since 2016. This decline is attributed to an increase in the percentage of people who believe that relying on connections with powerful figures is necessary to obtain employment in government agencies, and a rise in the percentage of people who have to pay bribes when registering land use rights.
Openness and transparency in local decision-making help to provide early warnings of potential wrongdoing, thus contributing significantly to reducing corruption. However, the 2022 PAPI survey results show that there has not been much positive change in this important aspect of public governance. The main reason is that people still complain about the inaccuracy in the local government's compilation of poverty lists, preventing truly poor households from accessing state support. Nevertheless, people acknowledge the improvement in the transparency of revenue and expenditure information at the commune level in 2022.
To contribute to the 2023 legislative program, the PAPI 2022 Report also analyzes the results of citizen surveys on several issues to provide evidence for discussions on amending the 2013 Land Law and preparing for the implementation of the 2022 Law on Grassroots Democracy.
Ms. Ramla Khalidi, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Vietnam, stated: “The PAPI Index research program aims to reflect people's assessments of the implementation of government policies and development programs, thereby contributing to improving and enhancing the responsiveness, transparency, and accountability of all levels of government. The 2022 PAPI report provides an important source of empirical data for all levels of government, from central to local, to monitor their performance in governance, public administration, and public service delivery.”
The 2013 Land Law includes regulations related to land transactions, confiscation, and compensation. The PAPI index explores people's perceptions and experiences of effective local land governance, analyzing several indicators to assess the fairness in the practical application of certain provisions of the law. A key finding is that the percentage of households whose agricultural land was confiscated increased to 4.1% in 2022, higher than the previous year. In villages/hamlets where at least 30% of residents are engaged in agriculture, the percentage of respondents reporting that their household had experienced agricultural land confiscation increased from 5.4% in 2021 to 6.5% in 2022. This indicates that agricultural land confiscation in rural areas remains a prominent issue requiring resolution through stricter regulations on transparency and equitable access to land information in the revised Land Law.
Residents believe that land acquisition compensation is still too low, and this is one of the common causes of land acquisition-related complaints. Therefore, a question was included in the 2022 PAPI study to survey the public. The results showed a significant difference between the market price of land use rights (land price) and the land price officially issued by local authorities. This indicates that, from the perspective of the people, local authorities have not taken market prices into account when determining land acquisition compensation. Therefore, local land price tables need to be updated regularly, instead of every four years, to keep pace with the rapidly changing land use rights transaction prices among residents, especially in urban areas.
The survey also revealed that people have little knowledge of land prices. Up to 70% of respondents were unaware of market land prices or the official land prices issued by the local authorities. This could be a result of limited awareness and a lack of public participation in local land use planning.
Furthermore, with the promulgation of the Law on Grassroots Democracy in 2022, replacing the Ordinance on Grassroots Democracy at the Commune Level in 2007, the 2022 PAPI Index also provides important baseline data for monitoring the implementation of this "people-centered" legal document, especially in ensuring that elected representatives at the grassroots level accurately reflect the rich social structure of Vietnamese society. Findings from the 2022 survey show that voters tend to support electing candidates from ethnic minorities to elected positions from the national to the grassroots level (85% support) more than candidates who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex (LGBTIQ+) (45% support) and candidates who are people with disabilities (42% support). However, there are also reasons for optimism, as the percentage of voters willing to vote for representatives from the LGBTIQ+ and disability communities may increase in the future, once policies supporting the political participation of these communities are in place, similar to the current policies supporting women's political participation.
Regarding this matter, Mr. Conor Finn, Deputy Ambassador of the Irish Embassy in Vietnam, shared: “The Irish Embassy in Vietnam highly appreciates the PAPI study's focus on the inclusion of vulnerable groups. The Irish Government is committed to prioritizing support for communities often left behind, so we value the PAPI study's focus on listening to the voices of ethnic minorities, women, people with disabilities, and the LGBTIQ+ community. We are committed to continuing to support these efforts by increasing funding for the PAPI study program in 2023.”
The implementation of grassroots democracy was explored in greater depth in the context of the 2022 elections for village/neighborhood leaders in all 63 provinces and cities. The 2022 PAPI survey results showed that the competitiveness for the position of village/neighborhood leader tended to decrease over time. In 2022, only 48% of those participating in the election for village/neighborhood leader reported having more than one candidate to choose from.
Regarding the effectiveness of e-government, local authorities still have much work to do to encourage more people to use online public services, commensurate with the large percentage of people currently using the internet. In 2022, the percentage of people who said they could perform some public services online to obtain local government confirmation or land use right certificates was lower than in 2021. Regarding the use of the National Public Service Portal (DVCQG), the number of respondents who said they had used or had user profiles on the DVCQG was very low: less than 5% of respondents said they had used the DVCQG for various purposes, and about 3% had created user profiles on the portal.
In addition, the PAPI 2022 Report presents provincial-level results across eight content indicators: Citizen participation at the grassroots level; Transparency in local decision-making; Accountability to citizens; Control of corruption in the public sector; Public administrative procedures; Public service delivery; Environmental governance; and E-governance.
Among the provinces/cities in the "high" quartile group, 6 are in the Red River Delta region and 6 are in the North Central and Central Coastal regions. The provinces/cities in the 14 "low" quartile group are in the Northern Midlands and Mountains, the Central Highlands, and the Mekong Delta. Notably, the gap in provincial-level governance and public administration efficiency in 2022 between the highest and lowest scoring groups tended to narrow, meaning that, according to public assessment, governance and administration efficiency in many provinces/cities did not improve compared to 2021.
Compared to the 2021 PAPI results, 33 provinces/cities showed significant improvement in Index 1 "Citizen Participation at the Grassroots Level"; 18 provinces/cities showed significant improvement in Index 2 "Transparency in Local Decision-Making"; and 30 provinces/cities showed significant improvement in Index 8 "E-Governance". However, 29 provinces/cities showed significant decline in Index 7 "Environmental Governance", 18 provinces/cities showed significant decline in Index 4 "Control of Corruption in the Public Sector", and 18 provinces/cities showed significant decline in Index 6 "Provision of Public Services".
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