The quality of work must be prioritized.

As we enter the new year 2025, the transportation sector will reach the milestone of 80 years of its glorious tradition of "pioneering and leading the way".

Speaking with Giao Thong Newspaper, Minister Tran Hong Minh affirmed that the Ministry will be determined and resolute in streamlining its apparatus, employing virtuous and talented officials, maximizing the strength of its workforce, prioritizing work quality, and joining the country in entering a new era.

Many opinions have pointed out the significant challenges facing the "Commander of the Transport Sector" at the time he was assigned the important responsibility of Minister of Transport by the Prime Minister. After two months, what can he share about his work?

Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh. Photo: Ta Hai.

Having grown up in a military training environment and spent many years involved in bridge and road construction and defense investment, I recognized both advantages and challenges when I took on this assignment. The Ministry of Transport is a multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary ministry that always receives significant public attention. That is a source of pressure.

The pressure is even greater because transportation infrastructure is one of the three breakthroughs mentioned in the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

The workload is enormous, as evidenced by the nearly 400 trillion VND in public investment capital for the transport sector assigned by the Prime Minister for the 2021-2025 term . How can the Party Committee and the leadership team of the Ministry direct the timely implementation of tasks, ensuring rapid progress without compromising quality? That is what I am concerned about…

Upon assuming my duties, I witnessed the work ethic of my colleagues throughout the sector, who were fully committed to the Prime Minister's directive: "Thought must be clear, determination must be high, effort must be great, and action must be decisive." For any task that "the Party has directed, the Government has agreed upon, and the National Assembly and the people have consented to, we will only discuss and proceed, not consider turning back." Thanks to this spirit, the transport sector accomplished many difficult tasks in 2024.

Minister Tran Hong Minh inspects the North-South Expressway section from Can Tho to Ca Mau on December 10, 2024. Photo: Le An.

The political tasks and workload are substantial, and must be carried out in the context of merging, reorganizing, and streamlining ministries and agencies according to Resolution 18-NQ/TW. When the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Construction merge, what, in your opinion, are the difficulties and advantages in completing the important tasks of the sector?

First and foremost, it must be affirmed that the restructuring and streamlining of ministries and agencies is a major and correct policy aimed at strengthening the Party's leadership role and improving the efficiency of State management in a centralized and unified manner; with a focus on key areas, in line with the socialist-oriented market economy.

Following the directives of the General Secretary and the Prime Minister, the plan to merge the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Construction has been carefully and thoroughly researched and developed in the direction of being "lean, efficient, effective, and effective," meeting the principle that one agency performs multiple tasks and one task is assigned to only one agency to lead and be primarily responsible for.

Streamlining the organizational structure and integrating the urban and rural management sectors of the Ministry of Construction with the transportation sector will create synergy to handle more challenging tasks, larger projects, and broader scopes.

Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh. Photo: Ta Hai.

To date, with a high degree of consensus, the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Transport have finalized the content of the merger plan for the two ministries and submitted it to the Government. After the competent authority issues the official decision, the Ministry will vigorously implement the next steps.

Regarding the surplus of staff, the Ministry of Transport has directed its specialized agencies to take early action, screening out those who show weaknesses through appropriate policies and retaining those who are virtuous, talented, and professionally qualified to meet the requirements of the new situation, in accordance with the directives of the General Secretary and the Prime Minister.

The process of streamlining and reorganizing the apparatus still has much work to do, but it will certainly yield results. It requires unity in thinking, awareness, and action; a collective understanding and self-awareness from each official and Party member; and decisive involvement from Party committees at all levels.

Recognizing 2025 as a particularly important year, the Prime Minister has set a GDP growth target of 8% to create momentum and impetus for implementing the 2026 plan and the entire 2021-2030 period. Looking ahead to the new year, what challenges and solutions will the Ministry of Transport implement to contribute to the successful achievement of the government's goals?

2025 has been identified as the year to accelerate the successful implementation of the goals set forth by the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

It is encouraging that in recent years, in the field of bridge and road construction, the project management team, domestic contractors, and engineers have matured and improved their skills. However, in practice, the task of making breakthroughs in transportation infrastructure still faces many major challenges.

The Long Thanh Airport project still has many items that need to be accelerated, and the leadership and organizational structure for construction implementation have not achieved the expected level of unity; further improvements are needed to enhance effectiveness and efficiency.

According to international experience, a large project like Long Thanh Airport typically requires a chief engineer, chief architect, and chief engineer for each work group/project component.

Workers compact the ground at package 4.7 of the Long Thanh airport apron. Photo: Nguyen Nham.

Next is the railway sector. For many years, Vietnam has not had any large-scale railway projects implemented. The level of management, engineering, and domestic labor is limited, and there is a shortage of high-quality human resources for high-speed rail and urban railways. This is a major obstacle in leadership, direction, and implementation.

The railway management and operation system is currently divided into three organizations: the Vietnam Railway Department, the Vietnam Railway Corporation, and the Railway Project Management Board. Therefore, the unity in management and direction has not yet achieved the desired effectiveness.

Without thorough and meticulous preparation across various fields, the implementation of new, more technically complex, and larger-scale projects will leave us dependent on foreign consultants and contractors.

For particularly large projects with exceptionally tight deadlines, such as the North-South high-speed railway, the 19 special mechanisms approved by the National Assembly must be concretized through resolutions and directives to provide a solid legal basis for guidance and implementation.

Furthermore, the inland waterway and maritime sectors still face many difficulties, and the Ministry is directing efforts to resolve them decisively so that investment and development are focused and targeted according to the specialized plans approved by the Prime Minister.

To overcome difficulties and challenges, the Ministry of Transport will mobilize maximum intellectual resources from within and outside the Ministry, in combination with foreign consultants; perfect the institutional framework to concretize the work with detailed plans for each item/step of work, assigning specific responsibilities to clear individuals and tasks based on their strengths, experience, and training, while strengthening inspection and supervision.

First and foremost, domestic and international training must be provided to improve the management skills of officials and engineers in the Ministry in the railway and aviation sectors in order to create a high-quality workforce.

Minister Tran Hong Minh presents gifts to encourage workers and engineers constructing the Bung - Van Ninh expressway project on January 3, 2025. Photo: Ta Hai.

As the nation enters a new era, the transport sector is also reaching the milestone of 80 years of tradition. Standing at this important threshold, what message does the Minister wish to send to all officials and workers in the sector?

Transportation is a very early industry, closely linked to the long history of the country.

Continuing the glorious history of "pioneering and leading the way," building upon and developing the valuable achievements and experiences of previous generations of leaders, in recent years, the collective of cadres, civil servants, and workers of the industry have strived day and night, through holidays and Tet (Lunar New Year), readily setting aside personal matters and dedicating their youth to each construction site to build roads, airports, seaports, and railway lines connecting the two regions of the country, increasing regional connectivity, opening up new development spaces, developing localities, and enriching the nation.

Transportation is the lifeblood of a nation, like the main blood vessels in the human body. If one point or sector is congested, the socio-economic situation will be affected.

In 2025, the Ministry of Transport will continue to maintain discipline and order; unity; innovative thinking; proactive creativity; and prioritize work quality with the highest determination and greatest effort, joining the country in entering a new era - an era of national progress.

Thank you very much, Minister!

New Year's message for the Year of the Snake (2015) from Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/bo-truong-tran-hong-minh-phai-dat-chat-luong-cong-viec-len-hang-dau-1922501262157452.htm