Creating breakthroughs in development

To implement the two-tiered local government model, the Government has issued 28 decrees on decentralization, delegation of power, and delineation of authority. Specifically, the Government has reassigned the authority to handle 346 administrative procedures from the district level to the provincial and commune levels; decentralized 556 administrative procedures from the central government to local authorities; and mandated that administrative procedures be implemented regardless of administrative boundaries within the provincial level.

On June 17th, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed Official Dispatch No. 90/CD-TTg, requesting localities to establish and publicize hotlines for provincial-level public administrative service centers and commune-level People's Committees before June 25th to support and guide individuals and organizations in responding to feedback and suggestions regarding administrative procedures; providing public services during the reorganization of administrative units and the implementation of the two-tiered local government model, ensuring continuous operation 24/7.

In particular, the Prime Minister requested that 100% of administrative procedures related to businesses be implemented online, smoothly, seamlessly, and efficiently, minimizing paperwork, and to be completed by 2025. This is a very important and urgent task that needs to be urgently focused on and completed when implementing the two-tiered local government model from July 1st.

This is an issue that the Central Committee and the Government have continuously and consistently directed over the past period, especially as Vietnam aims for an 8% growth rate in 2025 and double-digit long-term growth in the coming period. To ensure the growth target, the Party has issued a series of strategic resolutions such as: Resolution No. 66 on reforming the work of drafting and implementing laws to meet the requirements of national development in the new era; Resolution No. 68 on the development of the private economy ...

The ongoing 9th session of the 15th National Assembly has also focused on building and perfecting specific legal and policy frameworks to remove "bottlenecks within bottlenecks" in the institutional system, creating a transparent legal environment for the development of all economic sectors, especially the private sector.

However, as National Assembly representatives and experts have affirmed, perfecting the law is not enough; the crucial and decisive issue is to pay special attention to improving the effectiveness of law enforcement.

Currently, citizens and businesses are facing many major obstacles, especially administrative procedures and the "request-and-grant" mechanism, which breeds harassment and corruption, increasing informal costs, distorting the business environment, and undermining transparency and fairness. This is a major bottleneck among many current issues.

According to estimates from the Government Office, the total annual administrative cost that citizens and businesses have to bear in carrying out procedures related to production and business activities is 120,000 billion VND/year.

As requested by the Government, in 2025, ministries, sectors, and localities must focus on reviewing, reducing, and simplifying administrative procedures related to production and business activities, ensuring a minimum reduction of 30% in compliance costs, 30% in business conditions, and 30% in processing time. Therefore, more than ever, the strict implementation of the Prime Minister's directive on reducing administrative procedures and shortening processing time needs to be strictly enforced by ministries, sectors, and localities.

Many National Assembly deputies believe that a task force comprising numerous economic and legal experts should be established to propose solutions to streamline and simplify administrative procedures related to investment projects, focusing on reducing, consolidating, or linking administrative procedures; it is urgent to rapidly promote the application of information technology and digital transformation in public administration when transitioning to a two-tiered local government model, and to consider this as a criterion for evaluating the competence and responsibility of leaders at all levels…

Only by truly and decisively removing administrative barriers will we have the opportunity to achieve breakthroughs and reach high long-term growth targets.

LAM NGUYEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/tao-dot-pha-phat-trien-post800036.html