General Secretary To Lam: 'A cumbersome apparatus is very difficult and hinders development'

General Secretary To Lam – Photo: GIA HAN

On the morning of October 31, giving his opinion on the organization of the urban government of Hai Phong City, General Secretary To Lam said that many delegates were concerned about the urban government mechanism and the state management apparatus mechanism to ensure effectiveness and efficiency.

If the central government can be compact, the provinces will be compact.

The General Secretary stated that this is a very big issue and is focusing on discussing to streamline, make the apparatus more effective and efficient. At the same time, it must not be formal but must be true to the substance as the delegate stated that the People's Council must have talented people and not hold concurrent positions.

According to the General Secretary, since the 12th Congress, the Central Committee's resolution has assessed that the state apparatus is cumbersome, operates ineffectively and inefficiently, and must be arranged and streamlined.

But currently, it is only done from the bottom up, such as merging communes and districts, while the province has not done it yet. Or, it has only been implemented in some departments, bureaus, and general departments of ministries and branches, while the central government has not done it yet.

“If the central government can be streamlined, the provinces will be streamlined. Without ministries, how can the provinces have departments? Without departments, how can the districts have offices? How should we do it? This is a very big issue that will have to be discussed in the future.

This is a resolution of the central committee that has been said for several terms and has been evaluated like that, so it must be considered.

Is working 8 hours correct, enough, dedicated, contributing, worthy of receiving that salary?

Everyone must do this and be responsible for it, and if we fail to meet that requirement, we should be ashamed...", General Secretary To Lam said.

He pointed out that the work must be done everywhere and that the central government must set an example, the Party committees must set an example, the National Assembly must set an example, and the Government must set an example.

At the same time, we must be very frank and bold in looking at these indicators, and if we do not do so, we will not be able to develop. “Without streamlining the apparatus, we cannot develop,” the General Secretary noted.

The General Secretary cited that the current budget is spending nearly 70% on salaries, regular expenses, and operations. If the budget is managed like this, there will be no money left for development investment.

“If the country wants to develop, wants this project or that project, where will the money come from? Where will the remaining 30% come from for national defense, security, poverty reduction, and social security?

While other countries spend more than 40%. At least 50% of the budget must be spent on development, national defense, security, education, health, social security... Just comparing this makes us extremely impatient," the General Secretary added.

The General Secretary also explained the reason why it is difficult to increase salaries, because increasing salaries while the apparatus is "huge" will lead to budget expenditures that can reach 80 - 90%, leaving no money for other activities.

“We must continue to streamline the apparatus, reduce staff, and reduce regular expenditures to save resources for development investment. A cumbersome apparatus is very difficult and hinders development,” the General Secretary emphasized.

Along with that, according to the General Secretary, currently there are many ministries and management agencies that do not clearly define their functions and tasks, do not decentralize to localities, and have to do it in a request-grant manner. Localities should do it, but they keep it, ask for it over and over again without answering, wasting time.

The General Secretary also cited the fact that if just one specialist in a ministry unit had a different opinion, the entire system would have to stop to re-evaluate and meet again to find a way to explain those things.

“The current mechanism is like that, any other idea is insurmountable. Month after month, we discuss these issues but they have not been resolved because this ministry has not yet given any opinion…”, the General Secretary added.

Besides, according to the General Secretary, there is also a situation where many agencies, ministries and sectors participate in researching an issue, but in the end, when asked who is primarily responsible, no one knows.

Group discussion scene – Photo: GIA HAN

Must increase labor productivity

Another target that General Secretary To Lam said will be difficult to achieve during this term is labor productivity. The economy is currently growing, but actual labor productivity is decreasing.

“If labor productivity decreases, economic and social development cannot take place. Even for us, compared to the past, it is decreasing. I dare to look at it frankly to make an accurate assessment,” the General Secretary said, citing the index of Vietnam’s labor productivity growth rate decreasing gradually, lower than many countries in the region.

According to the General Secretary, to increase labor productivity, there must be skilled labor, fewer people doing one job, and there must be scientific and technological content and good management methods.

The General Secretary also reiterated the new era that he often mentioned, which is to accelerate capacity with the goal of becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045.

However, if it is now, it is likely difficult to complete. Because there are still 20 years left and the economic scale by then must be 3 times larger than now, the average income per capita must also be 3 times larger to reach the target.

“But now, if it continues like this, how can we triple it? If we can’t do it, it will be very difficult. These are things that need to be discussed, we must clearly see the difficulties to avoid them, overcome them to develop,” the General Secretary added.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-bo-may-cong-kenh-kho-khan-lam-kim-ham-su-phat-trien-20241031110827132.htm