 Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong opens the 6th plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee
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Cutting 50 state employees per district will save hundreds of millions of VND for the state budget each year. If the streamlining is applied across Ministries, central agencies, and 63 cities and provinces, the result will be much bigger. Preliminary calculations show that eliminating 10% of state employees by 2021 will save 70 trillion VND. In addition to this figure there could be uncountable results including improved management and strengthened trust in the State administrative system.
Initial changes
Ha Giang province saved 24 billion VND in 2016 by streamlining and merging the state apparatus. Most departments and agencies have 1 to 3 core offices. Restructuring and fine-tuning agencies has created conditions for realizing Party guidelines and state policies.
The government recently released a decree on the function, tasks, authorities and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. As a result, the number of affiliates under the Ministry has been reduced from 35 to 30. The Ministry of Home Affairs is restructuring its organization to avoid overlapping. Minister Le Vinh Tan said: “Government decree No 34 directs the Ministry of Home Affairs to eliminate one of its training school. But during the restructuring process, we closed 3 other schools and 2 offices in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh city.”
Stronger administrative reform needed
Resolution No 39 of the Politburo has received an ineffective response. The number of general departments keeps rising, to 42 by June. There are 4 million state employees, 96,000 more than 2 years ago. State agencies eat up 65% of the state budget.
Dr. Dinh Duy Hoa of the Ministry of Home Affairs said stronger administrative reform needs to be done and the quality of state employees needs to be improved: “The National Assembly should direct the government to issue a Decree on Division, Department, and General Department. These administrative agencies should be organized under uniform criteria. The decree should be submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee before issuance and should be implemented throughout the administrative apparatus.”
Party building and streamlining the administrative system are two major Party tasks set out at the 12th National Party Congress. Restructuring the state apparatus employees will improve the quality of staffing and contribute to national industrialization, modernization, and international integration.