Decision No. 225/QD-TTg dated 04 February 2016 of the Prime Minister approving the State Administrative Reform for the period 2016 - 2020

DECISION

Approving the State Administrative Reform Plan in the 2016-2020 period[1]

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the Government’s Resolution No. 30c/NQ-CP of November 8, 2011, promulgating the Master Program on State Administrative Reform during 2011-2020; and the Government’s Resolution No. 76/NQ-CP of June 13, 2013, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Resolution No. 30c/NQ-CP of November 8, 2011, promulgating the Master Program on State Administrative Reform in the 2011-2020 period;

Pursuant to the Government’s Resolution No. 36a/NQ-CP of October 14, 2015, on e-government;

At the proposal of the Minister of Home Affairs,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To promulgate the State Administrative Reform Plan in the 2016-2020 period with the following major contents:

I. OBJECTIVES, REQUIREMENTS

1. Objectives

- To further boost the implementation of the Master Program on State Administrative Reform in the 2011-2020 period under the Government’s Resolution No. 30c/NQ-CP, ensuring the fulfillment of state administrative reform objectives and tasks in the second stage (2016-2020). To focus on key administrative reforms in the 2016-2020 period, namely institutional reform; building and improvement of the quality of the contingent of cadres, civil servants and public employees, attaching importance to reforming salary policy in order to motivate cadres, civil servants and public employees to perform civil duties with high quality and efficiency; and improvement of the quality of administrative and public services.

- To address shortcomings, limitations and problems in the 2011-2015 implementation of the Master Program on State Administrative Reform under the Government’s Resolution No. 30c/NQ-CP of November 8, 2011.

- To link administrative reforms of ministries, sectors and localities; to enhance responsibilities of individuals, agencies, units and heads of state administrative agencies at all levels for the performance of administrative reform tasks. To improve the quality and effectiveness of administrative reform for achieving the national socio-economic development objectives up to 2020.

2. Requirements

 - To comprehensively improve the quality of administrative reform at state administrative agencies from central to local levels to meet requirements of the new period.

- To closely combine the implementation of administrative reform tasks, plans and projects; to increase direction for and coordination among ministries, sectors and localities in the performance of administrative reform tasks in the 2016-2020 period, ensuring quality and effectiveness on the basis of fully implementing the solutions set forth in the Government’s Resolution No. 30c/NQ-CP of November 8, 2011.

- To press for the fruitful performance of key administrative reform tasks in the 2016-2020 period, ensuring the improvement of capacity, skills, sense of responsibility, and moral qualities for civil duty performance, and professional ethics; to associate administrative reform with legislative and judiciary reforms and improvement of the investment and business environment.

- To clearly define responsibilities of heads of state administrative agencies in ministries, sectors and localities for the performance of administrative reform tasks.

- To draw on good experiences in domestic administrative reforms in the past period and proactively study advanced experiences of other countries for appropriate application to the practical situation in Vietnam.

II. STATE ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM TASKS IN THE 2016-2020 PERIOD

1. Institutional reform

a/ To further carry on administrative, legislative and judiciary reforms in a  coordinated manner, building a law-ruled socialist state of the people, by the people and for the people which operates with effectiveness and efficiency and performs well the developmental function in the context of developing a market economy and building a democratic society;

b/ To further improve the institutional system of a socialist-oriented market economy, ensuring conformity with universal standards of a modern market economy and international integration;

c/ To improve the institutional and legal system of the administration in accordance with the 2013 Constitution;

d/ To further improve the laws on protection of human rights and citizens’ fundamental rights and obligations in accordance with the 2013 Constitution and international practices; to expand and promote socialist democracy;

dd/ By 2020, to basically complete the establishment of a uniform, consistent, enforceable, public, transparent, stable, easy-to-access legal system that enables low observance cost and is based on a system of planned policies for each field in line with socio-economic development objectives;

e/ To institutionalize the principles of assignment, coordination and control of state power; to prevent and fight corruption; to raise state governance effectiveness; to increase publicity, transparency and accountability in the organization and operation of state agencies and institutions in the political system;

g/ To further renew and improve institutions on ownership and state enterprises; to clearly define the management role of the State in the capacity as owner of state property and capital; to improve institutions on state capital trading;

h/ To further develop and improve the law on the relationship between the State and the people, focusing on guaranteeing and promoting the people’s role as masters, consulting the people before deciding on important policies, and on the people’s right to oversee activities of state administrative agencies;

i/ To change the strategic direction from focusing on law making and improvement to improvement and organization of law enforcement, enhancing the strictness of the law and the close connection between law making and organization of law enforcement;

k/ To renew the inspection, examination and supervision of the process of providing advice on and promulgating legal documents in order to eliminate sectional interests in the process of promulgating legal documents.

2. Administrative procedure reform

a/ To organize the effective implementation of the 2015 Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents; to closely control the imposition of administrative procedures right from the drafting stage; to strictly implement  the Prime Minister’s Directive No. 13/CT-TTg of June 10, 2015, on holding heads of state administrative agencies responsible for administrative procedure reform;

b/ To continue simplifying administrative procedures, cutting costs for administrative procedure conformity in all economic, cultural and social fields; to prioritize administrative procedures for international integration and administrative procedures in a number of key fields: investment; land; construction; home ownership; tax; customs; export; import; health; access to electricity; and market control, ensuring favorable conditions for all economic sectors to develop in an open and fair business environment and contributing to liberating social resources and raising national competitiveness. The rate of public satisfaction with the settlement of administrative procedures will surpass 80% by 2020;

c/ To increasingly develop and improve forms of publicity and transparency of all administrative procedures; to attach importance to the announcement of administrative procedures under the management or settlement competence of ministries, sectors and localities; to publicize administrative procedures on the national database of administrative procedures and websites; to post up administrative procedures at the offices of agencies and units that directly settle administrative procedures;

d/ To establish and operate a system of information on receipt and processing of reports and petitions on administrative regulations and on the situation and results of settlement of administrative procedures at the administrations of all levels;

dd/ To develop a plan on simplification of reporting regulations in activities of state administrative agencies; to study and multiply good models and new ways in the administrative procedure reform nationwide;

e/ To continue implementing the general plan on simplification of administrative procedures, civic papers and databases on management of residents in the 2013-2020 period;

g/ To concentrate on reforming administrative procedures within state agencies, public non-business and public service organizations and administrative procedures involving various state administrative agencies at all levels; to synchronously and effectively implement the single-window and inter-agency single-window mechanisms at local state administrative agencies.

3. State administrative apparatus reform

a/ To study, review and adjust functions, tasks, powers and organizational apparatuses of agencies, organizations and units (including administrative agencies and public non-business units), and streamline agencies and organizations for more effective and efficient performance to meet development requirements;

b/ To classify administrative agencies as a basis for defining their appropriate organization and apparatus meeting management requirements and improving the quality of delivered services to meet the essential needs of the public. State agencies shall transfer tasks that they do not have to perform directly or they are performing ineffectively to non-state organizations;

c/ To study, develop and apply the model of assessment of organizations;

d/ To improve regulations on decentralization of management between central and local levels in the fields of state management on the principle that superior state administrative agencies perform the jobs which are performed ineffectively by subordinate state administrative agencies. To clearly and transparently determine objectives, requirements, principles, conditions and sanctions of decentralization regulations;

dd/ To further reform and widely implement the mechanism on autonomy and accountability of public service non-business units; by 2020, the rate of individual satisfaction with education and health services delivered by non-business units will surpass 80%;

e/ To complete the planning of a network of public non-business units by sector and field. To classify non-business units for application of appropriate forms of transformation (operation like enterprises, equitization, public private partnership, etc.). To step up the socialization of public non-business units that can afford all operational expenses (universities, institutes, research institutes, vocational training institutions, hospitals, etc.) toward further increasing their autonomy and accountability in performance, finance and personnel, and encourage the establishment of non-state public service organizations, especially in education and training, health and science and technology. To increase inspection and supervision by state agencies and the public of public non-business units’ activities;

g/ To establish strict conditions and criteria for the establishment, dissolution and merger of administrative units at all levels toward encouraging the merger of commune-level administrative units and basically keeping the number of local administrative units unchanged.

4. Building and qualification improvement of the contingent of cadres, civil servants and public employees

a/ To further reform civil duty and civil servant regimes, and build a contingent of cadres, civil servants and public employees who have a reasonable number and structure and full qualifications and capability to perform civil duties and serve the people and the cause of national development. By 2020, the contingent of cadres, civil servants and public employees will have a reasonable number and structure and full qualifications and capability to perform civil duties and serve the people and the cause of national development; all state administrative agencies will have a working position-based structure of cadres and civil servants;

b/ To uphold responsibility and moral qualities for civil duty performance and social responsibility, tighten discipline in the direction, administration and performance of civil duties;

c/ To supplement and complete professional titles and criteria of civil servants and public employees;

d/ To renew methods of recruitment of civil servants and public employees in terms of process, competence and responsibility and issue regulations on handling of violations; to pilot new methods of selecting leaders and managers;

dd/ To renew statistical and reporting work and management of records of civil servants and public employees;

e/ To effectively implement the Political Bureau’s Resolution No. 39-NQ/TW of April 17, 2015, on payroll streamlining and restructuring the contingent of cadres, civil servants and public employees, and the Government’s Decree No. 108/2014/ND-CP of November 20, 2014, on payroll streamlining policies;

g/ To raise the quality of training and retraining for cadres, civil servants and public employees. To review training programs for cadres, civil servants and public employees in order to remove overlapping training contents and bring about practical benefits and avoid waste. To create vigorous changes in training and retraining quality and effectiveness, contributing to building a contingent of professional cadres, civil servants and public employees with full qualities, qualifications and capability to serve the people and the cause of  national development and international integration. To revise and complete mechanisms for training and retraining of cadres, civil servants and public employees in conformity with Vietnam’s conditions and international integration requirements; to adopt incentive policies for cadres, civil servants and public employees to study and self-study and increasingly improve their qualifications and capability to perform assigned tasks and civil duties. To organize a streamlined and scientific system of management and training institutions for cadres, civil servants and public employees suitable to training objectives and requirements, ensuring centralized and uniform management of training and retraining;

h/ To organize the assessment and classification of cadres, civil servants and public employees in accordance with law, associated with other contents of  management of cadres, civil servants and public employees;

i/ To apply information technology and advanced models, methods and technologies to the recruitment, rank promotion, grade increase and assessment of cadres, civil servants and public employees;

k/ To prioritize resources for reform of salary policies, social insurance regimes and preferential treatment of persons with meritorious services; by 2020, salaries of cadres, civil servants and public employees will be basically reformed, ensuring their and their families’ living standards reach the above-average level in the society.

5. Public finance reform

a/ To closely control current expenditures and public investment from the state budget;

b/ To further renew financial mechanisms for administrative and non-business units;

c/ To further renew financial mechanisms and policies for state enterprises, particularly economic groups and corporations; to closely manage the borrowing and repayment of foreign loans; to keep government debts, national debts and public debts within the safe limits;

d/ To fundamentally renew the use of state funds and development and implementation of science and technology tasks, regarding application objectives and effectiveness as the top criteria. To develop science and technology enterprises; to synchronously develop policies to train, attract, employ in important positions and properly treat science and technology talents;

dd/ To further renew the budget allocation to state administrative agencies, effectively implementing the mechanism of budget allocation based on performance results and quality and control of outputs and quality of spending according to objectives and tasks of these agencies;

e/ To step up socialization, improve institutions and increase measures to promote investment under public-private partnership (PPP) for the provision of public services in the fields of health, education and training, culture and sports and construction of infrastructure projects;

g/ To standardize the quality of education, training and health services; to review and revise or promulgate quality criteria and standards and mechanisms for supervision, assessment and inspection of the quality of public services and performance effectiveness of public non-business units.

6. Modernization of the administrative system

a/ To improve and enhance the operation of the Government’s e-administrative information network; to build a national portal of public services for integration of all online public services of ministries, sectors and localities;

b/ To build e-government and e-administrations under the Government’s Resolution No. 36a/NQ-CP of October 14, 2015, and the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1819/QD-TTg of October 26, 2015, approving the National Program on application of information technology to operations of state agencies in the 2016-2020 period. To increasingly apply information and communication technologies to the processing of work within each state administrative agency and among state administrative agencies and in transactions with organizations and individuals. To develop, integrate and connect national information systems, creating an online environment for wide information sharing among state agencies;

c/ To develop information systems essential for information technology application to serve the people and enterprises; to synchronously develop national information systems and databases; to uniformly apply information technology in an effective and comprehensive manner at the sections of reception and result notification under the single-window and inter-agency single-window mechanisms; to increase online connection, information sharing and dossier exchange and processing;

d/ To raise the service quality and publicity and transparency in operations of state administrative agencies by increasingly providing online public services to the people and organizations; to provide level-4 online basic public services to meet practical needs of individuals and organizations any time and anywhere through different media. To apply information technology to reduce the time volume and times of travel to state agencies for implementing administrative procedures;

Specific targets in the 2016-2020 period: 30% of administrative procedure dossiers will be processed online at level 4; 95% of tax declaration dossiers of enterprises will be sent online; 90% of enterprises will pay taxes online; 90% of agencies and organizations will make e-transactions for social insurance procedures; 20% of enterprise registration certificates will be granted online; and 10% of investment certificates will be granted online;

dd/ To closely combine this task with the implementation of administrative reform contents to make information technology application to operations of state agencies truly boost administrative reform. To effectively apply information technology to operations of state agencies to speed up the processing of work and cut operational costs;

e/ To improve the direction and administration of operations of administrative agencies through the effective use of the e-administrative information networks.

- 100% of nonsecret documents submitted to provincial-level People’s Committees, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and the Prime Minister will be electronic;

- 80% of documents exchanged among state agencies will be electronic.

g/ To develop and apply quality control systems according to national standard TCVN ISO 9001:2008 at administrative agencies, prioritizing electronic ISO;

h/ To review and evaluate operations of centralized administrative centers and the model of public administrative centers in some localities. To further build offices of administrative agencies, particularly at the commune level.

7. Direction and administration of administrative reform

a/ To build directing and administering capacity in association with increasingly advising, summarizing and implementing the contents and tasks of the Government’s Steering Committee for Administrative Reform. To seriously implement the Prime Minister’s Directive No. 07/CT-TTg of May 22, 2013, on enhancement of implementation of the Master Plan on State administrative Reform in the 2011-2020 period, and the Prime Minister’s directives on enhancement of administrative procedure reform in a number of key fields;

b/ To increasingly monitor, assess and collect public opinions about administrative reform results. To determine and announce annual administrative reform indices of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees. To determine and announce the satisfaction index of public administration services; the satisfaction index of public health quality; and the satisfaction index of public education quality;

c/ To build capacity for civil servants specialized in administrative reform;

d/ To increase public information about and inspection of administrative reform.

III. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees:

- Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees and related agencies shall concretize the State Administrative Reform Plain in the 2016-2020 period into tasks under their annual work plans for implementation which meet their practical requirements; and periodically make review reports and other reports under the guidance of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

- To proactively direct and urge their attached agencies and units to implement their administrative reform plan in the 2016-2020 period and annual administrative reform plans.

- Ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies shall increasingly coordinate and urge ministries, sectors and localities in performing administrative reform tasks under their state management, and proactively propose to the Prime Minister, the Government’s Steering Committee for Administrative Reform and the Ministry of Home Affairs key administrative reform tasks under their state management which require inter-sectoral coordination, monitoring and direction.

2. Ministries and agencies taking charge of national projects and plans provided in the Appendix to this Decision shall coordinate with related ministries and agencies in elaborating these projects and plans, submitting them to competent agencies for approval, and organizing their implementation in accordance with current regulations on budget management.

3. The Ministry of Home Affairs:

As the standing body of the Government’s Steering Committee for Administrative Reform and in assisting the Government in the implementation of the Master Program on State Administrative Reform in the 2011-2020 period, the Ministry of Home Affairs shall:

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, guiding, urging, monitoring, evaluating and examining ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and provinces and centrally run cities in the implementation of the State Administrative Reform Plan in the 2016-2020 period, ensuring prescribed quality, efficiency, requirements and schedule;

- Urge members of the Government’s Steering Committee for Administrative Reform in implementing the State Administration Reform Plan in the 2016-2020 period;

- Summarize and report on the plan implementation according to regulations. Study and propose the Government, the Prime Minister and the Government’s Steering Committee for Administrative Reform to address difficulties and problems of ministries, sectors and localities in the implementation of the administrative reform plans. Increasingly examine, monitor, evaluate and propose measures to step up the implementation of tasks under the Plan;

- Assume the prime responsibility for implementing administrative organizational apparatus reform, civil servant and civil duty reform and reform of salary policies for cadres, civil servants and public employees; coordinate with the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security in reforming salary policies for the people’s armed forces;

- Assume the prime responsibility for determining the administrative reform indices of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees; and the public satisfaction index of services of state administrative agencies;

- Train and retrain cadres and civil servants specialized in administrative reform of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees;

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, sectors and localities in, increasing public information on administrative reform;

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in estimating, appraising and allocating funds for the implementation of projects, plans and tasks under administrative reform plans in the 2016-2020 period of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees.

4. The Ministry of Justice shall:

a/ Monitor and summarize the performance of institutional reform tasks;

b/ Assume the prime responsibility for performing the task of renewing, and improving the quality of, the making and promulgation of legal documents;

c/ Assume the prime responsibility for implementing the administrative procedure reform;

d/ Assume the prime responsibility for developing and guiding the method for calculating costs for clearance of administrative procedures;

dd/ Assume the prime responsibility for cooperation with international organizations in reforming administrative regulations.

5. The Government Office shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, developing and operating the Government’s e-administrative information network and the national portal of public services.

6. The Ministry of Finance shall:

a/ Assume the prime responsibility for renewing the mechanism on budget allocation to state administrative agencies based on their performance results;

b/ Assume the prime responsibility for renewing the mechanisms on autonomy and accountability of public service non-business units;

c/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs in, appraising funds for the implementation of annual administrative reform plans of central and local agencies, and summarizing and proposing them to competent authorities for decision; to assume the prime responsibility for guiding ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees in estimating, managing, using and settling funds for the program implementation.

7. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall:

a/ Monitor and urge ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees in implementing the Government’s Action Program for implementation of the Resolution of the X^th Party Central Committee’s Sixth Plenum on continued institutional improvement of the socialist-oriented market economy promulgated together with the Government’s Resolution No. 22/2008/NQ-CP of September 23, 2008;

b/ Continue assuming the prime responsibility for and effectively implementing the plan on reform of coordination mechanisms in macro-economic management and administration;

c/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs in, summarizing and proposing competent authorities to allocate central budget funds to plans and projects in annual state budget estimates for administrative reform of state administrative agencies;

d/ Assume the prime responsibility for summarizing and proposing competent authorities to decide on official development assistance (ODA) funds for the plan implementation.

8. The Ministry of Information and Communications shall:

a/ Assume the prime responsibility for the application of information technology to operations of state administrative agencies;

b/ Coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Government Office for close combination of the Plan and the implementation of the National Program on information technology application to operations of state agencies in the 2016-2020 period;

c/ Coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs in implementing the plan on increase of public information on state administration reform in the 2016-2020 period.

9. The Ministry of Health shall assume the prime responsibility for working out and guiding the method of measuring public satisfaction of public health services.

10. The Ministry of Education and Training shall assume the prime responsibility for working out and guiding the method of measuring public satisfaction of public educational services.

11. The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for reforming wage policies for employees of enterprises of different types, social insurance policies and preferential treatment for persons with meritorious services; to coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs in reforming salary policies for cadres, civil servants and public employees.

12. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall:

a/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs in, renewing financial mechanisms for science and technology activities and mechanisms on autonomy and accountability of public science and technology institutions;

b/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees in, studying, renewing, managing and effectively applying the quality control system according to national standard TCVN 9001:2008 to operations of agencies and organizations within the state administration system.

13. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in, renewing mechanisms and policies on socialization of cultural, sports and tourism activities.

14. The Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and cadre and civil servant training institutions of ministries, sectors and localities shall assume the prime responsibility for incorporating administrative reform contents into training and retraining programs for cadres, civil servants and public employees.

14. The Vietnam News Agency, Voice of Vietnam, Vietnam Television, Vietnam Government Web Portal and central and local information and press agencies shall develop columns and pages on administrative reform to disseminate the Plan and respond to public opinions about administrative reform of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and People’s Committees of all levels.

Article 2. This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 3. The Government’s Steering Committee for Administrative Reform shall assist the Prime Minister in monitoring, urging and examining the implementation of this Plan.

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees and heads of related agencies shall implement this Decision.-

Prime Minister
NGUYEN TAN DUNG

* The appendix to this Decision is not translated.