Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Hòa Bình. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Hòa Bình has issued an official request for ministers and ministerial-level leaders to complete the restructuring plans for their ministries and sectors.

Their internal restructuring, merging and streamlining plans, including draft documents specifying the functions, tasks, authorities and structures, had to be submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) by 11am on Monday this week.

The Party Central Committee (PCC) is expected to hold a meeting on January 23-24 to discuss apparatus streamlining, while the National Assembly (NA) is scheduled to convene between February 12-17.

During the restructuring process, state departments and units must work to address the concerns of those affected and policy benefits for their staff, as well as normal operations as the Tết (Lunar New Year) approaches.

The drafts specifying tasks, functions, authorities and structures of the Việt Nam Academy of Science and Technology, Việt Nam Academy of Social Sciences, Vietnam Television (VTV), Voice of Vietnam (VOV) and Vietnam News Agency (VNA) should be submitted before January 20.

The remaining ministries and units are required to proactively complete these drafts in order for the Government to issue a decree outlining their tasks, functions, authorities and structures following the meetings of the PCC and the NA.

They are:

• Ministry of Finance (merging with the Ministry of Planning and Investment)
• Ministry of Construction (merging with the Ministry of Transport)
• Ministry of Science and Technology (merging with the Ministry of Information and Communications)
• Ministry of Home Affairs (merging with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs)
• Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (taking over state management tasks over the press from the Ministry of Information and Communications)
• Ministry of Industry and Trade
• Ministry of Justice
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Ministry of Education and Training
• Ministry of Health
• Ministry of Agriculture and Environment
• Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs
• State Bank of Việt Nam
• Government Inspectorate

The Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs will be established on the foundation of the current Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA), which also takes over the state management tasks related to religious affairs from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will take over the state management tasks on poverty reduction from the current Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), while the MoLISA’s responsibilities on social welfare, child affairs and prevention of social evils are transferred to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

The MoH’s scope of work on healthcare for central-level officials is moved under the Central Organisation Commission, while drug addiction treatment and post-habilitation are moved under the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

The Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) will end its operations, with the 18 state-owned enterprises under this commission to be in charge by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), and the telecommunication corporation MobiFone to be under the MPS.

The MoF is tasked with amending the Law on Management and Use of State Capital Invested in Production and Business at Enterprises, which will be reported to the Government and presented to the NA for review and approval at the mid-February session.

The Government Inspectorate should take the lead and coordinate relevant departments in the restructuring of the inspection system, and report to the Politburo by January 17.

National security protection

The Government's steering committee assigned the MPS and the Ministry of National Defence to update Decree No 03/2019/NĐ-CP on their coordination to ensure national security, social order and safety, crime prevention and national defence.

The MPS will take over the tasks related to judicial records and the public service of providing judicial record certificates from the Ministry of Justice; the testing and issuing of driver’s licences from the current Ministry of Transport and cybersecurity from the current Ministry of Information and Communications.

The MPS is also assigned to ensure aviation security at airports and on aircraft.

Regarding state management of immigration and border control, the MPS is tasked with developing, collecting, updating, using and sharing information within the National Database on Immigration. — VNS