Civil servants process administrative documents for local residents at Hòa Bình Province's Public Administration Service Centre. — VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sinh

HÒA BÌNH — Reforming the administrative system, improving the investment environment, and increasing competency for economic development are some of the major actions authorities in northern province of Hòa Bình aim to take during the 2021-25 period.

The province has been implementing drastic reform measures and raising public employees’ awareness on their responsibility, and improving the quality of administrative procedures to better serve people, businesses, and organisations.

These actions have been directed by the province’s Party Committee and People’s Committee with an emphasis on reorganising the public administrative system, reducing the workforce, and applying technology at State-owned administrative agencies.

Thanks to this, the reforms’ quality has been greatly improved in different aspects. Job descriptions were written and tailored to specific job posts. The recruitment, use, promotion, transfer and training of public employees were conducted seriously in accordance with regulations.

Bùi Huy Thành, deputy director of the province’s Public Administration Service Centre, said: “The process of receiving, processing administrative documents for the people and solving administrative problems has been improved. We watched and monitored transactions between people, business representatives and our staff carefully.

“We have directed the concerned departments to process the administrative documents and respond to the people. Our monitoring showed there has been no hassle caused by our staff for clients.”

About 99.8 per cent of administrative procedures at the provincial level were done on time. The percentage for those at district and communal levels were 99 and 99.5 per cent, respectively. Surveys showed a high percentage of clients were satisfied with the time taken to process the procedures and public employee’s attitudes.

Technology was applied to process administrative procedures, providing several public services to the people and businesses.

A document management system has been utilised at all public agencies throughout the four levels: provincial, district, communal and town, which helps to popularise the use of digital signatures and public service email addresses. A one-door digital system and an online public service portal have also been launched to connect the national public service portal and online payment support gateway.

A centre for smart city monitoring and management was launched in Hòa Bình in September 2020. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

Public service discipline has been tightened, and service quality is used as a measure for public employee performance. Employees in the fields of land management, nature resources and environment, and construction investment are managed more carefully.

In 2020, two units and three employees – a total of 19 individuals – were classified as underperforming. The same year, Hòa Bình was among the 11 provinces and cities with the highest Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) in the country. Its Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) continued to rise, four points higher than the previous year.

In spite of the achievements, the province’s standing Party Committee said there were still limitations in its administrative reforms and improvement of the business environment, especially in proceeding administrative procedures for land clearance.

The business community said these procedures – which concern land planning and management, construction investment, and land clearance – should be processed much more quickly so they know what investment opportunities are available and seize them.

The action plan to recognise the resolution of the 17th Congress of the province’s Party Committee has detailed objectives and methods to further reform the administrative system and increase the satisfaction of the people and businesses with public services.

Specifically, the province aims to increase the PCI by three points per year. By 2025, it aims to cut back 30 per cent of the time total spent on administrative procedures concerning production, business and investment activities, and increase its PCI and PAPI to be in the country’s top 30.

With such objectives, the province’s People’s Committee has issued an administrative reform plan for the 2021-25 period with a focus on reforming administrative procedures and improving the business environment. Its Party Committee and People’s Committee will constantly encourage and check the leaders at public agencies are carrying out the reform tasks assigned to them.

They will also tighten disciplines and direct public employees under their jurisdiction to be highly aware of their responsibilities and ethics when performing public duties and solving administrative problems, especially those concerning investments, land clearance, collecting revenue from land for the State budget, and disbursement of public investment capital.

Apart from making efforts to improve public services, the PCI and PAPI, the province will also work for the Department and District Competitiveness Index to raise the sense of public responsibility in improving the business environment and supporting enterprises in economic development.

It will also work towards the goal of building a “governing body that supports businesses” and developing an administrative system that is democratic, transparent, professional, modern and effective.

It also plans to improve the business environment and create the most favourable conditions for enterprises and people to do business, working towards fast and sustainable socio-economic development. — VNS