Dong Nai boasts many highlights in its administrative reforms

On the morning of September 13, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Dong Nai Provincial People’s Committee, Le Truong Son, chaired a conference to review a 9-month implementation of administrative reform in 2025 and signed a commitment to fulfilling the year’s reform targets and tasks. Attending the event was Pham Minh Hung, Director of the Department of Administrative Reform under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

View of the conference. Photo: Ho Thao

Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Dong Nai Provincial People’s Committee, Le Truong Son, delivers the opening speech at the conference. Photo: Ho Thao

Reporting at the conference, Nguyen Huu Dinh, Member of the Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Dong Nai Department of Home Affairs, stated that over the past 9 months, the province’s leadership and direction in administrative reform have been implemented decisively, promptly, and in line with new context. The province has tightened discipline, strengthened accountability of leaders, and proactively launched numerous campaigns and innovative models such as the “Model independent of administrative boundaries” the “30-day Campaign on Increasing digitalization of records and online public services,” and the “30-day-and-night Campaign on public investment disbursement.” These efforts have brought about significant changes in public administration and delivered important results.

Delegates attend the conference. Photo: Ho Thao

The promulgation, inspection, and handling of legal normative documents have been carried out regularly and rigorously; the apparatus of administrative agencies and public service units has been gradually streamlined and consolidated; while officials, civil servants, and public employees have received continuous training to improve political theory, professional expertise, and skills to meet task requirements. The control, guidance, reception, and settlement of administrative procedures have been implemented in line with regulations.

Notably, the rate of cases resolved on time or ahead of schedule reached 98.97%. The satisfaction index of citizens and enterprises scored 17.39 out of 18, ranking third among 34 provinces and cities nationwide. The service quality assessment index reached 85.36 out of 100 points, also ranking third among 34 provinces and cities nationwide. The rate of fully online public services reached 87.2%, while the rate of online payments hit 87.6%.

Member of the Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Dong Nai Department of Home Affairs, Nguyen Huu Dinh, presents a report at the conference. Photo: Ho Thao

Director of the Department of Science and Technology, Pham Van Trinh, delivers a presentation at the conference. Photo: Ho Thao

Along with that, the streamlining and restructuring of the administrative apparatus has achieved impressive results in terms of scale. After the merger, the number of specialized departments under the Provincial People’s Committee decreased from 29 to 14 and 1 administrative organization, reducing 15 units (a 50% reduction). At the division and section level, 87 units were reduced (a 45.07% reduction).

The field of building e-government and digital government has made remarkable progress, creating a solid foundation for digital infrastructure. As of mid-July 2025, the entire province issued nearly 3.5 million electronic identification accounts (VNeID) for individuals (with nearly 3 million accounts being activated) and more than 29 thousand accounts for organizations. Over 61 thousand administrative procedure (AP) dossiers have been received and processed through the VNeID application. 100% of civil servants have been equipped with digital signatures and use them effectively in task processing.

Also according to the Director of the Department of Home Affairs, in addition to these achievements, the administrative reform work still faces certain limitations. Public financial reform, in particular, encounters many difficulties, especially in disbursing public investment capital. As of August 31, 2025, the disbursement rate only reached about 28.63% of the plan assigne by the province and 32% of the target set by the Government. This low rate reflects the difficulties and stagnation in implementing key projects due to the impact of the restructuring process of the administrative apparatus.

Director of the Department of Administrative Reform (Ministry of Home Affairs) Pham Minh Hung speaks at the conference. Photo: Ho Thao

Several causes have been identified: The large-scale merger and restructuring of the apparatus inevitably caused disruptions, leading to hesitation and a wait-and-see attitude among a portion of civil servants. The lack of clarity in coordination regulations within the new structure was also attributed to task-shifting and delays in execution.

On the objective side, legal regulations in some areas such as land and investment remain complicated and overlapping. Data connectivity and sharing between central ministries’ systems and local systems have not been seamless, making it difficult to process tasks. The province is also under increasing state management pressure due to rapid population growth and the implementation of numerous mega-projects, while still adhering to the central government’s downsizing policy.

Speaking at the conference, Director of the Department of Administrative Reform Pham Minh Hung highly appreciated the results achieved in Dong Nai’s administrative reforms; he affirmed that the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Committee provided strong, timely, comprehensive and focused leadership on various areas of administrative reform. As a result, Dong Nai has achieved remarkable outcomes with many notable highlights.

Regarding some of the difficulties raised by the province at the conference, the Director noted that these are also common challenges faced by many other provinces and cities, and are inevitable in the initial stage of operating the two-tier local government model. The Ministry of Home Affairs, together with other central ministries and agencies, will continue efforts to support and resolve issues within its authority to accompany localities.

Emphasizing the importance of administrative reform, Pham Minh Hung suggested that the province continue to implement reforms in a comprehensive and flexible manner with new initiatives to enhance effectiveness. He urged the province to give priority to addressing obstacles in operating the two-tier local government model, improving the performance of public administrative service centers at all levels, and strengthening coordination among departments, sectors, and localities.

Member of Dong Nai Standing Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, Le Truong Son, delivers directives at the conference. Photo: Ho Thao

In his remarks, Member of Dong Nai Standing Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, Le Truong Son, acknowledged the efforts of provincial departments, sectors, and localities in implementing administrative reforms over the past period. He emphasized that administrative reform is essential for economic growth. Departments, sectors, and localities must fully recognize the role and significance of administrative reforms, clearly define their tasks, and implement them comprehensively and decisively across all 6 areas of reform, including institutional reform, administrative procedure reform, organizational apparatus reform, civil service regime reform, public finance reform, and the building of e-government and digital government.

He stressed the need to concentrate resources to achieve key targets, especially accelerating public investment disbursement to strive for an economic growth rate of 10%. He called for continued review and improvement of functions, tasks, and coordination regulations of agencies after consolidation to ensure smooth, stable, and efficient operations. Administrative discipline and order must be tightened, while timely encouragement and commendation, particularly extraordinary rewards, should be prioritized to create motivation for fulfilling tasks effectively.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee also noted that some localities still had high rates of overdue dossiers and urged closer coordination with relevant departments and sectors, timely reporting to standing members of the Party Committees at localities to identify solutions. He emphasized that officials and civil servants must adjust their mindset, strengthen awareness and determination to adapt effectively to new requirements and challenges.

Representatives of departments and localities sign a commitment to fulfilling 2025 administrative reform targets and tasks. Photo: Ho Thao

Member of the Provincial Standing Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Dong Nai People’s Committee, Le Truong Son, also emphasized that departments, sectors, and localities must seriously, effectively, and substantively implement the Commitment to Fulfill the 2025 Administrative Reform Targets and Tasks in line with Plan No. 7/KH-UBND dated July 15, 2025, issued by the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee on Dong Nai’s 2025 administrative reform work.

​​​​​​    By Ho Thao

Translated by Quynh Giao – Thu Ha