Hanoi is working to improve public administrative services by operating online and simplifying procedures to better meet the demands of its residents.

A resident in Cau Giay district fills in an e-document
at the People's Committee of Trung Hoa ward  

Cau Giay district is among the best.

 Do Hai Nam, a resident of Trung Hoa ward in Cau Giay district, said he recently visited the ward's People’s Committee register his baby’s birth and was really surprised. “It’s much more convenient than before,” he said.

 He was told to fill in an electronic document following the instructions of an administrative staff member and just press submit to finish.

 Then the staff member would receive the e-document and arrange a date to collect the baby’s birth certificate, he said.

“It’s simpler than I thought,” he added.

 People can even fill in the e-document at home with a smartphone or an internet-connected computer, he said. In the past, people had to visit the ward and queue before filling in paper forms.

 Nguyen Hai, Vice Chairman of the Trung Hoa People’s Committee, said the online public administrative services helped save time for residents.

 With the online service, they only had to come to the committee once instead of two or three times as before, he said.

 It was estimated that the committee received 1,651 e-documents in the first seven months of this year, he said. It accounted for about 20 percent of the total documents the committee received.

 Online services now mainly work for young people. Elderly people still had to come to the ward to undertake procedures with help from administrative staff, he said.

 Nguyen Minh Hien, head of the Home Affairs Office of the district, said only 10 percent of people reportedly filled in e-documents at home now and they were mostly youngsters.

 Therefore, the district was boosting dissemination of online public administrative services in local high schools in an attempt to raise the ratio in the near future, he said.

 Phan Thị Thu Ha, chief of the office of the district People’s Committee, said thanks to online services, documents that required cooperation among relevant units were handled within one day instead of two or three days.

 It helped to shorten time and save expenses for the committee, she added.

Initial results

 Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung said the city had simplified 304 administrative procedures in the past three years. Some 298 administrative procedures were abolished in the first six months of this year.

 Nguyen Dinh Hoa, deputy director of the city’s Home Affairs Department, said because of administrative reforms, the Public Administration Reform (PAR) Index ranked second nationwide while the Satisfaction Index of Public Administration Service (SIPAS) increased by 16 ranks last year.

 Furthermore, Hanoi is the leading locality in the country in handling procedures for online business registration.

 Mac Quoc Anh, Vice Chairman of Hanoi Small-and-Medium Sized Enterprises, said it was the highlight of administrative reform since 2018.

 Statistics of the city’s Investment and Planning Department showed that the city had issued registration certificates for 25,187 businesses in 2018, three percent higher than in 2017. In the first six months of this year, the city had issues certificates for 13,630 businesses, nine percent higher than the same period last year.

 Nguyen Manh Quyen, Director of the Investment and Planning Department, said the department would continue providing online registration services for businesses.