Bac Lieu Provincial Public Administration Service Center significantly improves the efficiency of administrative procedure processing for citizens

Bac Lieu province has issued many timely, well-focused directive documents. For instance, the Provincial Party Committee issued a resolution on developing and improving the quality of human resources to 2025, with a vision to 2030. The Provincial People's Committee promulgated a decision establishing a steering committee and a working group to assist the Provincial Steering Committee on Public Administration Reform (PAR); the Plan for Implementation of PAR Tasks for the 2021 - 2025 period; Annual PAR Plan; and many other PAR documents in line with the Government's General PAR Program.

As a result, the construction and perfection of the province’s administrative institutions have been focused; policy-making processes have been reformed; the content, legal order, constitutionality, legality and high feasibility of legal documents has shaped a synchronous legal foundation for carrying out socioeconomic development tasks, improving the investment and business environment, and enhancing competitiveness.

The reform of administrative procedures has made much progress. The updating, announcement and publicization of administrative procedures on the national database is timely and lawful. Most administrative procedures have been reviewed and reduced, with unnecessary ones eliminated. The process has been improved and service time has been made shorter than regulations. The delivery of online public services has basically met the requirements and assigned targets. Up to now, the Provincial Administrative Procedure Settlement Information System has provided 1,356 partial and full online public services and integrated 1,166 online public services onto the National Public Service Portal.

In particular, Bac Lieu has adopted the guiding principle of “taking people and businesses as the center, taking public and business satisfaction as a measure of the quality of the administrative apparatus's operations.” Currently, the Provincial Public Administration Service Center has been working very effectively. All seven districts have administrative procedure reception and result delivery departments. All 64 communes have completed and brought all administrative procedures to one place. The settlement quality of administrative procedures at all levels and sectors has been constantly improved, with over 99% of administrative records resolved in time, which is highly supported and appreciated by people and businesses.

The state apparatus has been streamlined by reducing intermediary agencies to enhance the effectiveness and performance of state administration in each field of work assigned. Public employees are officially qualified to perform their jobs and positions well.

Digital transformation has been stepped up, with a lot of progress seen in information technology application to the operations of state agencies, thus enabling the development of e-government and digital government and improving the work capacity and efficiency of state agencies. Currently, all civil servants from the provincial level to the district level are provided with computers for working; all state agencies are connected to the internal network and the wider internet; and all state agencies from the provincial to the communal level use document management software, with 98% of documents sent and received electronically.

Outstanding administrative reform results have positively impacted socioeconomic development. In 2023, the province’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth ranked 5th among Mekong Delta provinces and cities. The province managed to attract more investment capital than before, and more companies were established or resumed operations in the year. Notably, Bac Lieu has excellently collected budget revenue as planned and even exceeded the target assigned by the Government.

The province’s Public Administration Reform Index (PAR Index), released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, reached over 80% to rank in the group of good performers (in 2023, the index reached over 80%, with 82.12 points on a 100-point scale to stand in the group of good performers). At the same time, the PAR Index has also been applied to provincial departments and district-level People's Committees. In 2023, seven agencies were ranked to have very good performance; 11 agencies ranked good, six agencies ranked moderate, and two agencies ranked average (no agencies were certified to be underperformers).

Administrative reform needs to be more substantive and effective

Mr. Tu Minh Phuc, Director of the Bac Lieu Department of Home Affairs, said: The province is moving towards building a professional, modern service-based public administration where administrative reform is defined as a key task to successfully achieve the given goals. To obtain better and more substantial administrative reform results and complete political, economic and social goals and tasks, many practical solutions need to be implemented.

Accordingly, the province needs to continue to direct the effective implementation of the Government's General PAR Program for the 2021 - 2030 period; the Plan for implementation of administrative reform tasks for the 2021 - 2025 period associated with socioeconomic development tasks, with focus on five pillars of economic development. The province needs to uphold the responsibility of leaders; apply the PAR Index in provincial agencies and district-level People's Committees; and measure the satisfaction of people and organizations with administrative services every year.

At the same time, it is necessary to focus on building and perfecting institutions and policies to create a consistent legal basis for implementing socioeconomic development tasks, improving the investment and business environment and enhancing provincial competitiveness to attract more investors. The province also needs to raise the material and spiritual life of the people.

In addition, it is necessary to promote annual review and assessment of administrative procedures, focusing on reviewing and simplifying administrative procedures in key areas, especially in investment, business registration, land and construction; boost IT application in handling administrative procedures; and prioritize the drastic and effective implementation of Project 06 to promptly tackle hindering shortcomings and limitations.

“This is an important and breakthrough project that creates many utilities and services, brings practical benefits, serves people and businesses better and more effectively,” he emphasized.