It is possible to merge several Departments and not create some Departments.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has just proposed merging the Department of Planning and Investment with the Department of Finance into the Department of Planning and Finance; merging the Department of Construction with the Department of Transport into the Department of Transport, Construction and Urban Development; the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, Science and Technology, Information and Communications, and Foreign Affairs, which may or may not be established depending on local conditions.

The Ministry of Home Affairs proposed merging the Department of Planning and Investment with the Department of Finance in localities into the Department of Planning and Finance (Illustration photo).

The Ministry of Justice is preparing to hold a meeting to review the draft Decree on the organization of specialized agencies under the Provincial People's Committee, chaired by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

According to the impact assessment report sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs to the Ministry of Justice, the reorganization plan is to reduce the unified organization of Departments (referred to as "hard" Departments) and increase the organization of Departments suitable to the model of urban government, rural government and specialized sectors (referred to as "soft" Departments).

Accordingly, the Ministry of Home Affairs specifically identified 12 "hard" Departments that are organized uniformly, including: Department of Home Affairs; Department of Justice; Department of Planning and Finance (merging the Department of Planning and Investment with the Department of Finance); Department of Industry and Trade; Department of Transport, Construction and Urban Development (merging the Department of Construction with the Department of Transport in localities, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Planning and Architecture will be merged) into the Department of Transport, Construction and Urban Development; Department of Natural Resources and Environment; Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs; Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Department of Education and Training; Department of Health; Provincial Inspectorate; Office of the People's Committee.

Conditions for establishing additional "soft" Departments

In addition, the draft decree proposes that the Departments be organized in accordance with urban and rural administrations and specific and specialized departments (“soft” Departments) including: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; Department of Science and Technology; Department of Information and Communications; Department of Foreign Affairs; Ethnic Minorities Committee, Department of Home Affairs; Department of Tourism.

To establish "soft" Departments, localities must meet certain requirements. For example, the establishment of a Department of Tourism in a number of localities on the basis of receiving the functions and state management organization of tourism from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism must meet all the following criteria: Having a tangible cultural heritage recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site or having outstanding tourism resources and potential; the tourism industry is identified as an important economic sector or a spearhead economic sector in the socio-economic development orientation of the locality; having been in the top 5 localities that have not established a Department of Tourism for 5 consecutive years with the highest total revenue from tourists in the country or the economic value from tourism contributing to the locality's annual GDP with a proportion of 10% or more.

Or the Department of Foreign Affairs is only considered for establishment in localities with land borders or international border gates, including: Road border gates, air border gates and sea border gates. Provinces and centrally run cities that do not meet the criteria for establishing a Department of Foreign Affairs can establish a Foreign Affairs Office under the Office of the Provincial People's Committee. The Provincial People's Committee submits to the People's Council of the same level to decide on the arrangement and dissolution of the Department of Foreign Affairs in cases where the establishment criteria are not met according to regulations.

According to the draft decree, based on natural, cultural and social conditions, the Provincial People's Committee shall submit to the People's Council of the same level a decision on the establishment or non-establishment of "soft" Departments.

In case no departments are established, the function of advising on state management of the sectors and fields of these departments shall be assigned to the corresponding departments as follows: The Department of Industry and Trade shall perform the function of advising on state management of the fields of agriculture and rural development; the Office of the Provincial People's Committee shall perform the function of advising on state management of the fields of foreign affairs and ethnic groups.

The Department of Culture, Sports or the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall perform the function of advising on state management in the field of information and communication and shall change the name of this Department to the Department of Culture, Information and Sports or the Department of Culture, Information, Sports and Tourism; the Department of Education and Training shall perform the function of advising on state management in the field of science and technology and shall change the name of this Department to the Department of Education, Science and Technology.

The draft decree proposes merging the Department of Construction with the Department of Transport (in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Planning and Architecture will be added) into the Department of Transport, Construction and Urban Development. (Illustration photo)

Ministry of Home Affairs explains the proposal to merge Departments

Explaining the proposal to merge the Department of Planning and Investment with the Department of Finance into the Department of Planning and Finance, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the functions and tasks of the two Departments are interconnected, especially in the field of financial management and balanced arrangement of financial resources and budget for local socio-economic development, ensuring compliance with the principles of multi-sectoral, multi-field, streamlined, effective and efficient management organization.

The merger of the two Departments will create conditions for advising the Provincial People's Committee on state management in the fields of planning, investment, finance, budget and a number of related fields more effectively. At the same time, it will ensure that the planning and investment plans for local socio-economic development are linked to the ability to balance financial and budgetary resources, minimizing the overlap of tasks between the two Departments that lasts for many Government terms.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has consulted on the merger of the above Departments at two conferences in the North and the South; of which: 38/73 votes agreed; 28/73 votes disagreed; 7/73 votes suggested consideration. Opinions from ministries, branches and localities were 46/54 in agreement; 5/54 disagreed; 3/54 suggested consideration.

Regarding the establishment of the Department of Transport, Construction and Urban Development, the drafting agency analyzed: The formation and development of modern urban spaces cannot be separated from urban construction planning and transport infrastructure planning, especially when the Government is directing the acceleration of project implementation in the form of public-private investment (BTO, BOT, BT, PPP...) which always requires a connection between transport and urban development planning. Therefore, the Government needs to organize a unified management agency for these two fields to ensure increased efficiency, overcome shortcomings, overlaps, and lack of synchronization in the management of urban infrastructure (house construction, urban water supply and drainage in the construction sector) and transport infrastructure (road construction in the transport sector).

The Ministry of Home Affairs also collected opinions through conferences in the North and South, of which 39/73 votes agreed to the establishment of the Department of Transport, Construction and Urban Development; 27/73 votes disagreed; 7/73 votes suggested consideration. Opinions from ministries, branches and localities were 44/54 in agreement; 7/54 disagreed; 3/54 suggested consideration.

“From the above issues, in order to meet practical requirements and implement the policy of streamlining the apparatus, overcoming the overlap of tasks between the state management scope of the two departments, it is necessary to merge the Department of Construction with the Department of Transport into the Department of Transport, Construction and Urban Development. Accordingly, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Planning and Architecture will be dissolved, and the function of advising on state management of planning and architecture will be transferred to the Department of Transport, Construction and Urban Development” - the Ministry of Home Affairs explained.

According to Dantri