The 'revolution' to streamline the bureaucracy, cutting 25 general departments.

In his closing remarks at the Mid-Term Central Committee Conference, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong assessed: "Our country remains steadfast in overcoming all difficulties and challenges, continuing to achieve important, fairly comprehensive, and encouraging results in many fields."

Among the outstanding achievements mentioned by the General Secretary was the recognition of the restructuring of the "state apparatus to be streamlined, clean, and operating effectively and efficiently."

This is also one of the key tasks during the 13th Party Congress term.

Looking back after 5 years of implementing Resolution 18 of the 6th Central Committee (12th term) on "Some issues on continuing to innovate and reorganize the organizational structure of the political system to be streamlined, effective and efficient," the Politburo acknowledges that "basically, the goals set for 2021 have been achieved, especially the reorganization and consolidation of some organizations and restructuring of internal organizations, reducing intermediate levels, and reducing the number of general departments, departments, and divisions."

Regarding the restructuring of the internal apparatus of ministries and agencies, reducing intermediate levels and the number of general departments, the Ministry of Public Security has been a pioneer in this regard for nearly 5 years now.

Speaking with VietNamNet, Lieutenant General To An Xo, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security, said that, in line with and setting a leading example in implementing Resolution 18 of the 6th Central Committee (12th term), the Ministry of Public Security proposed to the Politburo the issuance of Resolution 22/2018 on continuing to innovate and reorganize the organizational structure of the Ministry of Public Security for effective and efficient operation. Subsequently, the Government issued Decree 01/2018 on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Public Security.

In August 2018, the Ministry of Public Security announced the abolition of six general departments: the General Department of Security (General Department 1), the General Department of Police (General Department 2), the General Department of Politics (General Department 3), the General Department of Logistics and Technology (General Department 4), the General Department of Intelligence (General Department 5), and the General Department of Criminal Enforcement and Judicial Support (General Department 8).

Subsequently, the Ministry of Public Security reorganized the Guard Command and the Mobile Police Command, transforming them into units equivalent to a departmental level.

Since then, the Ministry of Public Security has abolished 6 general departments and 2 units equivalent to general departments; and 55 units at the departmental level.

In addition, the Ministry of Public Security also reduced 20 Fire and Rescue Police Departments; 7 schools (1 college, 4 vocational schools, 2 cultural schools); 1,014 departmental-level units (316 departments within the Ministry of Public Security; 528 departments in local police and fire and rescue forces; 170 departments in academies and schools; and over 2,300 team-level units).

Over the past period, the Ministry of Public Security has reduced its workforce by more than 30,000 people, including over 19,000 who retired, 4,100 who left service early, over 5,100 who were laid off under the downsizing policy, and over 1,400 who were laid off according to government decrees.

Speaking to VietNamNet immediately after the restructuring of the General Department, General To Lam, Minister of Public Security, said that initially most officers agreed, but there were also many concerns. In particular, some retired officers and veteran officers, some of whom had dedicated their entire lives to the General Department and had many fond memories, were also worried upon hearing that it would no longer exist.

“Therefore, we organized these ‘Dien Hong Conferences’ to solicit opinions, contributions, and analyses, and at the same time, to explain and clarify viewpoints and policies to create consensus. Ultimately, all levels supported it. In particular, the Central Public Security Party Committee, through collective voting and speeches, from the leadership, spread the message to officers and soldiers. Therefore, everyone saw this as the right and effective action, and officers and soldiers agreed and supported it,” the Minister of Public Security emphasized.

At the Ministry of Interior's concluding conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh cited the example of the Ministry of Public Security, which had general departments established 35 years ago but had all eight general departments eliminated at once. After the reduction, everything has remained "smooth," and political tasks have still been fulfilled.

“This is a revolution in the organizational structure of the police force. The organizational structure is being reformed towards streamlining, synchronization, ensuring smooth and stable operation, reducing intermediate levels in management, and strengthening the direct leadership of the Central Party Committee of Public Security and the Ministry of Public Security over police units and localities in all aspects of work,” Lieutenant General To An Xo affirmed to VietNamNet.

After the Ministry of Public Security boldly abolished the general department level in 2018, other ministries and agencies remained inactive.

At the beginning of the 13th Party Congress term, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh continuously urged and decisively directed ministries and agencies to "reduce the number of general departments and intermediate levels."

For over a year (from the beginning of 2022 until now), the Ministry of Interior has been diligently working on reorganizing the internal structure of ministries and agencies.

The reason the reduction of the General Departments took longer than the Prime Minister requested, as Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra shared with VietNamNet, is that when they first started, there were various opinions and complaints about difficulties and obstacles. This is a very difficult task, "difficult among all kinds of difficulties, but it cannot be left undone."

"During the recent organizational restructuring process, there were many nights when I and my colleagues in the ministry lost sleep and appetite. In reality, some general departments have a historical significance, having been formerly ministries, and now restructuring them into departments is a very complex issue," Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra recounted.

But thanks to the Prime Minister's decisive actions and the coordination and support of ministries and agencies, the restructuring of internal organizations within ministries and agencies has been basically completed.

Specifically, with the issuance of Decree No. 28/2023 on June 2, 2023, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Government has completed the issuance of decrees on the organizational structure of ministries and sectors (except for the Ministry of Public Security, which has already completed its restructuring, and the Ministry of National Defense, which has its own regulations).

Before the internal restructuring, ministries and agencies had a total of 30 general departments and equivalent agencies. Now, that number has been reduced to only 13, a decrease of 17 compared to before.

Specifically, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has reduced the number of general departments by four: the General Department of Environment, the General Department of Geology and Minerals, the General Department of Land Management, and the General Department of Seas and Islands.

The Ministry of Interior has two agencies equivalent to general departments: the Government Religious Affairs Committee and the Central Emulation and Commendation Committee, which have been reorganized to be equivalent to departmental level.

The Ministry of Transport has also abolished the Vietnam Road Administration, separating it into the Vietnam Road Administration and the Vietnam Expressway Administration.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also restructured four General Departments: Forestry, Irrigation, Fisheries, and Disaster Prevention and Control, into departments.

The Ministry of Science and Technology also transformed the General Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality into the National Committee for Standards, Metrology and Quality, and abolished the Hoa Lac High-Tech Park Management Board (equivalent to a general department level).

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also transformed the two General Departments of Physical Education, Sports and Tourism into the Department of Physical Education and Sports and the National Tourism Department of Vietnam; the former Management Board of the Vietnamese Ethnic Groups' Cultural and Tourism Village, which was previously equivalent to a general department, has been reorganized and is no longer a general department.

The General Department of Population of the Ministry of Health was also reorganized into the Department of Population.

After restructuring and reducing the number of general departments, ministries and agencies now have 13 general departments and equivalent agencies.

However, some ministries and agencies have retained the same number of general departments as before. Specifically, the Ministry of Finance retains 5 general departments and equivalents: the General Department of Taxation, the General Department of Customs, the General Department of State Reserves, the State Treasury, and the State Securities Commission.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs retains two agencies equivalent to general departments: the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese and the National Border Committee.

The following ministries and agencies retain one general department each: the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs retains Vocational Education; the Ministry of Industry and Trade retains the General Department of Market Management; the Ministry of Planning and Investment retains the General Department of Statistics; the Ministry of Justice retains the General Department of Civil Judgment Enforcement; and the State Bank of Vietnam retains the Banking Inspection and Supervision Agency.

After cutting 4 general departments, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment now has only the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology remaining.

According to the Minister of Home Affairs, in addition to cutting 17 general departments, 8 departments and 145 divisions within the ministry and general departments were also eliminated. Along with the downsizing, over 500 leaders had to be reassigned or have their positions reassigned.

"For the first time in history, the system has significantly reduced the number of internal organizations within ministries and departments, from the general directorate level down to the departmental and divisional levels," the Minister of Home Affairs emphasized.