Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium: Nghe An is making great efforts in administrative reform

Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium: Nghe An is a priority province in development cooperation

(Baonghean.vn) - This is the affirmation of Ms. Jehanne Roccas - Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Vietnam when paying a courtesy visit to comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

The delegation of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium during a courtesy meeting with leaders of Nghe An province. Photo courtesy

PV:Dear Ambassador, at the workshop "Administrative reform towards improving the business environment and attracting investment in Nghe An province", Nghe An province's leaders identified the need to remove bottlenecks in administrative reform, build e-government... How do you evaluate the province's approach in the field of administrative reform?

Ambassador Jehanne Roccas:I am pleased and surprised that the leaders of Nghe An province are very concerned and have a close look at the current situation that the province has been facing recently.

In the coming time, we will continue to accompany the province to improve the investment and business environment, helping to attract investment. Not only planning administrative reform and limiting shortcomings in administrative service provision, I encourage the Nghe An provincial government to apply similar methods to other public service areas, to support the interests and welfare of the people.

It can be seen that Nghe An is making great efforts in administrative reform.In a joint effort to promote efficient service delivery for businesses and investors, Belgium is always ready to share this experience with Nghe An to better serve all citizens. We want all citizens to always have their needs met and their daily lives improved.

I look forward to positive changes from Belgian support projects as well as close and effective cooperation from authorities at all levels in Nghe An during the project implementation. This will contribute to further strengthening the friendly relations between Belgium and Nghe An in particular, and Belgium and Vietnam in general.

PV:Could you share the Kingdom of Belgium's experiences in administrative reform, Ambassador?

Ambassador Jehanne Roccas: Over the past 10 years, the Kingdom of Belgium has focused on implementing administrative reform at the local and grassroots levels, creating maximum convenience for people when coming to the government. The people are the ones who create the government, therefore, they have the right to demand good service from the government.

There is a reality that needs to be frankly acknowledged, in Belgium, the current state of corruption is also a problem for the government. Therefore, with the method of promoting the construction of e-government, we hope to reduce corruption, thereby creating a common voice, contributing to the development of the country.

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium gave an interview to Nghe An Newspaper on the sidelines of the conference. Photo: My Nga

PV:So what is Belgium's solution to improve administrative reform efficiency, Ambassador?

Ambassador Jehanne Roccas: The main content of administrative reform in Belgium focuses on reducing administrative burdens for people and businesses; reducing bureaucracy and public spending; promoting e-administration. The goal is to build an administration oriented towards serving the community.

In Belgium, we implement a one-stop government, maintaining only one point to handle all administrative procedures for citizens. With this form, citizens have the opportunity to access information and resolve problems at once.

In addition, we are particularly interested in solutions for output control, calculating management costs for each type and field of activity, including the costs that people and businesses have to bear when performing administrative procedures. In particular, the issue of building and developing an electronic administration system is identified as a priority focus.

In our experience, to successfully build and develop e-government, four important factors are needed: political determination of the Government, especially of the leader; focus on training civil servants; improve working procedures, regulations and organization and operation of the administrative apparatus; build technical infrastructure.

During her visit to Nghe An, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Vietnam Jehanne Roccas said that since 2002, the country has chosen Nghe An to prioritize development cooperation, starting with the rural development program in Quy Chau, helping the province eliminate hunger and reduce poverty. To date, the project has been completed with successful results. Ambassador Roccas pledged to continue supporting the Nghe An provincial government in its efforts to reform administration and improve the investment environment, ensuring that ongoing and future projects are as successful as previous ones.