Nghe An: Decisive administrative reform and digital transformation in the fields of agriculture and environment.
In the context of both merging two departments and implementing a two-tiered government system, the Nghe An Department of Agriculture and Environment is determined to reform its administrative procedures and undergo digital transformation to meet the demands of its increased workload, more departments, and more complex functions and responsibilities.
Conduct a thorough review and restructuring of the problem-solving process.
Following the merger and consolidation, the Nghe An Department of Agriculture and Environment now manages a wide range of areas, from agriculture, forestry, fisheries, land, minerals, and the environment, to a series of policies on people's livelihoods, production, and issuing land use right certificates to the people…
In addition, many tasks previously under the district level have been transferred to the Department for implementation. Against this backdrop, the Party Committee and the Board of Directors of the Nghe An Department of Agriculture and Environment have decisively directed administrative reform and digital transformation in all areas of the sector.
According to Mr. Le Quang Huy, Deputy Director of the Nghe An Department of Agriculture and Environment: "We have determined that administrative reform and digital transformation are not the sole responsibility of one department, but a continuous responsibility of the entire sector; they are conditions for a streamlined yet efficient apparatus, so that the two levels of government do not fall into the situation of 'increasing bureaucracy and procedures,' but instead must be closer to the people, serving them as quickly and transparently as possible."
With that understanding, the Department has focused on directing the review, standardization, and restructuring of administrative procedures towards electronic processing, reducing the number of required documents, simplifying paperwork, and meeting the needs of the two-tiered government. In particular, many procedures have been streamlined and simplified, reducing processing time; 100% of administrative procedures have eliminated the need for personal identification documents and no longer require citizens to present them, significantly reducing delays.
Notably, information on 7 procedures in the fields of agriculture and environment has been integrated into the VNeID application, including one procedure that is accepted entirely online, without the use of paper documents. This is the issuance and renewal of veterinary practice certificates. This is a breakthrough, laying the foundation for paperless public services - an inevitable trend of digital government.
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The Department proactively issued a series of detailed guidance documents to commune-level authorities on land, environment, crop cultivation, veterinary medicine, forestry, fisheries, irrigation, and disaster prevention and control. Each document served as a "professional handbook" for commune officials to follow in implementation. Simultaneously, training and hands-on guidance were provided to all 130 communes, and online support groups were established to promptly address difficulties at the grassroots level.
Mr. Tran Van Hien, Chairman of the People's Committee of Van Hien commune, frankly stated: "Since the two-level government system came into operation, the volume of work in the fields of agriculture and environment has increased significantly in the commune. The number of specialized staff is still small, and there are many new issues. Without the support of officials and staff from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the commune would find it difficult to complete its assigned tasks. In the future, the commune authorities hope to continue receiving support and assistance from the leaders and officials of the Department of Agriculture and Environment."
Currently, the total number of administrative procedures under the sector is 382 (324 procedures at the provincial level and 58 procedures at the commune level); of which, 100% of those meeting the criteria are provided as full-process online public services, and 46 land-related procedures are implemented regardless of administrative boundaries.
Officials assigned to receive administrative procedure documents from citizens at the Provincial Public Service Center have implemented electronic identity verification via VNeID, making it more convenient for people.
In August 2025 alone, the sector received 23,101 new applications; of which, the online application rate for administrative procedures providing public services at the full level reached 100%, and at both partial and full levels it exceeded 62%.
In particular, the rate of document digitization reached over 90%, with the digitization results reaching nearly 95% - a figure that clearly demonstrates the sector's determination in building an e-government that is transparent and paperless.
Ms. Tran Thi Huyen, a resident of Bich Hao commune, said: “Previously, my family had to go in person and wait to submit documents for any procedures, which was time-consuming and tiring. Now, when applying for a land use right certificate, with the support and guidance of officials, we can submit online from home, which is much more convenient.”
Mr. Nguyen Ba Diep, Chairman of the Nghi Loc Commune People's Committee, stated: “Since the two-tiered government system came into operation, most administrative procedures arising in the locality have been resolved on time and ahead of schedule. In particular, the application of the VBDLIS software in processing land-related documents, printing land use right certificates, building a land database, and linking it with the Tax authorities to transfer cadastral information electronically without direct tax payments is a real step forward in administrative reform at the grassroots level in the field of land management.”
Building industry data
Along with drastic administrative procedure reforms, a highlight of Nghe An's Agriculture and Environment sector is the completion and handover of over 2 million land parcel data records to C06, Ministry of Public Security, for matching, cleaning, and synchronization with the national population database.
At the same time, nearly 160,000 additional land records were scanned in areas where databases had not yet been established, to avoid "data gaps".
Completing the synchronization of land data in 130 communes and wards with the Department of Digital Transformation, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment; directing the digitization of nearly 1.9 million records… This is an important step in data interconnection and integration – the foundation of digital government.
The digitization of land data, in addition to the goal of storing cadastral records, also serves to streamline administrative procedures. As a result, many procedures that previously required citizens to submit hard copies of documents have been reduced or completely eliminated; citizens are no longer required to attach documents proving their identity or marital status to register land and assets attached to the land for households and individuals currently using the land.
Procedures related to residency and land ownership changes have been integrated, allowing citizens to submit applications online without having to travel multiple times.
Along with land management, the Department of Agriculture and Environment is also promoting the application of data in the management of fisheries, agriculture, forestry, and environmental protection; from fishing vessel monitoring systems, national fisheries databases, software for monitoring forest changes, to systems for monitoring payments for forest environmental services. All of this aims towards a "digital data, digital management, digital service" agriculture and environment sector.
Despite these efforts, administrative reform and digital transformation in the Agriculture and Environment sector still face many difficulties. The geographical area is vast and diverse, and many procedures directly affect farmers and fishermen in mountainous, remote, and isolated areas – groups with limited access to technology.
Creating a personal account to submit applications online remains a major obstacle. Furthermore, the issue of overdue applications due to system errors and incomplete software synchronization is becoming a barrier that makes people hesitant to access online public services.
Recognizing these challenges, the Nghe An Department of Agriculture and Environment continues to emphasize the need to strengthen training and capacity building for grassroots levels, especially for commune-level officials and people in remote areas, in order to further shift habits from "submitting paper documents" to "digital services," moving towards a truly "digital government."
At the same time, the remaining land database synchronization will be completed to achieve the goal of digitizing the entire province. The sector will also continue to coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to complete the synchronization of population and land data, ensuring efficient exploitation to serve management work and the people...
