The government decided not to merge departments and branches.
The Government issued a decree to keep the current departments and branches intact, not merging them as in the draft proposed 3 years ago.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has just signed and issued Decree 107 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 24 on the organization of specialized agencies under the People's Committees of provinces and cities.
Accordingly, the new decree maintains 17 departments organized uniformly in all provinces and cities, including the departments of: Home Affairs; Justice; Planning and Investment; Finance; Industry and Trade; Agriculture and Rural Development; Transport; Construction; Natural Resources and Environment; Information and Communications; Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs; Culture, Sports and Tourism; Science and Technology; Education and Training; Health; Provincial Inspectorate; Office of the People's Committee.
September 16, explaining the lack ofmerge some departmentsAs proposed in the previous draft decree, Minister of Home Affairs Le Vinh Tan said that the Politburo has concluded that this is waiting for the pilot summary. Therefore, currently, provinces and cities still organize the specialized agency structure as in Decree 24. "There must be a pilot summary before continuing," said Mr. Tan.
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| Nghe An has completed the merger of communes and hamlets according to regulations. Illustration photo: Nguyen Book. |
In addition to the 17 departments organized uniformly in the above provinces and cities, the new decree also mentions specific departments such as the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Ethnic Minorities Committee, the Department of Planning and Architecture, and the Department of Tourism. In particular, the Department of Tourism is established when the locality meets the following criteria: Having a tangible cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage or having outstanding tourism resources and potential; the tourism industry is identified as a spearhead economy and has an economic value of 10% or more for 5 consecutive years.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is established in provinces that meet one of the following criteria: Having an international land border gate, an international air border gate, or an international seaport; the locality has 500 or more foreign investment projects or FDI capital of over VND 100,000 billion; over 4,000 foreigners living and working in the area; import-export turnover of VND 100,000 billion or more.
The Department of Planning and Architecture is still established in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The architectural planning function of the remaining provinces and cities is regulated in the Department of Construction.
The new Decree takes effect from November 25.
In early 2017, the Ministry of Home Affairs sought comments on the draft Decree on the organization of specialized agencies under the People's Committees of provinces and cities; in which it proposed 12 "hard" departments.unified organization in localities, including the Department of Home Affairs, Justice, Planning and Finance (merging the Department of Planning and Investment and the Department of Finance), Industry and Trade, Department of Transport, Construction and Urban Development (merging the Department of Transport and the Department of Construction), Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, Education and Training, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Department of Health, Provincial Inspectorate, Office of the People's Committee.
6 "soft" departments are organized in accordance with the urban government model, rural government model and specialized departments, including the departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, Science and Technology, Information and Communications, Foreign Affairs, Tourism, and Ethnic Affairs Committee. Based on natural, cultural and social conditions, the Provincial People's Committee submits to the People's Council of the same level to decide whether or not to establish "soft" departments.
In 2018, a number of provinces piloted the merger of departments and branches. For example, Ha Giang merged the Provincial Party Committee's Organizing Committee with the Department of Home Affairs, the Provincial Inspectorate with the Provincial Party Committee's Inspection Committee; Lao Cai merged the Department of Transport with the Department of Construction; Bac Lieu merged the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism with the Department of Information and Communications; the Department of Education and Training with the Department of Science and Technology...
In December 2018, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed to temporarily suspend the arrangement of departments and offices. A year later, in December 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed that localities register to pilot the merger of 8 departments into 4, including the Department of Finance with Planning and Investment; the Department of Transport with Construction; the Department of Home Affairs with the Organization Board of the Provincial Party Committee and the City Party Committee; and the Provincial Inspectorate with the Inspection Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the City Party Committee.
By January 2020, the leader of the Ministry of Home Affairs said that 15 out of 63 provinces and cities had sent documents to the Ministry of Home Affairs to register for a pilot merger of provincial-level departments and branches and district-level offices and departments.