At a workshop on streamlining governance, experts argued that centralized decision-making undermines Ministerial authority and creates inefficiencies in Vietnam's administration.
Nguyen Van Thuan, former Chairman of the National Assembly’s Legal Committee, questioned the current practices: "Why must the Minister report the number of Tet holidays, summer vacations, or even school exams to the Prime Minister? What, then, is the role of the Minister?"
This issue was raised at a scientific workshop on decentralization and streamlining administrative structures, co-organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Vietnam Administrative Sciences Association.
Nguyen Van Thuan, former Chairman of the National Assembly’s Legal Committee. Photo: Van Diep.
Ministers delegating policy decisions to the Prime Minister
Former Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien argued that decentralization should be vertical, not horizontal, and should always accompany devolution of authority. Proper decentralization and delegation can streamline administrative structures and enhance governance.
Hien emphasized that the most critical areas requiring delegation include policymaking, human resource organization, financial and budget management, and executive responsibilities.
While agreeing on the importance of decentralization tied to accountability - where greater authority entails greater responsibility - he cautioned against weak internal control mechanisms, which he called the "most vulnerable point" in Vietnam's governance.
Nguyen Van Thuan highlighted that too many decisions are pushed to the Prime Minister instead of being handled by the relevant Ministers, who are supposed to oversee specific sectors and fields.
“In the 1992 Constitution and the Law on Government Organization, the government had nine areas requiring collective discussion and majority decisions. Everything else was under ministerial authority,” Thuan explained. Ministers were authorized to issue regulations and manage their domains with practical value.
However, Thuan pointed out that in practice, inter-ministerial circulars are often required to enforce decisions.
“For instance, during Vu Van Ninh's tenure as Finance Minister, I opposed these circulars. Ninh admitted that without inter-ministerial circulars, the Ministry of Finance’s directives wouldn’t be followed,” Thuan said, criticizing a lack of cross-ministerial compliance.
He added, “Now, we see absurdities like Ministers reporting Tet holidays, school exam subjects, and summer vacation schedules to the Prime Minister. So, what are Ministers responsible for?”
Overview of the workshop. Photo: Van Diep.
Thuan categorized decentralization into three groups:
Centralized Control: Areas such as defense, foreign affairs, and national security remain under central authority.
Shared Authority: Areas like land, resources, and environmental management require both central and local involvement.
Local Autonomy: Remaining areas fall under local jurisdiction.
Thuan cited agricultural land management as a cautionary tale, where excessive local control led to widespread corruption and imprisonment of officials. He also noted the proliferation of universities under local authority, creating inefficiencies compared to the past when higher education was centrally managed.
“Decentralization must be specific, rather than leaving everything for Ministers to study and propose to the Prime Minister,” Thuan argued.
Cao Duc Phat, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, shared how centralized financial processes hampered crisis responses during his tenure.
“When outbreaks required vaccines, I was held accountable, but the vaccines were managed by the national reserve under the Ministry of Finance. It took weeks of paperwork and delays, by which time the outbreak had spread,” he recalled.
He also highlighted that current regulations cap a Minister's spending authority at VND 1 billion, requiring even minor expenditures to be approved by the Finance Ministry.
Phat criticized overlapping responsibilities among ministries, citing dairy production as an example:
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD): Oversees the cows.
Ministry of Industry and Trade: Manages processing and pricing.
Ministry of Health: Supervises the milk as food.
“Despite these layers of oversight, issues still arise,” Phat concluded.
Vietnamnet.vn
Podcast
.svg){kind=icon}
