Standing Vice Chairman of Can Tho Municipal People's Committee Duong Tan Hien, Chairman of Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Can Tho City Nguyen Trung Nhan, and representatives of Can Tho Municipal Departments and agencies attended the conference.

Speaking at the conference, Standing Vice Chairman of Can Tho Municipal People's Committee Duong Tan Hien said that Can Tho City coordinated with the World Bank to organize a Workshop Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Assessment on January 6, 2023.

The People's Committee of Can Tho City has selected specific areas that require support and proposed them to the World Bank and the sponsor (SECO) for review. These areas focus on reforms in the city's public financial management system in the coming period to achieve efficiency, transparency, and sustainable development. These areas include preparing 3-year financial and state budget plans, 5-year financial plans, and allocating annual budget estimates to ensure feasible and effective use of resources and provision of top-quality public services. Additionally, building software databases, and digital platforms, and digitizing the public finance and public investment ecosystem. Finally, ensuring transparency in public financial management through publicizing the budget, implementing supervision by the City People's Council, and implementing recommendations of the State Audit. It is essential to have tools for implementing policy communication and people's participation in budget estimation, monitoring budget implementation, ensuring the budget is feasible, and utilizing resources most effectively.

Vice Chairman Duong Tan Hien has urged relative departments and agencies to exchange information with the World Bank promptly. They should be honest and transparent and closely reflect the actual situation of Can Tho City and their industries concerning the three contents outlined by the World Bank Working Group. They should also boldly propose ideas, especially related to measures to boost citizens' participation in the planning, design, and implementation of public services through digital technology. The results of the working sessions will be used to develop the Cooperation Program between Can Tho City and the World Bank and the Vietnam 2045 Report.

Tran Thi Phuong Mai, a senior expert in financial management at the World Bank, stated that involving citizens in the planning, designing, and implementing public services can lead to high efficiency and consensus. This involvement can occur at three levels: information provision, consultation, and engagement. Citizens can participate when they are given the opportunity and resources to collaborate in various stages of the policy cycle and the design and delivery of services.

Tran Thi Lan Huong, a senior expert in public administration at the World Bank, suggested that Can Tho continue to deploy and effectively use online public service software and social media channels to quickly and accurately listen to and collect feedback from the people. Therefore, the interfaces must be user-friendly.

At the conference.

Participating experts recommended that the city should take initiatives to promote open data. This includes sharing non-sensitive data related to citizen services to allow people to analyze and provide feedback. Additionally, the city should create conditions that encourage research projects and universities to explore the best use of non-sensitive data.

During the conference, delegates gave presentations on various topics related to citizen participation in Can Tho City. These presentations covered the environmental and social aspects of land management activities, best practices, and standardized procedures for consultation and citizen engagement through the "Can Tho Smart City" application, and how to apply information technology to make the best use of citizen's feedback. Additionally, there were presentations on the environmental and social aspects of medical and agricultural service activities in Can Tho City.