Attending the conference were Mr. Tran Viet Truong, Chairman of the People's Committee of the City and Head of the Steering Committee for Administrative Reform (AR) and Digital Transformation of the City; Mr. Nguyen Thanh Dong, Vice Chairman of the City People's Council; leaders of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the City; leaders of specialized agencies under the People's Committee of the City; members of the Steering Committee for Administrative Reform and Digital Transformation of the City…

At the conference, Mr. Chau Viet Tha - Director of the Department of Home Affairs - stated that in recent times, the PARINDEX, PCI, PAPI, and SIPAS indexes of the City have gained widespread attention from the public, organizations, and businesses. These indexes help local authorities, citizens, and organizations/businesses identify specific areas where local government has made progress, as well as areas where operational effectiveness is still lacking.

According to the announced results by central agencies, in 2022, Can Tho City witnessed an increase in two rankings (PARINDEX increased by 25 places, from 51st to 26th; SIPAS index increased by 12 places, from 48th to 36th), and a decrease in two rankings, namely PCI index (dropped by 7 places) and PAPI index (dropped by 13 places) compared to 2021.

According to Mr. Chau Viet Tha, the results of the 2022 indexes raise the urgent need to analyze and evaluate deeply to identify both subjective and objective causes for the decrease in points and rankings. Based on that, solutions will be proposed to further promote and enhance the advantages and strengths of the City, as well as to maintain, improve, and further enhance the indexes with positive evaluations. Efforts will also be made to comprehensively address limitations, difficulties, and challenges to improve and enhance the criteria that are evaluated poorly. Consequently, there will be an overall improvement in the indexes in 2023 and the following years.

At the conference, delegates focused on discussing solutions to improve and enhance the PARINDEX, PCI, PAPI, and SIPAS indexes, which are closely linked to the implementation of the political tasks of agencies, units, and localities, contributing to improving the quality of state agencies' operations and increasing the satisfaction of the people.

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Tran Viet Truong - Chairman of the People's Committee of the City, Head of the Steering Committee for Administrative Reform and Digital Transformation of the City - stated that in recent times, the City has concentrated on leading the comprehensive implementation of solutions to enhance the effectiveness of agencies within the political system, the operational efficiency of administrative apparatus at all levels, and the improvement of the investment environment, building trust of the people and businesses in the activities of Party organizations, government authorities, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and various organizations at all levels. As a result, the positive political participation of the people is promoted, and an open investment and business environment is built, fostering the confidence of the people in entrepreneurial activities and promoting the socio-economic development of the City.

According to Mr. Tran Viet Truong, 2023 is the midpoint of the term, a year filled with difficulties as the entire political system needs to collectively recover and develop the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, both the political system and the people need to make great efforts and strive to overcome challenges and difficulties in order to achieve the economic and social development goals set by the Resolution of the City Party Committee and the City People's Council. To achieve these goals, it requires coordinated implementation of multiple solutions at all levels and sectors, including solutions related to administrative reform, improving the investment and business environment, reforming the public service system and civil service to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the government apparatus and improve the quality of public services to satisfy and gain the trust of the people in the performance of administrative agencies. It also involves improving the investment environment to attract investment, promote business development, provide support, and create conditions for businesses to recover and expand their production and business activities, stabilize and increase budget revenue.

The leaders of the Department of Home Affairs of the City analyzed the results of the 2022 PARINDEX of the City and proposed solutions to improve this index in the coming period.

Based on that, the Chairman of the People's Committee of the City proposed that all levels and sectors strengthen information dissemination and communication about the meaning and results of the SIPAS, PAPI, PARINDEX, and PCI indexes in 2022 to the officials, civil servants, employees, citizens, and organizations. This is to enhance awareness, a sense of responsibility, and social consensus regarding administrative reform. Based on the evaluation results of these indexes, units, and localities should actively conduct analysis and assessment within their own units and localities, clearly identify the achievements, areas that have not been achieved, and the responsibilities of each unit and individual. At the same time, specific solutions should be proposed and implemented to overcome limitations and shortcomings that have led to the decrease in scores and rankings of the component criteria of the indexes, as announced by the central ministries and departments.

Continuing to intensify the review of all administrative procedures, proposing plans to reduce paperwork and files, shorten the time and streamline the coordination process for handling procedures to ensure a reduction in administrative processing time. Timely announcing, disclosing, and updating administrative procedures on the E-Government Portal, the electronic information platform of agencies and units, and at the locations where documents are received and administrative procedures are processed. Promptly addressing the situation of publicly displaying and publishing outdated application forms, declarations, or regulations on administrative procedures that are no longer in effect, which cause difficulties for citizens and organizations when searching for and carrying out administrative procedures. Organizing the effective handling of administrative procedure documents for citizens and organizations, aiming to reduce the rate of delayed documents, minimize travel time, and enhance satisfaction among citizens and organizations. Enhancing the application of information technology and digital transformation in the activities of state administrative agencies to serve citizens and businesses; implementing online public services and online payment to facilitate citizens and businesses in resolving administrative procedures.

In addition, enhancing the responsibility of leaders in the work of citizen reception, handling complaints, and accusations, providing explanations, and engaging in dialogue with the people; creating favorable conditions for citizens to participate in dialogues at grassroots levels and contribute their opinions on pressing issues. Emphasizing the aspects of transparency and openness and implementing land use planning and plans; managing state budget revenues and expenditures, as well as implementing policies for the people. Timely addressing citizens' proposals in accordance with legal regulations to avoid complaints being escalated or prolonged.

The Chairman of the People's Committee assigns the Office of the People's Committee to take the lead and advise on implementing tasks and solutions to improve the "Administrative Procedure Reform" content index. They should regularly monitor and urge the digitization of records and the results of administrative procedure resolution by agencies, units, and localities to ensure the targeted ratios are achieved. The Department of Planning and Investment is assigned to take the lead and coordinate with relevant departments to develop a plan to improve the provincial competitiveness index in 2023, striving for a higher ranking than in 2022. This includes proposing specific measures to improve the scores of low-ranking indicators. The Department of Information and Communications takes the lead and advises on implementing tasks and solutions to improve the "Development of e-Government and Digital Government" content index. They should continue to coordinate with relevant agencies and units to urgently integrate online public services into the National Public Service Portal and urge agencies and units to implement the use of specialized digital signatures for signing and processing documents and work records in the network environment.