Hanoi becomes Vietnam’s first locality to pilot administrative services center

Hanoi is the first locality to complete the pilot project and set up the Public Administration Service Center as directed by the Prime Minister.

Locals at Hai Ba Trung District People's Committee for Public Services. Photos: The Hanoi Times

On September 17, the Hanoi People's Committee submitted a proposal to the Hanoi People's Council to consider and approve the pilot project to establish the Hanoi Public Administration Service Center.

The establishment of this center follows the National Assembly's Resolution No. 142 dated June 29, 2024, and the Government's Resolution No. 108 dated July 10, 2024. These resolutions require provincial and municipal governments, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong Province, and Quang Ninh Province, to implement a pilot model of a one-level Public Administration Service Center under the direct supervision of provincial-level People's Committees.

The Prime Minister also issued a directive for Hanoi, instructing the city to pilot the one-level Public Administration Service Center from September 2024 to November 30, 2025.

This makes Hanoi the first locality to complete the pilot project and establish the city's Public Administration Service Center, as directed by the Prime Minister. The Hanoi People's Council is expected to approve the project at its upcoming session, set to begin on September 30, 2024.

The Hanoi Public Administration Service Center will operate using the city's Administrative Procedure Information System, which will be connected to the National Public Service Portal, national databases, specialized databases, and shared platform systems.

The center will accept administrative applications from any location in Hanoi, reducing the number of single-window service points and innovating the way administrative applications are submitted. It will ensure citizens can access public services within a 30-minute travel radius or no more than 5 kilometers, with 24/7 service availability.

"The center will be a crucial tool supporting the governance and leadership of the Hanoi People's Committee. It will centralize and simplify administrative processes, enhance transparency, and reduce corruption," the plan stated.

Chairman of the Hanoi People's Council Nguyen Ngoc Tuan (middle) during a visit to the municipal Department of Internal Affairs to review the administration procedures.

Breakthrough in providing public services

The People's Committee emphasizes that the center's pilot will enhance the efficiency of administrative procedure control, monitoring, and oversight, supporting the leadership of the city's People's Committee. It will also help achieve the city's digital transformation and administrative reform targets, particularly online public services.

All of the city's online public services will be redesigned, restructured, and simplified. This includes cutting down the amount of documentation required for procedures that already have access to citizen data, reducing costs and processing time, and streamlining the reception and processing of administrative procedures.

The center will also professionalize, digitize, and ensure the flexibility of the "one-stop" service staff. Additionally, responsibilities for public administrative services that do not necessarily need to be provided by the state will be transferred to businesses and social organizations.

The center will function as an administrative agency under the Hanoi People's Committee (at the departmental level), with a legal personality, its own seal, and account. Its main office is expected to be located at 197 Nghi Tam Street, Yen Phu Ward, Tay Ho District.

The pilot operation of the center will focus on placing citizens and businesses at the center, with their satisfaction serving as key measure of the center's quality and effectiveness. It will also seek to change the mindset and attitude of officials, civil servants, and staff in performing public duties.

The center will not "take over" the functions, tasks, or authority of departments, agencies, or district-level People's Committees, but rather, it will strengthen horizontal coordination to avoid overlapping of functions and responsibilities.

The center's operation will be guided by the principles of "commitment to innovation, cautious implementation, and practical feasibility," with the primary goal of serving citizens and businesses.

In addition, the establishment of the center will reduce the number of single-window offices from 673 to 30 branches and decrease the number of civil servants handling administrative procedures from 2,768 to 184. This will save the state budget over VND13.3 billion ($537,000) monthly in salaries, benefits, and related expenses.

The pilot implementation of the Hanoi Public Administration Service Center is a necessary step that builds on the success of the city's "Modern One-Stop Service" model and aims to improve the quality of administrative services in response to new circumstances, according to the city’s authorities.