Not perfectionist but not hasty

General Secretary To Lam chaired a meeting with veteran revolutionaries, meritorious people, and outstanding policy families in the Central Highlands region on March 29 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025).

Speaking at the meeting, General Secretary To Lam said that the organization of the political system must be streamlined, strong, effective, efficient, and effective, with a determined and urgent spirit, "running while lining up", not being perfectionist but also not hasty; not interrupting work and the new organizational model must be better and more effective than the old model.

It is expected that the administrative apparatus system will be restructured into 3 levels: Central, province/city and commune/ward.

General Secretary To Lam speaks at a meeting in Da Nang city (Photo: Hoai Son).

This organizational structure aims at the government proactively reaching out to the people, instead of the people having to seek out the government. This creates space for socio-economic development in each region and area.

According to General Secretary To Lam, through international research, about 80% of countries have a 3-level government model. In the process of organizing a 3-level model, there will be very new issues in thinking, direction, and implementation.

With a three-tier government model, the roles of each level will be clearly defined. For example, the central level will focus on national strategies, foreign affairs, defense, and security; while the provincial level will implement these issues specifically at the local level.

The General Secretary gave an example of the pilot project to end district-level police activities. All procedures for people with the police such as registering household registration, cars, motorbikes, ID cards, passports, etc. are done at the commune and ward levels, without having to go to the province anymore. People are very excited.

The three-level government structure aims for the government to proactively reach out to the people (Photo: Hoai Son).

According to the General Secretary, the current model at the commune level is an "inverted cone". The organizational apparatus at the central level is grand and complete, but at the grassroots level, it no longer exists. Social organizations are also facing a similar situation.

Meanwhile, the commune level is the most important level because it is the place closest to the people. At the same time, it is the place where all policies and resolutions of the Party and State are implemented. "If the resolution is not implemented to the Party cells and people, it will probably all be just on paper," said the General Secretary.

According to the General Secretary, with the current 4-level model, the commune/ward level mainly handles administrative work, and is not decentralized or delegated to take care of economic, social, health, and education matters, but is assigned to the district and province.

Therefore, the requirements set at the commune/ward level in the new model are very large, and will solve most of the people's procedures.

"Now we have to do the opposite process. Commune officials at the grassroots level must grasp all the thoughts and aspirations of the people. They must know what the people want, what difficulties they have, what help they need. The commune must solve these issues, how can the province reach them?", the General Secretary emphasized the role of the commune/ward level in the new model.

Preparing for the "hundred-year vision"

At the meeting with the Standing Committee of the Da Nang City Party Committee and the Standing Committee of the Quang Nam Provincial Party Committee, General Secretary To Lam said that Da Nang's economy is still small in scale compared to the whole country and many other localities; there are not many large corporations investing, although science, technology and innovation are focused on, they have not created a truly strong driving force.

According to the General Secretary, the regional connectivity role of Da Nang city, especially with Quang Nam province and the central localities, has not yet been fully promoted.

The Da Nang - Quang Ngai Expressway passes through Quang Nam, creating connections between localities (Photo: Hoai Son).

The General Secretary emphasized that researching and implementing new development models, including adjusting administrative units, has become an urgent requirement to expand growth space, restructure development space and the management apparatus to suit the long-term vision.

General Secretary To Lam affirmed that the policy of merging provinces and cities without organizing at the district level is a major, strategic orientation of the Central Government, which is being implemented urgently, resolutely, and decisively on the basis of broad consultation, with consensus as the foundation.

This is a revolution, an institutional breakthrough, preparing for a "hundred-year vision" of national development. All institutional reforms must be for the practical and long-term interests of the people.

The reform of the apparatus and the merger of administrative boundaries this time focus on the goals of repositioning the natural economic development space, linking history, culture and geography. From there, the development vision is expanded, forming an administrative and economic entity with a large enough scale, strong enough governance capacity, and high competitiveness to deeply integrate into the national and global value chain.

In addition, reducing management levels and shortening work processing procedures to reallocate resources and focus resources on priority areas.

Regarding the upcoming discussion between the Central Government and the National Assembly on provincial mergers, including the possibility of Quang Nam merging with Da Nang, the General Secretary said that the new Da Nang - Quang Nam must promote the potential and inherent advantages of both localities with resilient revolution and creative working spirit.

Leaders of Da Nang city shook hands with leaders of Quang Nam province at the opening ceremony of Quang Da bridge on March 27 (Photo: Hoai Son).

The General Secretary also suggested that the construction of the new Da Nang - Quang Nam must become a growth pole of Vietnam, with high competitiveness in the Asia - Pacific region.

A new Da Nang - Quang Nam needs to position itself not only as the economic and social center of the Central region but also as a pioneer, leading other localities in the process of modern development.

According to General Secretary To Lam, it is necessary to promote economic restructuring towards improving labor productivity and promoting potentials and advantages, building international financial centers, free trade zones, modern coastal cities, high-quality resort and heritage tourism centers, etc.

New development spaces need to clearly define their own strategic roles and advantages, such as industrial and logistics development poles (Chu Lai), cultural and ecological tourism centers (Hoi An - My Son), high-tech agricultural areas, etc.

The master plan must ensure balanced development, avoiding over-concentration in Da Nang and forgetting the valuable potential of Quang Nam.

The General Secretary emphasized that the merger is not just an administrative change, but it is a historic opportunity for Quang Nam and Da Nang to together build a leading economic, cultural and innovation center in the region.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/noi-vu/chu-truong-sap-nhap-tinh-thanh-la-chuan-bi-cho-tam-nhin-tram-nam-20250401170932976.htm