On April 19, 2024, the National Academy of Public Administration – Ho Chi Minh City Campus (NAPA HCMC), in coordination with the French Embassy in Viet Nam, organized the international workshop “Promoting de-concentration and decentralization in state management associated with inspection, supervision, and control of power to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the local state administrative apparatus. The workshop was held in a hybrid format.
Attending the workshop were Mr. Thierry Coudert, Inspector General of Administration, former Prefect of Eure and Seine et Marne provinces, French INSP expert; Mr. Béla Hégédus, Deputy Counselor for Cooperation and Culture, French Embassy in Viet Nam; Ms. Tran Lan Huong, program officer, French Embassy in Viet Nam.
On the side of NAPA, there were Dr. Truong Cong Hoa, Executive Deputy Director of NAPA HCMC, Ms. Pham Thi Quynh Hoa, Director, the Department of International Cooperation, leaders of the NAPA faculties and departments, leaders, officials, and lecturers of NAPA HCMC, and representatives of Department of Home Affairs of Long An, An Giang and Tay Ninh provinces.
In his remarks, Dr. Truong Cong Hoa emphasized that de-concentration and decentralization have always been key issues throughout the process of building and perfecting the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. Promoting and improving the de-concentration and decentralization mechanism to clearly define tasks, powers, authorities, and responsibilities between the government and ministries, between the central government and local governments, are associated with improving a comprehensive, coherent, unified, timely, feasible, stable, transparent, and internationally competitive legal system. Placing the legitimate rights and interests of citizens and businesses at the center, ensuring the promotion of proactivity and creativity, and promoting a sense of responsibility at every level and industry, especially among leaders. Additionally, strengthening inspection, examination, supervision, and control of the implementation of state power through the regulations of the Party and the law, contributes to a professional, modern, clean, efficient, and people-serving democratic administrative system. To effectively implement these tasks and to refer to international experiences, especially the experiences of countries with extensive experience in decentralization and de-concentration is extremely necessary.
Dr. Truong Cong Hoa, Executive Deputy Director of NAPA HCMC, delivering remarks at the workshop.
In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Béla Hégédus expressed his gratitude for the warm reception and was deeply impressed by the dynamism of the NAPA HCMC. He also expressed his joy in collaborating with the Campus to organize this meaningful workshop. The content of the workshop is a current issue and priority of the two governments of Viet Nam and France as well as the administrative system of both countries. In Viet Nam, the effectiveness of public policies and the state administrative system are among the most important policies. With the practical experiences of Mr. Thierry Coudert when he has served as the prefect of the two provinces namely Eure and Seine et Marne, Mr. Béla Hégédus hopes that Mr. Thierry Coudert will take advantage of and share useful insights in de-concentration and decentralization in France, helping the workshop participants gain practical experience to apply in the process of decentralization and de-concentration in state management for implementation in Viet Nam.
Mr. Béla Hégédus, Deputy Counselor for Cooperation and Culture, French Embassy in Viet Nam, delivering remarks at the workshop.
After the opening and welcoming session, with 40 years of experience in the field of administrative decentralization and de-concentration, Mr. Thierry Coudert, Inspector General of Administration, French INSP expert, shared some experiences for the workshop focusing on the following topics: an overview of French administrative agencies; an overview of de-concentration and decentralization; inspection, supervision and control of power; the necessity of inspection, supervision and control of power; consequences of the lack of control of power, requirements of power control; the current situation in France regarding decentralization and de-concentration. Mr. Thierry Coudert noted that administrative systems of France and Viet Nam today are very different, both in terms of organizational models and operational methods. Currently in France, there are mechanisms for controlling power: control of power through the judicial system and control of power through the administrative system.
Mr. Thierry Coudert, Inspector General of Administration, French INSP expert sharing at the workshop.
With the presentation “Obstacles of de-concentration and decentralization associated with inspection, supervision, and control of power in state management need to be overcome”, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Huynh Van Thoi, former Acting Director of NAPA HCMC, presented the barriers and obstacles in decentralization and de-concentration in Viet Nam today.
First, the perception and concept of decentralization and de-concentration of state management.
Second, the alignment of the territorial administrative units with government levels and the mechanism of dual subordination in the local government organizational model.
Third, the mechanism to ensure the local government autonomy.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Huynh Van Thoi presenting at the workshop.
During the discussion and exchange with experts at the workshop, Dr. Truong Cong Hoa raised two issues: Regarding the political impact on the continuity of decentralization and de-concentration and how to limit changes at the top level and political will towards decentralization and de-concentration to ensure continuity; how each country’s political design affects decentralization and de-concentration. Once constitutions and laws are in place, are decentralization and de-concentration still necessary?
Mr. Thierry Coudert believes that there needs to be a way to transfer power to lower levels and clearly define the scope of authority, determining which areas the central government performs well and which would be better executed locally. The debate between serving the state or grassroots democracy in France is not relevant. The perspective is to strive for government policies and tools to be issued at the closest level to the people to achieve the highest possible efficiency. Decentralization and de-concentration must be clearly defined according to specific regulations.
Mr. Tran Anh Hung, representative of the Faculty of State and Law, raised the issue of the responsibility of state agencies and individuals with authority in issuing illegal or improperly regulated documents. According to Mr. Thierry Coudert, there is no professional constraint between the issuer of illegal documents and their personal responsibility in France. The government may request a local government to issue a decision, not necessarily in accordance with the law. The Administrative Court in France only gives judicial opinions on issued documents and decisions, with a different mechanism for individuals issuing documents under their jurisdiction.
Mr. Tran Anh Hung at the workshop.
Dr. Nguyen Trang Thu, lecturer at the Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Personnel Organization, raised the question of how well power control is measured in France, and whether there are any indexes used for evaluation. According to Mr. Thierry Coudert, there are no indexes used in France to measure power control. The evaluation of power control effectiveness relies on the number of decision documents transferred to the next level of processing.
Dr. Nguyen Trang Thu at the workshop.
Dr. Tran Thi Vanh Khuyen, lecturer of the Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Personnel Organization, discusses which regulations and decisions require prefects to inspect. Is the authority to control administrative documents belonging to the prefects or is the prefect’s office overloaded? Is local work delayed? Mr. Thierry Coudert shared that all personal documents signed by agency leaders or resolutions issued by the council must be checked for legality and constitutionality. There are two areas that need to be checked and controlled: the general planning of the locality, zoning plans, planning policies, and construction permits. The prefect is responsible for requesting amendments to parts that are inconsistent with the general strategic development policies of the region.
Dr. Tran Thi Vanh Khuyen at the workshop.
Dr. Mai Dinh Lam, representative of the Faculty of State Management of Economics and Society, raised the issue of whether the conditions for tax payment belong to the central government or local governments, and how the process works. To illustrate the current situation of central and local budgets in France, Mr. Thierry Coudert shared the story of some individuals who were given the authority to launder money by sponsoring political parties and bidding. A lot of public money was transferred to private pockets.
Dr. Mai Dinh Lam at the workshop.
Dr. Nguyen Hoang Anh, representative of the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Sciences, raised the issue of conflicts of interest between the central government and local governments, and how such conflict would be resolved. The issue of asset declaration during the term of office and the effectiveness of combating corruption through asset declaration measures were also brought up. According to Mr. Thierry Coudert, the prefect is both a representative of local ministries and agencies at the local level while also serving as local executive governments. Conflicts of interest between local and central governments in France are almost non-existent thanks to decentralization and de-concentration reforms. Asset declaration applies to officials appointed to new positions, and elected or re-elected representatives as a basis for assessing their behavior.
Dr. Nguyen Hoang Anh at the workshop.
Concluding the workshop, Mr. Béla Hégédus expressed gratitude for the warm reception from NAPA HCMC, the valuable insights shared by expert Thierry Coudert, and the contributions and exchanges from either in-person or online participants. Mr. Béla Hégédus hopes that from the experiences shared by Mr. Thierry Coudert, delegates would be able to apply the advantages to the practical public service context in Viet Nam. He also expressed a desire for more similar workshops to be organized either in person or online through the channels of the Department of International Cooperation, NAPA.
Dr. Truong Cong Hoa, Executive Deputy Director of NAPA HCMC, expressed his thanks to the delegation of the French INSP, scientists, and localities that participated in the workshop with very meaningful and insightful presentations, contributing greatly to the research process on decentralization, de-concentration, empowerment, and control of power within the state administrative apparatus in Viet Nam. The results of the workshop will be researched and integrated into reference materials for research and study programs at NAPA HCMC.
Photos at the workshop
An overview of the workshop.
Workshop participants.
