Ho Chi Minh City - Green, creative super city - Part 2: Building a creative digital government, opening the way to attract investors

Ho Chi Minh City is strongly shifting from administrative management to a service-oriented administration, with people and businesses at the center. The focus of this process is the operation of a two-level local government model and the strategy of building a creative, transparent and effective digital government. This is considered a drastic step, clearly demonstrating the commitment to comprehensively innovate the management method, serving people and businesses, contributing to raising the investment position of Ho Chi Minh City.

Smooth operation of digital government

At the trial operation of the 2-level local government model in 168 wards, communes and special zones of the new Ho Chi Minh City, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen inspected the transmission lines and operations at the proposed locations of the Con Dao special zone headquarters, Thanh An commune and Sai Gon ward. At these locations, the operating system ensures speed and efficiency. The incoming and outgoing document management flows are guaranteed to be configured according to regulations. The 1022 Information Portal system ensures operational capacity; the processing flows, feedback and recommendations are transferred to the correct accounts of the receiving and processing officers...

The foot of the overpass on Ring Road 3 (Di An City, Binh Duong ) crosses National Highway 1A to connect to Long Binh Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Hoang Hung

The smooth operation of these systems contributes to ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the administrative procedure processing process for people, resolving administrative procedures regardless of administrative boundaries. This is a fundamental preparation step for simplifying administrative procedures and gradually implementing the digital government model. The first highlight is the connection and interconnection of technical infrastructure systems and administrative data from the commune level to departments, branches, and the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City. All documents and records for handling public affairs are entered into the digital system. At the same time, the 1022 Information Portal system is deeply integrated into the process of receiving and handling feedback and recommendations from people.

Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Digital Transformation Center Vo Thi Trung Trinh said that during the testing phase, the Document Management system achieved a rate of 100%; Administrative Procedures achieved 98%. Along with the technology transformation is the rearrangement of cadres and civil servants in a streamlined direction, increasing service efficiency. The cadres and civil servants expected to be assigned to work at the Commune-level Public Administration Service Center are all trained and tested on their skills in using digital platforms, ensuring proficiency in receiving - processing - returning results via the electronic environment.

Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City Lam Dinh Thang further analyzed that Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong Province and Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province have coordinated to survey and comprehensively evaluate the infrastructure and existing technical systems. From there, a roadmap and synchronous technical solutions are built, ensuring a seamless transition, avoiding disruption in serving people and businesses. Ho Chi Minh City applies the principle of "sharing", which means focusing on deploying shared systems, ensuring continuous and smooth operation. Whether in urban, rural or island areas, people will have access to and use a uniform and quality public service system.

The city has identified digital governance as the backbone of the two-tier local government model. Therefore, the city has tested systems for incident handling, document management, and administrative procedure resolution... aiming at comprehensively operating and managing the digital administration. The city has also consolidated systems and shared data, applied big data analysis technologies and artificial intelligence to make evidence-based decisions, forecast socio -economic trends, thereby shifting from a government that resolves issues to a government that proactively creates development.

Do not let people wait more than 20 minutes

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc has given instructions on receiving and handling administrative procedures when reorganizing the two-level local government apparatus. In particular, localities are required to develop plans to perfect the one-stop shop at all levels to ensure the implementation of administrative procedures regardless of administrative boundaries when the district-level model ends and the two-level local government organization model is implemented.

Localities proactively arrange the number of counters and counter locations to ensure they are suitable to the conditions and actual situation at the Commune-level Public Administration Service Center (new), but must ensure that they are reasonable and convenient for people and businesses when they come to perform administrative procedures. Proactively adjust according to the actual situation, and do not allow overloading or people and businesses to wait more than 20 minutes to submit administrative procedures.

Promoting administrative reform

From July 1, the whole country ended the district-level model and officially put into operation the 2-level local government model. In June, the Government issued 28 Resolutions on decentralization, delegation of authority, and division of authority when implementing the 2-level local government model. In which, the authority to resolve 346 administrative procedures under the authority of the district level was assigned to transfer 18 administrative procedures to the provincial level, 278 administrative procedures to the commune level, and 50 administrative procedures were abolished. At the same time, 556 administrative procedures were decentralized from the central level to the local level.

In Ho Chi Minh City, as of June 20, the city had 1,858 administrative procedures in use, including 1,480 provincial-level administrative procedures, 287 district-level administrative procedures, and 160 commune-level administrative procedures. From July 1, it is expected that the commune level will handle 438 administrative procedures after the district-level model ends. To ensure that administrative procedures for people and businesses are handled smoothly and without interruption when implementing the 2-level local government model, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc has issued many instructions and requests for departments, branches, sectors, and localities to focus on promoting administrative reform, applying digital transformation, and building digital government.

The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee especially emphasized the requirement to cut unnecessary administrative procedures, shorten the time to process administrative procedures, create an open environment to attract investment, reform administrative procedures with the policy of "taking people and businesses as the center, the subjects of government service; businesses are the resources and driving force of development". From there, identify tasks and tasks to build a closer government, share more promptly, resolve the work of people and businesses faster and more effectively. In particular, ensure that each procedure is carried out as quickly and transparently as possible, regardless of administrative boundaries or old processing habits.

As of June 15, the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has issued decisions approving the list of 1,540 online public services, including 907 administrative procedures applying full online public services, 633 partially online administrative procedures to provide on the electronic environment. The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also approved 1,489 restructured internal procedures, in which more than 3,564 working hours for handling administrative procedures were reduced, all internal procedures were reduced by 1-2 steps.

In addition, many effective solutions, models, and initiatives have shortened processing time, simplified dossier components, and saved costs of compliance with administrative procedures in many fields: investment, land, construction, business registration, etc. The clearest evidence is that in the first 5 months of 2025, Ho Chi Minh City attracted nearly 1.78 billion USD in foreign investment, an increase of 87.5% over the same period in 2024. The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee commented that this result shows that investors' confidence in Ho Chi Minh City's investment environment is being firmly built. In addition, Ho Chi Minh City also promotes direct contact with investors to record and quickly resolve arising issues, demonstrating a change in the thinking and service attitude of the staff and civil servants.

Announcement of hotline number of one-stop department

The People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has just announced the locations and hotline numbers of the provincial one-stop shop; the Commune-level Public Administration Service Center; and the Land Registration Office Branch in the area. Ho Chi Minh City continues to focus on improving the investment environment, especially reforming administrative procedures in the investment sector. Striving to reduce at least 30% of the time to handle administrative procedures by the end of 2025; reduce at least 30% of the cost of complying with administrative procedures; propose to cut at least 30% of unnecessary conditions; not add additional procedures and processes not included in legal regulations. Ho Chi Minh City proactively shortens the time to handle administrative procedures in the investment sector, helping to speed up the processing time for people and businesses.

The People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has issued a list of administrative procedures to be reduced and simplified (phase 1) in 2025 for 298 administrative procedures. The People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City requested agencies and units to quickly complete the submission to the Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City for approval of the plan to reduce and simplify administrative procedures, no later than June 30. At the same time, continue to review and propose to reduce and simplify administrative procedures (phase 2), no later than July 5.

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Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-sieu-do-thi-xanh-sang-tao-bai-2-xay-dung-chinh-quyen-so-kien-tao-mo-loi-thu-hut-nha-dau-tu-post801479.html