Institutional reform, bringing the country into a new era

The speech at the opening session of the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly on October 21 by General Secretary To Lam was an important breakthrough in thinking, because for the first time, the Party leader clearly pointed out that "Among the 3 biggest bottlenecks today, which are institutions, infrastructure and human resources, institutions are the bottleneck of bottlenecks...". More than ever, the motto of looking straight at the truth to speak the truth has become necessary and urgent at the present time. We do not embellish or polish reality, but need to correctly identify reality in order to have appropriate solutions.

General Secretary To Lam speaks at the opening session of the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly (Photo: Media QH)

Many experts and scholars have commented and analyzed the General Secretary's comments and assessments on institutional bottlenecks and proposed many solutions to effectively implement institutional reforms in the coming time. It is easy to see that all opinions agree that when we talk about institutions, we are talking about the law. A country's legal system that is of good quality, stable and especially suitable for practice will naturally support and promote socio-economic development. Through such a legal system, a healthy business environment is created, people and businesses can do business with peace of mind, and trust in the fairness and integrity of the legal system. Understanding institutions like that is completely correct, but it seems not enough. Besides the legal system being a leading important part of the institution, the institution also includes many other components. Right in his speech, after stating that "the quality of law making and improvement has not met the needs of practice, some newly issued laws have had to be amended...", General Secretary To Lam pointed out: "Administrative procedures are still cumbersome, online public services have been improved but are not convenient or smooth. Law and policy enforcement is still a weak link; decentralization and delegation of power are not thorough, responsibilities are not clear; arranging and perfecting the organization of the state administrative apparatus to be streamlined, operate effectively, reduce focal points, and reduce intermediate levels is still inadequate. Some parts are still cumbersome and overlapping, between the legislative and executive branches, not really meeting the requirements of improving the effectiveness of state management". So, along with the law are administrative procedures, online public services, law enforcement organizations, policies, decentralization, delegation of power, apparatus organization... And this is the basis for understanding institutions in its broad, complete sense, not just understanding them in the narrow sense of institutions by the legal system. Three scholars Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics for their studies on how institutions are formed and affect national prosperity. They pointed out the role of institutions in the development of many countries, more specifically why there are rich countries and poor countries, why there are differences in per capita income between countries? What is extremely important in their opinion when talking about institutions is talking about property rights, honest government, a trustworthy legal system, political stability and open, competitive markets. According to this concept, it is clear that the legal system is only considered a part of the institution. Many researchers divide the institution into economic institutions and political institutions. Economic institutions are the rules contained in laws and policies, regulating the interactive relationships of economic agents. These rules clearly specify the level of restrictions that economic agents must endure in their interactive activities, creating structures and mechanisms to stimulate economic agents in society. Examples of economic institutions include property rights laws, credit arrangements, policies affecting access to means of production as well as consumption... Economic freedom is one of the basic human rights. In an economically free society, the state allows labor, capital and goods to circulate freely, with very few restrictions or prohibitions. Leading countries in economic freedom such as Singapore, New Zealand... create freedom of business, freedom of investment and ensure property rights as well as effective market operation. Political institutions are related to how the political system is organized, how power and authority are legitimated, divided and controlled. A particularly noteworthy point in political institutions is the level of state intervention in economic activities, the transparency in the operation of the public apparatus and the trust that the apparatus creates among the people and the business community. A broad approach to the concept of institutions will create better conditions for determining the content of institutional reform, which is first of all reform of the legal system, but at the same time also changes and reforms in the operation of the state apparatus in general, especially the state administrative apparatus with the function of organizing law implementation and managing the national administration. A reliable and quality legal system is necessary but will not be very effective when there still exists a bureaucratic administrative apparatus associated with a team of civil servants and public employees who are not qualified for management and tend to be "administrative". Therefore, to talk about real institutional reform in the spirit of the leader of our country's political system has stated is to talk about many reforms taking place at the same time, thereby creating important foundations and premises for the country's development in the new era.

Author: Dr. Dinh Duy Hoa, former Director of Administrative Reform Department, Ministry of Home Affairs.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/tam-diem/cai-cach-the-che-dua-dat-nuoc-vao-ky-nguyen-moi-20241031070939223.htm