Information technology facilitates innovation and streamlining of the apparatus.

To urgently carry out this large volume of work, the role of information technology is very important to complete tasks in accordance with the direction of the Central Executive Committee, Politburo, Secretariat, and Steering Committee.

Streamlining the apparatus must remove institutional barriers

Former Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Mai Liem Truc said that Resolution 18-NQ/TW of the 6th Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee on "Some issues on continuing to innovate and reorganize the apparatus of the political system to be streamlined and operate effectively and efficiently" was issued on October 25, 2017, but after more than 7 years, it has not been implemented much, due to many reasons, but mainly due to the lack of awareness of the urgency of streamlining the apparatus and institutional reform. Meanwhile, institutions are the decisive factor for the success or failure of a country.

Therefore, Mr. Mai Liem Truc believes that currently, science and technology are developing rapidly, especially digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things, etc., creating favorable conditions for strong institutional reform, the first breakthrough step of which is restructuring the national administrative apparatus from the central to local levels. From here, we will take the next steps, changing the legal system and operating mechanism from the Constitution, Laws, sub-law documents and policies. Finally, it is the arrangement of officials, especially leaders from the central to local levels, to operate the system according to the new structure and new legal corridor.

“Up to now, at the Central level, we have worked very quickly to streamline the apparatus. The next step we are about to complete is the national governance structure at the administrative level. This is the largest restructuring of the management apparatus from the Central to the local level ever,” said Mr. Mai Liem Truc.

However, the former Deputy Minister of Information and Communications also stated that there are still many difficulties in implementing Resolution 18 because this is the biggest reform in the past 50 years, with a wide scope of impact and a huge amount of work. Meanwhile, the pressure from economic growth on Vietnam is very large, 8% in 2025 and double digits in the following years.

Besides, solving policies for hundreds of thousands of civil servants who quit their jobs or change their positions is also a big problem.

Former Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Mai Liem Truc.

Therefore, according to Mr. Mai Liem Truc, to effectively innovate and streamline, we must accept "sacrifice", innovate our thinking, have breakthrough thinking, and have different ways of doing things to be able to make strong, unprecedented decisions.

To effectively innovate and streamline, we must accept "sacrifice", innovate our thinking, have breakthrough thinking, and have different ways of doing things to be able to make strong, unprecedented decisions.

Sharing this view, Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong, Institute for Policy Studies and Media Development (IPS) said that in merging units, dividing scientific functions still has many difficulties. And the most important thing is how to have a strong team of civil servants to operate the apparatus and process work records smoothly. "We have very high political determination but the difficulty of Vietnam is the coordination between units," Mr. Dong expressed.

Streamlining the apparatus must be associated with digital transformation

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) payment system plays the role of the backbone of the economy, processing VND830,000 billion in transactions every day. Recently, the Government issued Decree No. 26/2025/ND-CP on the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the SBV. Specifically, the SBV's organizational structure has been reduced by 6 units at the Central Bank; the Banking Inspection and Supervision Agency has been reorganized into 3 units; 63 SBV branches in provinces and cities have been arranged into 15 regional SBVs, each regional SBV is in charge of many neighboring provinces.

Converting the IT system in 3 months was a challenging task. But in just a short time, with the close coordination of FPT, the State Bank of Vietnam implemented the streamlining of the apparatus according to Resolution 18-NQ/TW, while upgrading the technology system to suit the new organizational model.

This is a typical example of choosing an effective information technology solution to perform two tasks in parallel: streamlining the apparatus and converting data accurately and safely, ensuring the system operates smoothly and stably.

Former Deputy Minister Mai Liem directly assessed that this innovation is 70% institutional, 30% technological . The reform of the national administrative apparatus, merging provinces, districts, communes... has a great advantage that Vietnam is developing information technology, applying digital transformation, and strong AI.

“Millions of Party members across the country received the spirit of Resolution 57 through a television conference. Digital government, digital banking... create favorable conditions for people, reducing intermediary steps. Obviously, the information technology system, big data, AI, Internet of Things... create great capacity for the management system. Information technology will change and surprise us. Operational work is no longer limited by space and time,” said Mr. Mai Liem Truc.

Information technology systems, big data, AI, Internet of Things… create great capabilities for management systems. Information technology will change us in ways that surprise us. Management is no longer limited by space and time.

Former Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Mai Liem Truc

However, he believes that the success or failure of digital transformation is not determined by technologists but by leaders, policy makers, and entrepreneurs: “Leaders must be passionate, ambitious, and daring. In other words, they must be strong, clean, and have vision, build a good organization, and use an organization with talented staff.”

To adapt to a new phase of streamlining the civil servant team, this team needs to change and apply information technology to work smoothly and effectively.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong, Institute for Policy Studies and Media Development (IPS).

According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong, technology plays an effective supporting role in providing scientific bases, forecasting situations, and distributing the volume of civil servants appropriately.

“For example, when Hanoi uses the criteria of dividing urban levels into types 1, 2, 3 to come up with the number of civil servants, it is not certain that type 3 urban areas such as Mo Lao and Van Quan wards have the same amount of work. Therefore, based on the number of transactions and processing of records, technology will help to identify how much time an average civil servant needs to process records, which ward has a large volume of records, and from there adjust the number of civil servants to suit each locality,” said Mr. Dong.

This expert believes that technology will help reduce the number of simple tasks such as checking the authenticity of documents, reducing intermediary steps, etc. When manual steps are replaced by technology, civil servants will have more time to work with higher added value.

However, Mr. Dong also emphasized that in order for the Vietnamese digital enterprise force to effectively promote digital transformation, there must be a market. At this time, the State must be the largest buyer for technology enterprises to develop products specific to the Vietnamese market. If the State uses capital effectively, it will create great benefits for technology enterprises in developing digital technology solutions.

Commenting that digital transformation will change business models, corporate structures, and the governance model of the state and nation, helping to streamline the apparatus, Mr. Mai Liem Truc expressed: "If there is any advice for provinces and cities when merging, it is necessary to soon build an interconnected management information infrastructure that is strong and secure enough to manage together on a platform".

He also suggested that Vietnam could refer to Singapore's model of implementing an effective civil service management system, with civil servants receiving incomes comparable to those of private companies. China also has experience in managing large local government systems and managing the civil service system according to goals and results.

Resolution 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation and Resolution 18-NQ/TW support each other inseparably. Resolution 57-NQ/TW will support the restructuring of the system and the operation of the apparatus.

Mr. Mai Liem Truc

Mr. Mai Liem Truc said that Resolution 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation and Resolution 18-NQ/TW support each other inseparably. Resolution 57-NQ/TW will support the restructuring of the system and the operation of the apparatus.

The guiding viewpoint of Resolution 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation is very clear: "Developing science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation is the most important breakthrough, the main driving force to rapidly develop modern productive forces, perfect production relations, innovate national governance methods, develop the socio-economy, prevent the risk of falling behind, and bring the country to breakthrough development and prosperity in the new era", Mr. Mai Liem Truc emphasized that heads of units must attach importance to developing technology so that the apparatus runs effectively and efficiently, not just focusing on reforming the apparatus.

“Life is changing too quickly in terms of organizational structure, operating institutions with digital technology and digital transformation, so the heads of all central and local agencies, as well as people and businesses, must change their mindset, dare to commit, accept certain sacrifices and disadvantages, then the strong breakthrough will be successful,” said Mr. Mai Liem Truc.