'The right merger for management'

Báo Tài nguyên Môi trườngBáo Tài nguyên Môi trường03/03/2025

As the first Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Mr. Mai Ai Truc expressed his excitement at the establishment of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. Nearly 20 years after his retirement, Mr. Mai Ai Truc, at the age of 79, is still as enthusiastic and sharp as his inherent Binh Dinh personality, when giving a rare interview to the Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper.


Chính khách Mai Ái Trực qua nét vẽ của họa sĩ Huỳnh Dũng Nhân.
Politician Mai Ai Truc through the drawing of artist Huynh Dung Nhan.

As the first Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Mr. Mai Ai Truc expressed his excitement at the establishment of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. Nearly 20 years after his retirement, Mr. Mai Ai Truc, at the age of 79, is still as enthusiastic and sharp as his inherent Binh Dinh personality, when giving a rare interview to the Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper.

Sir, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has just been established, on the basis of merging the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Does this new event remind you of what you felt when the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was established in 2002 and you moved from Binh Dinh to Hanoi to take up the position of Minister?

There are three things that I still remember and often mention when talking with former cadres of the Ministry. First, there was a high consensus in the arrangement of cadres to manage units under the Ministry. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was established on the basis of merging two General Departments under the Government and a number of units transferred from the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Science and Technology. Many cadres from Deputy General Director were assigned to the position of Department Head or from Department Head to the position of Deputy Department Head, but there were no questions and all were assured to take on the new job.

Second, the Ministry's headquarters is located at the headquarters of the General Department of Land Administration (formerly known as the General Department of Land Administration), which has been severely degraded after many years of use and is cramped compared to the number of officers and employees of the Ministry, but no one has raised the issue of repairing or re-equipping the interior, but has focused on working according to new requirements.

Third, the rapid integration and connection between staff from many different sources creates a united and happy atmosphere in handling work, even working overnight or on weekends.

That is why from the day the Prime Minister decided to establish the Drafting Committee for the Land Law (amended) until the National Assembly gave its opinions at two sessions and passed the 2003 Land Law, the total time was only nearly 10 months. Other tasks were also smooth and on schedule.

How do you evaluate the merger of the two Ministries into the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the initial advantages and difficulties when establishing this Ministry?

According to the requirements of innovation and streamlining the current political system, merging the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment into one Ministry is the most reasonable. The name of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment also reflects the general and complete fields that the two Ministries previously managed.

Bộ trưởng Đỗ Đức Duy chụp ảnh lưu niệm cùng các lãnh đạo Bộ Tài nguyên và Môi trường qua các thời kỳ vào ngày 16/1/2025. Ảnh: Khương Trung.
Minister Do Duc Duy took a souvenir photo with leaders of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment through the periods on January 16, 2025. Photo: Khuong Trung.

Agriculture cannot be separated from the countryside, and the Environment essentially includes the components that we call resources such as land and physical elements underground, water, organisms, landscape, air, climate, etc.

I think that the merger of the two Ministries is basically very convenient for management work, both in the short term and in the long term, because the fields previously managed by the two Ministries have had close relationships with each other, and many cadres in those fields have known and understood each other through work relationships or shared common interests.

Some of the problems and overlaps between the two old ministries can now be resolved when they “come under one roof”. There were also difficulties in the early stages of the merger. Such as how to arrange staff appropriately, how to link the different sectors into a whole, creating the combined strength of the merger, the process and the way of handling work… Experience shows that these difficulties will pass quickly and everything will be better than before the merger.

Nguyên Bộ trưởng Mai Ái Trực: Việc hợp nhất hai Bộ về cơ bản là rất thuận lợi cho công tác quản lý, cả trước mắt và lâu dài. Ảnh: Khương Trung.
Former Minister Mai Ai Truc: The merger of the two ministries is basically very convenient for management work, both in the short and long term. Photo: Khuong Trung .

Do you think there is anything that needs to be noted in the management work of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, such as land and water resources management, sir?

One of the reasons for establishing the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in 2002 was to overcome the situation of “both playing football and blowing the whistle” of ministries that both manage units that use a lot of resources (such as water, minerals), and have the function of managing the allocation and licensing of the use of those resources. Agriculture is the sector that uses the most land and water resources.

Therefore, I believe that the Department of Agriculture and Environment will pay attention to proposing competent authorities to allocate land and water resources reasonably, in accordance with the requirements of promoting industrialization, developing service industries and promoting urbanization in the process of building a prosperous country according to the goals set by the 13th National Party Congress.

Thank you! Wishing you much joy and health!



Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/nguyen-bo-truong-mai-ai-truc-su-hop-nhat-phu-hop-cho-cong-toc-quan-ly-387236.html

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