At the ceremony to announce 2023 PAPI. (Photo: VNA) The state of the economy and householdprosperity were the top concern for citizens.
In his opening remarks, Duong Trung Y, VicePresident of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (HCMA), reflected onthe important results that the HCMA and the United Nations DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP) have achieved together during the 15 years’ formulating anddeveloping the PAPI Indicators. These have consistently contributed to positiveand systematic changes in Vietnam's public administration.
Objective metrics such as PAPI, the ProvincialCompetitiveness Index (PCI), or the Public Administration Reform Index (PARIndex), serve as important benchmarks for evaluating the effectiveness ofpublic service delivery by ministries and local administrations. Furthermore, theyoffer important suggestions for Vietnam to advance its national developmentpolicy, implement the National Digital Transformation Strategy, and foster apeople-centered and inclusive state, ensuring that no one is left behind, he said.
A record 19,536 respondents from across thecountry participated in the 2023 PAPI survey. Based on their responses, Controlof Corruption in the Public Sector and E-Governance were the key PAPIdimensions to register progress relative to 2021 and 2022. Transparency inLocal Decision-Making, conversely, saw a drop. The remaining five dimensions onlocal governance, public administration, and service delivery saw little changerelative to the preceding two years.
With corruption high on the agenda for boththe Party and citizens, the results on Control of Corruption in the PublicSector and Transparency in Local Decision-making are significant, even if theypaint contrasting pictures.
The improvement in citizen perceptions oncontrol of corruption at the local level rose only modestly, from 6.71 pointsin 2022 to 6.77 in 2023. The slight improvement, however, also aligned withcitizen rankings of national issues of greatest concern. Corruption droppedfrom being the fifth national issue of greatest anxiety for citizens in 2022 tothe sixth in 2023.
Citizens reported a perceived decline in five out of the eight types ofcorruption measured by PAPI. These are diversion of state funds, bribes forland use rights certificates, bribes to avoid environmental regulations, bribesfor teachers' favouritism, and bribes for better public health service. Despitethis progress, more respondents believed that informal payments were needed tosecure State employment in 2023 compared to 2021.
Another key PAPI focus in 2023 wase-governance, following the Government’s push to expand digital citizenship. Lastyear, access to the internet and access to provincial e-governance portals bothrose relative to 2020. At the same time, while nearly 80% of the PAPI surveyrespondents in 2023 had internet access at home, the results also highlighteddigital divides. Access to the internet varies across gender, living areas,ethnicity, and migrant status.
However, findings revealed that citizensare slow to switch to e-governance, with just 8.3% and 7.6% of the respondentsusing the umbrella National E-Service Portal (NESP) or Provincial E-ServicePortals (PESP) available in all 63 provinces, respectively. A reason for thelimited users is privacy concerns, as stated by one-third of the users.
These findings underline the need forsubstantial improvements to make services more accessible, user-friendly,convenient and inclusive for all citizen users. A practical measure is todesign a single-device approach to online public service portals, so users canaccess them from anywhere with smartphones. Addressing citizens’ privacyconcerns is also important.
Since its inception 15 years ago, PAPI hascollected the voices of 197,779 citizens from all demographic backgrounds onthe state of governance and public service provision at the local level. Withits wealth of quantitative data, PAPI has emerged as a trusted, citizen-centrictool to inform the country’s legislative and policy agendas and the actionplans of all 63 provincial administrations./.
Citizens reported a perceived decline in five out of the eight types ofcorruption measured by PAPI. These are diversion of state funds, bribes forland use rights certificates, bribes to avoid environmental regulations, bribesfor teachers' favouritism, and bribes for better public health service. Despitethis progress, more respondents believed that informal payments were needed tosecure State employment in 2023 compared to 2021.
Another key PAPI focus in 2023 wase-governance, following the Government’s push to expand digital citizenship. Lastyear, access to the internet and access to provincial e-governance portals bothrose relative to 2020. At the same time, while nearly 80% of the PAPI surveyrespondents in 2023 had internet access at home, the results also highlighteddigital divides. Access to the internet varies across gender, living areas,ethnicity, and migrant status.
However, findings revealed that citizensare slow to switch to e-governance, with just 8.3% and 7.6% of the respondentsusing the umbrella National E-Service Portal (NESP) or Provincial E-ServicePortals (PESP) available in all 63 provinces, respectively. A reason for thelimited users is privacy concerns, as stated by one-third of the users.
These findings underline the need forsubstantial improvements to make services more accessible, user-friendly,convenient and inclusive for all citizen users. A practical measure is todesign a single-device approach to online public service portals, so users canaccess them from anywhere with smartphones. Addressing citizens’ privacyconcerns is also important.
Since its inception 15 years ago, PAPI hascollected the voices of 197,779 citizens from all demographic backgrounds onthe state of governance and public service provision at the local level. Withits wealth of quantitative data, PAPI has emerged as a trusted, citizen-centrictool to inform the country’s legislative and policy agendas and the actionplans of all 63 provincial administrations./.
VNA
