Directive No. 218/TTg On certain measures to improve the working style of the Government and the information and reporting system

DIRECTIVE

ON SOME MEASURES TO IMPROVE THE WORKING STYLE OF THE GOVERNMENT AND INFORMATION AND REPORTING REGIMES

and the information regime, reporting system

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After four years of implementing the Working Regulations of the Government issued together with Decree No. 13/CP dated December 1, 1992, the working style and leadership approach of the Government have made significant progress, contributing to enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of state management in the new period. However, up to now, many provisions in the Regulations have not been implemented or have not been implemented well, especially those concerning information, reporting, meetings, and daily work processing by the Prime Minister; inter-ministerial relations, central-local relations in issuing documents and supervising their implementation.

Chapter I. ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GOVERNMENT'S WORK PROGRAM:

1. All Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and provincial People's Committees must develop annual, six-month, quarterly, and monthly work programs consistent with the Government's work program. The work program must clearly reflect the objectives, tasks, measures, and specific schedules for each matter handled at their level, matters requiring inter-ministerial coordination or submission to higher levels for resolution. Adhere strictly to the principle of resolving matters within the scope of authority, promptly, emphasizing inter-ministerial coordination, and avoiding shifting responsibilities to other agencies or higher levels.

2. Heads of agencies assigned the main responsibility for preparing draft resolutions to be submitted to the Government and the Prime Minister (Draft Resolution Chairpersons) must formulate plans for drafting these resolutions (assigning research units, determining content, scope, steps, etc., and proposing specific deadlines for each phase).

The Government Office will oversee and urge the implementation of these plans, ensuring that all draft resolutions submitted to the Government and the Prime Minister are thoroughly prepared in terms of content, following the prescribed procedures and deadlines.

3. During the preparation of draft resolutions, Draft Resolution Chairpersons must pay special attention to inter-ministerial coordination, exchange views, and incorporate opinions from relevant ministries, localities, and experts to refine the draft resolutions, collect different opinions on the contents of the draft resolutions, and provide clear explanations for opinions that are not adopted. Agencies asked for opinions must send representatives with appropriate authority to present their views to the Draft Resolution Chairperson.

4. Regarding the procedure for approving proposals submitted to the Government:

4. Regarding the process of approving draft resolutions submitted to the Government:

a. The Draft Resolution Chairperson must complete the draft resolution with full documentation as stipulated in Article 14 of the Government's Working Regulations and submit it to the Government Office for review.

b. When reviewing the draft resolution, the Minister-Chairman of the Government Office may request the Draft Resolution Chairperson and representatives of related agencies to provide additional clarifications on issues that remain unclear or unresolved. Draft resolutions that do not meet the conditions for submission will not be included in the agenda of the Government session.

c. The Government Office sends invitations to attend the Government meeting along with meeting materials to members of the Government at least five days before the session.

d. At the meeting, the Draft Resolution Chairperson only presents issues that still have differing opinions, issues requiring voting, without reading the entire draft resolution or the submission report. Members of the Government only express opinions on issues that need clarification or are not yet agreed upon. The results of discussions and approvals of each draft resolution are reflected in the Government's Resolution at each session.

e. The Government Office prepares the Prime Minister's conclusions and drafts the aforementioned Resolution, which is submitted to the Government for approval immediately during the session.

5. Regarding the process of approving draft resolutions submitted to the Prime Minister: All draft resolutions submitted to the Prime Minister must be prepared like those submitted to the Government. The Government Office reviews and oversees preliminary handling of issues not yet resolved between the Draft Resolution Chairperson and related agencies; submits them to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers for decision through a memo. If requested by the Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Ministers, the Government Office invites the Draft Resolution Chairperson, related agencies, and consulting experts to further clarify the content of the draft resolution and answer questions raised by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers. The Government Office needs to improve and reduce the number of meetings, allowing time for the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers to inspect situations in various sectors, localities, and bases, and to study and propose major policies.

6. The Minister-Chairman of the Government Office organizes the timely issuance of documents to institutionalize decisions made by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers in memos, meetings, and announcements to quickly inform and urge related agencies to implement tasks assigned by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers.

Chapter II. ON THE ISSUANCE OF LEGAL REGULATORY DOCUMENTS:

1. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, People's Councils, People's Committees at all levels must organize the implementation and strictly adhere to the Law on the Issuance of Legal Regulatory Documents. Drafting guiding documents must be carried out concurrently with drafting the main document so that when the main document takes effect, it can be implemented immediately. During the drafting process, opinions from relevant agencies and stakeholders must be solicited to ensure the feasibility of the document. When amending or abolishing previous regulations or documents, the specific articles, clauses, and names of the amended or abolished documents must be clearly indicated.

2. Government Resolutions and Decrees concerning major policies (as per Article 19 of the Law on the Organization of the Government dated September 30, 1992) must be approved at government sessions. For other issues, the Minister-Chairman of the Government Office sends draft documents for comments from government members, based on the majority opinion, completes the draft, and submits it to the Prime Minister for approval and issuance.

3. All legal regulatory documents issued by ministries, sectors, localities, or inter-sectoral bodies must be reported to the Prime Minister. Central-level agency-issued documents must be published in the Official Gazette as prescribed.

Chapter III. ON INFORMATION AND REPORTING SYSTEMS:

1. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, Chairmen of People's Councils, and Provincial People's Committees must direct the improvement of information and reporting work from grassroots units, strengthen internal information systems, coordinate horizontal information exchanges, ensure two-way communication, and effectively serve state management activities from central to local and grassroots levels.

2. The preparation and submission of regular, urgent, and specialized reports to the Prime Minister must comply with the requirements regarding content and time specified in Decision 162/TTg dated December 12, 1992. Reports should clearly assess achievements, shortcomings, difficulties, causes, and propose solutions to the Government and Prime Minister.

a. On regular reports: In addition to the regular reports listed in Decision 162/TTg, during regular government meetings, the Minister of Planning and Investment reports on the implementation of the economic and social plan of the previous period, recommending measures for the next period. State-owned corporations (Corporation 91), the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Vietnam Federation of Trade Unions regularly report to the Prime Minister on their operations, proposing issues for resolution to the Government and Prime Minister.

b. On urgent reports: When natural disasters, political, economic, social, security, defense, or diplomatic situations occur or are likely to occur within their jurisdiction, responsible agencies must promptly report to the Prime Minister using the fastest means available. As events unfold, they must be reported immediately, without waiting until they conclude or are resolved. Reports must detail the event's progression, causes, measures taken to address and prevent it, results of handling, and recommendations to the Government and Prime Minister.

c. On specialized reports: These are in-depth reports on specific tasks or important issues. The Government Office announces and urges agencies to complete these reports according to the Prime Minister's content and time requirements.

3. The Government Office prepares the following reports:

a. Daily briefings for the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers;

b. Mid-month reports on the activities of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers, sent to: Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, General Secretary, President, Chairman of the National Assembly, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers, Advisors of the Central Committee of the Party, Central Party Office, Presidential Office, National Assembly Office. Reports are sent on the 2nd and 17th of each month;

c. Monthly reports on the economic and social situation and government leadership, sent to: Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, General Secretary, President, Chairman of the National Assembly, National Assembly Committees, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers, Central Party Office and Party Committees, Presidential Office, National Assembly Office, Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and mass organizations. Reports are sent on the 2nd day of the following month;

d. Annual reviews of government leadership and the next year's work program, sent to the same addresses as monthly reports (after being approved at the end-of-year government session);

e. Specialized reports prepared as requested by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers.

4. The Government Office is responsible for organizing regular monthly press conferences and specialized ones; coordinating with the Vietnam News Agency, Voice of Vietnam, Vietnam Television, People's Newspaper, and other mass media outlets to widely inform the public about the main activities and significant decisions of the Government and Prime Minister; clearly defining information needs and directions to support government management and decision-making; collecting public opinion to assist government guidance and policy research and revision; improving printing and distribution methods for the Official Gazette to ensure accuracy, timeliness, and scientific standards.

5. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, People's Councils, and People's Committees at all levels must effectively inform the public about the policies of the Party and the State (excluding classified national secrets). Agencies must not arbitrarily use confidential stamps to limit information dissemination.

6. The Ministers, Heads of agencies at the ministerial level, and agencies under the Government, Chairpersons of People's Councils and People's Committees at all levels must strengthen regular relations with mass media organizations, including foreign news agencies operating legally in Vietnam, to disseminate mechanisms and policies of the Party and the Government related to their sectors and localities; organize daily press reviews, examine issues raised by newspapers and radio stations to promptly address, explain, or take measures to rectify any mistakes made by their officials or agencies; and simultaneously combat cases where the press is exploited to disseminate false information.

7. Widely apply various forms of legal education and dissemination to the public through announcements via mass media, publishing work, posting legal documents in public places, etc., to ensure that people have the opportunity to understand state regulations, especially those directly relevant to their lives and production-business activities; organize mailboxes for public petitions to facilitate the public providing information to state agencies. These are methods for the public to monitor the activities of state agencies.

Chapter IV. IMPLEMENTATION:

1. Ministries, agencies at the ministerial level, agencies under the Government, Provincial People's Councils, and People's Committees must conduct self-assessments on the implementation of the Government's Work Regulations and Decision No. 162/TTg, particularly regarding contents and tasks related to their sectors and levels concerning achievements and shortcomings, reasons, and lessons learned; propose amendments and supplements to these documents. The Government Office will guide, monitor, and urge agencies to carry out this self-assessment, compile proposals, and report to the Prime Minister before May 30, 1997; and promulgate procedures for drafting work programs and serving sessions of the Government and the Prime Minister.

2. Ministries, sectors, and localities should develop plans to effectively utilize existing equipment and means to improve information reporting work; proactively apply information technology in management activities. The Government Office will lead, coordinate with the National Steering Committee for Information Technology Programs, ministries, sectors, and localities to establish a nationwide computer information network, implementing Resolution No. 49/CT dated August 3, 1993 of the Government on developing information technology.

3. Based on feedback from ministries, sectors, and localities, the Government Office will lead, coordinating with the Government's Organizational-Cadre Department to draft amendments and supplements to the Government's Work Regulations, to be submitted to the Government for issuance in the fourth quarter of 1997.

4. The Government Office will lead, coordinating with the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and related agencies, to study and submit to the Prime Minister for issuance in the second quarter of 1997 the Regulation on Providing Information and the Regulation on the Government Spokesperson, unifying the source of information on Government activities.

5. The Government Office and the General Post Office will cooperate with related agencies to establish a telephone system in the second quarter of 1997 enabling the Prime Minister to directly communicate with Ministers and Chairpersons of Provincial People's Committees.

6. The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Government's Cryptographic Agency will cooperate with related agencies to evaluate the security of electronic communication in Party and State agencies using current means, report to the Prime Minister; and study to issue in the second quarter of 1997 regulations on securing electronic communications.

7. Ministers, Heads of agencies at the ministerial level, and agencies under the Government, Chairpersons of Provincial People's Councils and People's Committees of centrally governed cities shall organize the implementation and enforcement of this Directive. The Government Office will monitor, urge, and periodically report to the Prime Minister on the results of the Directive's implementation.