The Government has issued a resolution on State apparatus reform with an aim to cut down the number of agencies and civil servants in 2021 by 10% compared to 2015, news website Vneconomy reports.

According to the Government’s Resolution 08/NQ-CP streamlining the State machinery and improving the performance of government agencies, the number of agencies and civil servants in 2021 will be cut by 10% (5,792 units and over 205,000 people respectively) compared to 2015. Spending on government agencies will also be cut by 10%.

The move stems from a grim reality that the State machinery is bulky and overstaffed, and over two-thirds of the State budget is used to pay wages alone.

Under the resolution, public agencies engaging in business functions, except hospitals and schools, will be transformed into joint stock companies.

By 2025, the number of government agencies and civil servants will be reduced by a further 10% compared to 2021.

Ministries and localities shall take specific measures to reorganize administrative agencies under their management to improve the agencies’ efficiency and avoid overlapping functions. Ineffective agencies will be restructured or suspended.

Public post and telecommunication agencies will have to finish restructuring their organization and improving productivity no later than the fourth quarter of 2019.

Hospitals managed by ministries, except the Ministries of National Defense and Public Security, will be taken over by localities no later than the first quarter of 2019. Public scientific and technological agencies whose studies can be commercialized will be transformed into companies or managed by corporations no later than the first quarter of 2019.

Besides, vocational schools will be merged with colleges.

Ministries and localities were asked to organize qualifying examinations for civil servants annually and lay off those unable to complete their tasks in two consecutive years from office.

SGT