Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Home Affairs has submitted a plan to the Chairman of the city’s People’s Committee to recruit directors, deputy directors, and department managers in Committees at both the city and district level.

If the plan is approved it will be implemented in 2017. The Department said the plan is aimed at preventing a situation where the longer a person works at a State agency the higher position they will reach without any consideration given to ability and capacity.

The Department believes there are great many young people with the capacity needed to take on leadership positions in State agencies but lack the opportunity to secure promotions.

Under the plan, besides having to meet requirements in education and possess moral, discipline, good health, and a permanent residence in the city, candidates would also have submit plans to develop the agency in which they have applied and assess its operations over the last three years.

The plan is part of efforts to improve the quality of the public service, especially given that public service performance was down in 2015, the Provincial Governance and Public Administrative Performance Index 2015 (PAPI) revealed.

The PAPI showed confidence and satisfaction levels among citizens about the government declined in five out of six criteria: transparency, corruption, participation at local levels, vertical accountability, and public administrative procedures.

Recruiting leaders for local positions was first implemented by northern Quang Ninh province in 2013. Such positions were previously filled by election of existing staff at departments, which were then approved by higher-level agencies.

In 2013 Quang Ninh recruited only two leaders, while in 2015 it recruited 12. The Provincial Competitiveness Index 2015 (PCI) revealed that the business community was satisfied with the determination of the province to improve the quality of its public service.

In 2015 Da Nang recruited its first Director of the Department of Construction. The Secretary of the Da Nang’s Party Committee, however, said that if, after one year, the appointee has not improved the Department they would be dismissed.