General Secretary and President To Lam has called for the continued implementation of strong and coordinated measures to combat corruption and negative phenomena, adhering to the principle of “no stopping, no resting, no forbidden zones, no exceptions, regardless of who is involved; prosecute one case to warn an entire region, an entire sector.”

This directive has garnered widespread support from the public, who highly value the anti-corruption efforts and see it as a means to strengthen and enhance their trust in the Party and the State.

'Passing the buck'

At the 26th session of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption and Negative Phenomena on August 14, General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized that anti-corruption efforts must serve the development of the economy and society, ensuring that these efforts do not hinder or obstruct economic and social progress.

To maintain the central focus on socio-economic development and achieve the development goals outlined in General Secretary To Lam’s first article, several solutions are necessary, with the most critical being the need to address the pervasive issue of stagnation.

This issue of stagnation is becoming increasingly severe. The phenomena of “passing the buck,” “avoiding responsibility,” “fear of making mistakes,” and “fear of accountability” have become widespread, despite the existence of decisive policies and measures.

Stagnation is slowing down the country’s development because no matter how good the policies and accompanying solutions are, if their implementation is delayed, these policies and solutions remain on paper and, in many cases, turn potential opportunities into risks.

The Land Law is one such example. This law was expected to untangle the knots in the real estate market, allowing it to operate more according to market signals rather than administrative interventions. To support the struggling real estate market, policymakers were determined to implement the law six months ahead of schedule. However, the land price lists issued by provincial People’s Committees under the 2013 Land Law have been proposed for an extension until the end of 2025, significantly delaying land valuation and transactions nationwide.

The issue of sluggishness and stagnation was highlighted by Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung at a National Assembly session. He compared the situation in Vietnam to more dynamic international examples, such as Tesla’s Shanghai factory, which went from groundbreaking to operation in just 11 months, and a major shopping center that was built and opened within six months.

“They operate at lightning speed, while we are stuck in a system of requests and approvals, with no decentralization or empowerment. The reluctance to think and act leads to indecision. If we don’t reform quickly, investors will go elsewhere,” he remarked.

Currently, the total annual societal investment is estimated at approximately $13.6 billion. If the sluggishness in public investment projects, from approval to execution, can be overcome, this capital could significantly enhance socio-economic development.

To understand the cost of delays, consider the years of delay and tens of millions of dollars in costs incurred by urban railway projects in the economic hubs of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The price paid for these delays is substantial.

Why is this happening? First and foremost, our legal system is overly complex. A legal issue is often governed by multiple documents at various levels, many of which lack clarity, specificity, and are often overlapping or contradictory, leading to confusion and uncertainty about what is right and wrong.

One law may have multiple guiding decrees. One decree may have multiple guiding circulars. On average, each law has 45 guiding documents, including 34 circulars and 11 decrees. The problem is that decrees change frequently, and circulars change even more often. Circulars from different ministries may offer conflicting guidance, leading to overlaps and contradictions, making it impossible to predict outcomes.

Moreover, a single issue may be guided differently depending on the will and management requirements of various authorities. This reality first creates difficulties for the managing agencies, leading to the stagnation and avoidance of responsibility among officials and civil servants.

Last year, the Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee noted that there were four groups of issues that the city had to seek guidance from a ministry because the departments and sectors could not resolve them. The first group includes issues that arise in Ho Chi Minh City, for which there is no legal provision. The second group includes issues for which regulations exist but differ between laws. The third group includes issues where regulations exist but interpretations differ. The fourth group includes issues where regulations exist, but there are still many uncertainties.

“If you classify the fourth group as being afraid and unwilling to act, it might be correct, but the other groups require consultation,” the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee explained, adding, “In fact, in over 600 responses from the ministries, many of the answers were unclear, and even with those responses, it was still unclear how to proceed.”

Stagnation in the administrative system

The current Investment Law has a list of 227 conditional business lines. However, according to economists, in various laws and guiding documents, there are over 700 and possibly thousands of regulations on business conditions.

This situation indicates that the proliferation of subordinate and sub-subordinate licenses is continuing to cause delays in the country’s economic development. It is time to thoroughly review the conditional business lines and eliminate unnecessary ones.

The current application of the law has made officials and civil servants overly cautious. They try to comply with regulations as much as possible, and if they are unsure or feel unsafe, they do nothing. Therefore, from a personal perspective, it is better not to act than to act, better to do less than more, better to go slow than fast; and if necessary, they can “buy time” in various ways.

The stagnation in the administrative system is a rare phenomenon since the Doi Moi reforms transitioned Vietnam to a market economy. Many officials avoid and pass on responsibility. They only make decisions within their authority when they are 100% legally safe. As for agencies and organizations, to resolve an issue, especially one related to land, investment, or construction, they seek input from all relevant departments (at the provincial level), and sometimes consult ministries before making a decision, which is primarily based on consensus.

As a result, the services that citizens need from the competent state agencies are either not resolved or resolved very slowly, prolonging the time and multiplying the costs compared to before. The difficulties, obstacles, and bottlenecks created by the mechanisms and laws, as reflected by businesses and citizens, are not being addressed.

Encouraging officials to think creatively, act boldly, and be dynamic has so far only stopped at encouragement and has not become a real driving force. The stagnation of the administrative apparatus is dragging down the investment and business activities of citizens and businesses.

A unified understanding of the new era

Vietnam is a transitioning economy, where resources such as land, natural resources, and finance are shifting from the public sector to the private sector, creating fertile ground for collusion and corruption.

Therefore, to combat corruption, power must be “caged within the mechanism,” as the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed and as General Secretary and President To Lam further clarified by calling for the continued strengthening of the legal framework to prevent and combat corruption and negative phenomena, with a focus on improving the legal framework for power control and fully harnessing the role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, political and social organizations, the media, and the people.

The current reality presents many urgent challenges that must be addressed immediately, as any delay could mean lost opportunities, turning potential into risk.

Here are some important remarks from General Secretary and President To Lam during a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Document Drafting Subcommittee, which offer effective solutions to these challenges:

- There needs to be a unified understanding of the new historical starting point, a new era of Vietnam’s resurgence, leading to stronger reforms in both the form and content of official documents.

- Research must be grounded in the practical experiences of Vietnam to develop appropriate revolutionary methods for the country in this new era.

- The content of official documents must maximize the spirit of “self-reliance, self-confidence, self-strengthening, national pride”; opening up new development prospects and expanding the space for survival.

- Comprehensive and synchronized innovation must be promoted to develop the country quickly and sustainably, and strengthen national potential. The development of a modern, socialist-oriented market economy must be built and perfected, integrating into the global economy.

Tu Giang – Lan Anh