Vietnam pursues administrative streamlining and decentralization

Vietnam is exploring administrative reforms focused on streamlining government structures and decentralizing authority to improve governance and economic development.

A national scientific workshop in Ho Chi Minh City addressed the merger of administrative units. Experts emphasized that restructuring should go beyond reducing the number of agencies; it must integrate planning, infrastructure, and human resources to create competitive development spaces. The goal is to ensure that administrative mergers do not lead to economic fragmentation between adjacent regions and urban centers.

In the environmental sector, proposals have been made to decentralize the management of carbon credits. Under the proposed decree, provincial People's Committees would be granted the authority to approve, adjust, and cancel carbon credit projects and issue credits for domestic exchange and offset mechanisms. This shift from central to local authority aims to reduce processing times and compliance costs for businesses. A digital platform would be used to ensure inter-sectoral coordination and maintain a transparent national registry for greenhouse gas emissions and carbon credits.