Conference on Reviewing the Performance in 2024 and Deploying Directions, Key Tasks, and Solutions for 2025 of the Construction Sector. (Photo: Thu Hang/VNA)
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The Ministry of Construction has the most streamlined organizational structure among the four recent government terms, despite the context of its continuously expanding functions and extremely limited personnel quota.
This information was shared by Mr. Hoang Hai Van, Head of the Ministry of Construction’s Organization and Personnel Department, at a conference held in Hanoi on December 14 to review the performance in 2024 and deploy directions, key tasks, and solutions for 2025.
During the 2006-2011 government term, the Ministry of Construction was assigned additional state management functions in two new areas: urban development and real estate business.
In the 2011-2016 term, the Ministry was assigned 26 additional tasks in five areas under its management.
In the 2016-2021 term, the Ministry was assigned 21 additional tasks according to the specialized laws. In the 2021-2026 term, the Ministry of Construction was assigned to clarify its state management functions and tasks regarding parks, construction machinery, and digital transformation.
Regarding the assigned personnel quota, Mr. Hoang Hai Van said that the Ministry of Construction has never been allocated more than 400 personnel, and this number has gradually decreased over the years. In 2024, the allocated personnel quota for the Ministry was 357, and for the period of 2022-2026, the Ministry is assigned only 339 personnel until the end of 2026.
Following the direction of the Central Steering Committee and the Government Steering Committee for reviewing Resolution 18 on continuing to reform and rearrange the organizational structure of the political system towards efficiency and effectiveness, the Ministry of Construction has urgently and actively worked with the Ministry of Transport to build a project to merge the two ministries.
Basically, the work of compiling the Report on the Review of Resolution 18 and the Draft Project on Merging the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Transport has been completed.
According to Mr. Hoang Hai Van, despite the heavy and increasing tasks in each term, the Ministry of Construction has maintained its streamlined structure.
The Ministry has not formed any General Departments, nor has it established certain administrative organizations that exist in some other ministries, such as the Department of Emulation and Rewards or the Office of Administration. Instead, these organizations have been streamlined into components within the units under the Ministry. The Ministry of Construction is also one of the first ministries to abolish the model of having divisions within departments.
The administrative agencies under the Ministry have basically been established and have maintained their names and operating models for about four recent terms.
Some agencies have been upgraded, transformed, or reorganized in the past two terms (from Departments to Directorates, or from Divisions to Departments) due to practical management requirements, the addition of tasks to the Ministry in each term, and the need for administrative reform.
At the same time, the Ministry of Construction has promoted the reorganization of the internal structure of public non-business units, merged, rearranged, and streamlined components within the units to reduce overlaps in functions and tasks and cut down on personnel. The Ministry has also strictly implemented the orientations and policies of the Party and the State in promoting the rearrangement, equitization, divestment, and restructuring of state-owned enterprises.
After seven years of implementing Resolution 18, the organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction now consists of only 15 administrative units, a reduction of 8 administrative units. The number of divisions within the administrative units has decreased from 54 to 46, a reduction of 28%. There has also been a reduction of 74 out of 532 components, equivalent to 14% of the total number of components in public non-business units.
The Ministry of Construction has transferred 5 enterprises to the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) and divested from 5 enterprises.
Up to now, the Ministry of Construction has state ownership in only 6 enterprises, a reduction of 10 enterprises, equivalent to 62.5% compared to the number of state-owned enterprises directly under the Ministry before.
Also, after seven years of implementing Resolution 18, the assigned personnel quota of the Ministry of Construction decreased by 7.5%, to 357 personnel. There has been a reduction of 565 people, or 14% of the total number of people working for income from non-business activities in public non-business units of the Ministry of Construction.
By 2024, the Ministry will have about 3,500 people working for income from the state budget and 380 people working for income from non-business activities.
Given the extremely streamlined organizational structure and personnel quota over the terms, the Party Committee of the Ministry of Construction has directed the building of a project to merge the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Transport with two major requirements.
First, seriously review and evaluate the internal organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction to come up with a plan to further streamline it.
Second, recognize that the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Transport are one, without distinguishing between “your side” and “our side,” to frankly assess the overlapping functions and tasks or those that are closely linked and interconnected. From there, boldly propose breakthrough solutions to dissolve, merge, or reorganize the units of the two ministries towards a streamlined, scientific, and more effective and efficient structure, emphasized Mr. Hoang Hai Van.
Historically, the Ministry of Construction was established in 1958 and has been operating for more than 65 years, while the Ministry of Transport was established in 1945, nearly 80 years ago.
The names “Ministry of Construction” and “Ministry of Transport” have a long history and are suitable for the state management functions of each ministry in the previous periods. They are associated with the history of the formation and development of the two sectors and are closely connected with the sentiments and spirit of the officials, employees, and workers of the two sectors.
The proposed name for the merged ministry is “Ministry of Construction and Transport.”
Before the merger, the two ministries had a total of 42 units, with the Ministry of Construction having 19 units and the Ministry of Transport having 23 units.
It is expected that after the reorganization, merger, and integration, there will be 25-27 units, a reduction of 35-40% in the total number of units. Specifically, the advisory-administrative block will consist of 6 units, the specialized block will have about 14-16 units, and the public non-business block will have 5 units.
According to Mr. Hoang Hai Van, before December 20, the Organization and Personnel Department will continue to advise the leaders of the two ministries to work with the Ministry of Home Affairs to complete the proposal on the arrangement of the organizational structure after the merger and submit it to the Government Steering Committee.
Many localities are also in the process of building projects to merge the Department of Construction and the Department of Transport with the spirit of “running and queuing at the same time; the central government does not wait for the provincial level, the provincial level does not wait for the district level, and the district level does not wait for the grassroots level.”
Thu Hang
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