NGUYEN PHUOC THO, LL.M
Government Office
Since its founding after the victorious Revolution of August 1945, the Vietnamese government has developed through different historical periods with different systems and structures to suit the administrative requirements of government at each revolutionary stage. Therefore, the structure of government bears its own characteristics as clearly seen through various constitutions which have suited different stages of national development.
Structure of government, 1945-1959
Under the 1946 Constitution, the government was structured to consist of only ministries, without ministerial-level agencies or other governmental bodies. However, inter-sectoral advisory and coordinating organizations were established right from the start under the President’s orders. In 1945, there were four such organizations, but the number rose to 50 by the end of this period. The number of ministries stood at 14 at the beginning, stood at 15 plus the State Bank of Vietnam at the end of the nine-year war of resistance against the French colonialists in 1954, then rose to 23 during 1955-1959 when North Vietnam was liberated and started embarking on economic rehabilitation and development under a central planning mechanism.
From 1955, the government structure was notably characterized by the following:
(1) The division of ministries for establishment of new ones
At its fifth session from September 15-20, 1955, the Ist National Assembly adopted a resolution on governmental expansion which was seen as the most significant adjustment of governmental structure to date. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce was separated into the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Trade; the Ministry of Communications and Public Works was divided into the Ministry of Communications and Posts and the Ministry of Irrigation and Architecture; the Ministry of War Invalids was separated for the establishment of a new ministry, namely the Social Relief Ministry.(1)
(2) With the separation of the Supreme Court and the Procuracy from the Ministry of Justice in April 1958, the government was structured to include judicial bodies in their capacity as ministerial-level agencies.(2)
(3) Various organizations were set up and placed under the Premier’s Office and the Premier’s personal direction, including the Nationalities Committee (set up under Decree 447/TTg of February 1, 1955); the Civil Aviation Department (under Decree No. 666/TTg of January 15, 1956); the State Department for Management of Reserve Supplies (under Decree No. 997/TTg of August 7, 1956); the Government Committee for Religious Affairs (under Decree No. 556/TTg of August 2, 1955); and the Central Committee for Physical Training and Sports which acted as an inter-sectoral advisory body and operated in a similar fashion to the above-named agencies. These were predecessors of independent government agencies.(3)
During the period from 1955 to 1958, the government structure saw its most substantial and fundamental adjustment.
The number of government agencies nearly doubled to 26, showing the tendency of government structure to swell to meet the requirements of the newly formulated central planning mechanism.
The appellation, forms and operating mechanisms of the government apparatus were diversified beyond the provisions of the 1946 Constitution. Besides ministries, there appeared ministerial-level agencies, bodies attached to the Premier’s Office, inter-sectoral advisory and coordinating organizations and judicial bodies.
The adjustment of the government structure was based largely on the division of ministries and also on the establishment of new organizations or the upgrading of existing ones (from agencies attached to the Premier’s Office to ministries or ministerial-level agencies such as the Government Inspectorate, which was upgraded to the Central Inspectorate(4), a ministerial-level agency).
1960-1980
The 1959 Constitution officially recognized for the first time the existence of independent government agencies as a component of the government although it failed to define ministerial-level agencies in general. Yet, the 1960 Law on Organization of the Government Council fully defined three types of agencies in the government structure, namely ministries(16), ministerial-level agencies (6) and independent government agencies (6). (5)
Generally, within this 20 year- period, no major or sudden changes were seen in the government structure though the number of ministries and ministerial-level agencies fluctuated at 25-27 in 1960-65; 32 in 1971; 28 in 1975; and 31 during 1976-79, while the number of independent government agencies remained more stable at 13 by 1979.
In 1979, the administrative requirements of the central administration gave rise to a new type of agency not specified in the Constitution or the Law on Organization of the Government Council, namely, agencies attached to the Premier and functioning to assist the Premier in directing and managing certain domains. The Central Committee for Overseas Vietnamese(6) and the Nuclear Research Institute(7) were the first among those agencies.
During this period, the government structure remained stable in such domains as planning, commerce, labor, war invalids and social affairs(8), but saw big changes in the industrial sector.(9) Though stable, the agricultural sector saw the largest numbers of ministries and government agencies, including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of State Farms, the Ministry of Irrigation and Electricity, the General Department of Forestry, the General Department of Fisheries and the General Department of Land Administration.
The governmental structure continued to swell with a number of agencies separated from ministries or ministerial-level agencies to be agencies attached to the Government. For instance, the General Department of Civil Aviation was separated from the Ministry of Communications and Posts in 1976; and the General Department of Rubber was separated from the Ministry of Agriculture in 1981.
Also, in this period, the Premier established 38 inter-sectoral advisory and coordinating bodies to advise on and coordinate activities of ministries and sectors.
In sum, the government structure in this period showed the following typical characteristics:
(1) Compared with the previous period, the government was structured to include independent government agencies and agencies attached to the Premier’s Office. With the appearance of two new types of agencies and the diversity in their organization and operations, the government structure became more flexible and suitable to the requirements of the central planning mechanism under the harsh conditions of war.
(2) Institutionally, the basic types of agencies were officially formulated. The Constitution and the Law on Organization of the Government Council defined the names, positions, natures, functions and tasks of the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies and independent government agencies.
(3) Panoramically, the government structure remained fairly stable with a gradual increase in the number of ministries and ministerial-level agencies from 25 in 1960 to 31 during 1976-79.
(4) The prevailing trend in the adjustment of the government structure in this period remained the division of ministries for establishment of new ones. Meanwhile, a number of independent government agencies were set up to meet the increasing and broader requirements of diversified administrative functions of the Government in various domains. These agencies had the functions and powers not only to perform state administration of their respective sectors but also to undertake non-business and professional activities.
1981-1991
The 1980 Constitution declared the period of Vietnam’s transition to socialism and acknowledged the typical characteristics of the mechanism of central planning and socio-economic administration by decree. The 1981 Law on Organization of the Council of Ministers, however, still failed to define the ministerial-level agencies and independent government agencies, which were respectively referred to as State Committees and “other agencies attached to the Council of Ministers.” Organizations attached to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers and inter-sectoral advisory and coordinating organizations (labeled as Commissions, Councils, Committees, etc.) actually existed outside the institutions of the governmental structure.
While the number of ministries and ministerial-level agencies remained fairly stable (33 in 1981; 32 in 1986-87; 33 in 1988; 29 in 1990-91), the number of independent government agencies greatly fluctuated (from 15 in 1981 to 31 in 1986, 26 in 1988, and 23 in 1990-91); and they were diversified in their names, roles, functions, powers and operations.
Worthy of note is that, in this period many agencies were structurally upgraded from agencies attached to the Premier’s Office into independent government agencies (for instance, the Central Committee for Overseas Vietnamese); from independent government agencies into ministries or ministerial-level agencies (the General Department of Fisheries into the Ministry of Fisheries); or even from inter-sectoral advisory and coordinating agencies into independent government bodies (the National Committee for Population and Family Planning).
Such upgrading was actually prompted by the lack of distinction between the roles, duties and powers of these bodies, especially between ministries and independent government agencies, which all functioned for the state administration of branches or domains.
In addition, the use of State Committees in the government structure in their capacity as both ministerial-level agencies and independent agencies greatly increased.
Along with the separation of the Ministry of Labor into the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of War Invalids and Social Affairs, the government structure in this period saw the following marked adjustments:
(1) The establishment of the Ministry of External Economy in 1988(10) on the basis of merging the Ministry of Foreign Trade with the Committee for External Economy and the Committee for Economic Cooperation with Laos and Cambodia. In 1990, the Ministry of External Economy was consolidated with the Ministry of Home Trade and the Ministry of Supplies into the Ministry of Trade.
(2) The establishment of the new Ministry of Construction in 1988 on the basis of merging the old one with the State Committee for Capital Construction.
(3) After the Committee for Protection of Mothers and Children was merged into the Ministry of Education and the General Department for Vocational Training was merged into the Ministry of University and Professional Education in 1987, these two ministries were consolidated into the Ministry of Education and Training in 1990.
Similarly, independent government agencies also saw the following changes:
(1) Merger of the General Department of Electronics and Informatics into the Ministry of Mechanical Engineering and Metallurgy in 1988; and,
(2) The dissolution of five independent government agencies in 1990, including the General Department of Petroleum; the General Department of Rubber; the General Department of Chemicals, the General Department of Mines and Geology and the General Department of Civil Aviation.
Within only three years after “doi moi” (renewal) was launched by the Communist Party of Vietnam, the arrangement of these eight ministries or ministerial-level agencies and three independent government agencies into three ministries, which continue to exist until today, and the dissolution of five independent agencies, constituted the government’s most significant success in its efforts to streamline its organizational structure at the time. This created a breakthrough in adjusting the government structure along the direction of a lighter and more efficient state apparatus.
The adjustment of the government structure from 1988 to 1990 was the second major adjustment in the government’s history and the first after the initiation of “doi moi.”
The government structure in this period was characterized by the following:
(1) Quantitatively, the government apparatus was at its largest and most cumbersome with a sudden increase in the number of independent government agencies and a diversity in their organization and operation. However, there was also a reduction in the numbers of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and independent agencies.
(2) The adjustment targeted directly at primary ministries and ministerial-level agencies which were shifted to macro-management of various aspects of socio-economic life by law. However, with the expansion of government agencies, especially those with a state administrative function, state management at the central level became scattered and overlapping.
(3) Adjustment of the government structure proved uncoordinated and incomplete as was reflected in the reduction of the number of ministries and ministerial-level bodies but the swell of government agencies. This was reflected in the “separation of ministries for establishment of new ones”, then the “merger of agencies for formulation of new ones.”
(4) The model of the Council of Ministers organized under the 1980 Constitution and its practical adjustment was heavily influenced by the organizational model of the Councils of Ministers of the former Soviet Union and eastern-European socialist countries. This undeniable fact was prompted by the requirements of comprehensive cooperation among the socialist countries at the time, particularly in the domain of economic management when Vietnam became a member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. Therefore, the names and organizational structures of many ministries and ministerial-level agencies as well as state committees tended to correspond to those of the former Soviet Union.
1992 - present
The resolutions of the 7th, 8th and 9th National Party Congresses as well as resolutions of various plenums of the Party Central Committees of these tenures strongly advocated the reform of the state apparatus toward greater lightness, effectiveness and efficiency.(11)
Such reform was facilitated by the 1992 Constitution and the 1992 Law on Organization of the Government, which created fundamental legal grounds for restructuring the government and abolish centralized bureaucratic structures with state subsidies. The functions of the Government, ministries and branches have changed in the following ways:
First, the centralized bureaucratic structure with state subsidies and the system of direct management by administrative decree were abolished, and the government gradually shifted to management by law nationwide of all branches, domains and economic sectors;
Second, the regime of ministries managing state enterprises was eliminated, ensuring non-interference and autonomy in production and business of enterprises;
Third,ministries have functioned to perform state administration of assigned branches and domains nationwide. This means the government-attached independent agencies have been stripped off these functions as prescribed by the 1959 and 1980 Constitutions.
These three important factors constitute the most important theoretical and legal grounds for the reorganization of the government in this period. To increase the reform of the state apparatus, important amendments were made in 2001 to the 1992 Constitution and the 1992 Law on Organization of the Government in the spirit of the resolution of the 9th National Party Congress, defining more clearly some important issues and further clarifying the theoretical grounds for adjustment of the government structure.
Ministries and ministerial-level agencies perform the function of assigned multi-sector or multi-domain state administration and provision of public services;
State administrative functions have been thoroughly separated from the activities of non-business organizations providing public services;
Independent agencies no longer have the state administrative functions and cannot promulgate normative documents.
While such fundamental structures as ministries, ministerial-level agencies and independent agencies attached to the government were for the first time fully recognized by the 1992 Constitution, inter-sectoral advisory and coordinating agencies were also for the first time officially provided for in the Law on Organization of the Government (Clause 4, Article 20).
However, in this period, agencies attracted to the government had no legal grounds for their establishment, organization or operation.
The governmental structure in this period continued to be streamlined to 27 ministries and ministerial-level agencies under the resolution of the IXth National Assembly, in its first session, through two major adjustments:
First adjustment during 1992-1998
After its founding in 1992 on the basis of merging the Ministry of Electricity with the Ministry of Mines and Coal, the Ministry of Energy was consolidated with the Ministry of Light Industry and the Ministry of Heavy Industry in 1995 into the Ministry of Industry, which exists today.
In 1992, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Food, the Ministry of Foodstuff Industry and the General Department of Rubber were consolidated together into the Ministry of Agriculture and Foodstuff Industry.
In 1995, the Ministry of Agriculture and Foodstuff Industry was consolidated with the Ministry of Forestry and the Ministry of Irrigation into the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
In 1997, the General Department of Physical Training and Sports was upgraded into the Committee for Physical Training and Sports as a ministerial-level agency.
In 1998, the then Ministry of Interior was renamed the Ministry of Public Security and the Government Committee for Organization and Personnel was renamed the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Meanwhile, the government-attached independent agencies were also reorganized. The National Institute of Technological Research was merged with the Ministry of Science and Technology in 1993; the Measurement and Map Department was merged with the General Department of Land Administration; Vietnam Petroleum Corporation was turned into a state enterprise. On the other hand, the Vietnam Civil Aviation Department was separated from the Ministry of Communications and Transport to be an independent agency, and the Vietnam Social Insurance, the State Audit and the State Securities Commission were established.
So, by 1997, the number of ministries and ministerial-level agencies had dropped from 67 in 1986, to 27 in 1992, to 23, and the number of independent agencies from 48 in 1986, to 31 in 1992, to 25. The ministries started shifting to perform the function of macro-management of their assigned branches or domains nationwide, alleviating cumbersomeness, reducing the number of intermediaries within the government apparatus and gradually meeting the requirements of management of all aspects of socio-economic life under the conditions of a quick shift to a market mechanism and active international economic integration.
Contrary to the above trend, the number of inter-sectoral advisory and coordinating agencies attached to the Premier quickly increased to 90 in the 1992-1998 period, then 103 by 2000. They were established in almost all branches and domains. This was largely attributed to the fact that state administrative functions of ministries and ministerial-level agencies had been too generally defined and were overlapping.
The adjustment of the government structure in this period was significant in the following respects:
- It was firmly based on the principle of renewing the functions and modes of operation of the government and ministries, which were now shifted to perform the macro-management of all economic sectors nationwide. It was also prompted by the requirements of state management of all aspects of socio-economic life under the conditions of developing the socialist-oriented market economy.
- The subjects of adjustment remained mainly ministries and ministerial-level agencies, which shrank in number and functioned to perform multi-sector or multi-domain state management in both the formation of policies, procedures, and planning and the direction and implementation thereof.
- The restructuring of ministries and ministerial-level agencies was linked to the reorganization of independent agencies with the reduction of their number and the adjustment of their operational scope. A number of General Departments were turned into corporations managed by ministries such as the General Department of Rubber was transformed into the Vietnam Rubber Corporation managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the General Department of Petroleum into Vietnam Petroleum Corporation managed by the Ministry of Industry. Yet, the state administrative functions of independent agencies were not clearly defined and remained almost the same as those of the ministries or ministerial-level agencies.
Despite difficulties and shortcomings, the adjustment of the governmental structure between 1992 and 1998 created a major step of development suitable to the process of shifting to a socialist-oriented market system.
Second adjustment during 1999-2004
The adjustment this time was launched with the resolution of the 7th plenum of the VIIIth Party Central Committee in 1999 under the guideline of “scrutinizing and adjusting the functions, tasks and organizational structures of ministries,
ministerial-level agencies and local administrations toward multi-sector or multi-domain management to cover all economic sectors.” The resolution also pointed to the general viewpoint on governmental restructuring that “based on the adjustment of the functions and competence of the government and ministries, it is necessary to define a government structure suitable to the renewal period in order to fulfill the task of social management in the period of industrialization and modernization...” This viewpoint was also reflected in the resolution of the IXth National Party Congress.(12)
Under this guideline and the (revised) 1992 Constitution,(13) the National Assembly and the Government actually focused on the reorganization of agencies attached to the government in the spirit of the resolution of the 7th plenum of the VIIIth Party Central Committee with “the sharp decrease of government-attached agencies and Premier-attached organizations, and the maintenance of only a number of government-attached professional agencies in service of the government’s macro-management.”(14) For ministries, efforts were concentrated on renewing and adjusting their functions and operational modes, addressing the overlap in their functions and powers.
In 2002, the National Assembly also set up two ministries and one ministerial-level agency on the basis of reorganization of four government-attached agencies:
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was established on the basis of reorganization of the General Department of Land Administration and the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology and the receipt of the function of the state management of environment from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, the transfer of the function of the state management of water resources from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the function of management of geology and minerals from the Ministry of Industry.
The Ministry of Posts and Telematics was set up on the basis of reorganization of the General Department of Posts and Telematics and the receipt of the function of the state management of information technology from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment;
The National Committee for Population, Families and Children was set up on the basis of consolidation and reorganization of the Committee of Population and Family Planning and the Committee for Mother Protection and Childcare, a ministerial-level agency.
The Prime Minister also decided to transfer a number of independent agencies to ministries for management.
The National Reserve Department was transferred to the Ministry of Finance (in 2000).
The Frontier Committee was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in 2001).
In 2002, the General Department of Customs was transferred to the Ministry of Finance; the Civil Aviation Department to the Ministry of Transport; the Pricing Committee to the Ministry of Finance and the Administration Academy to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
In 2004, the State Securities Commission was transferred to the Ministry of Finance.
The adjustment of independent agencies, in cutting their number nearly in half, from 25 in 2000 to 14 at present.
With the maintenance of its stable structure through merger of agencies into ministries, the government has spared its efforts for the adjustment of functions and tasks between ministries and ministerial-level agencies, addressing the overlap in their state administrative functions, stepping up the decentralization between central and local governments and incrementally socializing non-business public services in order to enhance management and macro-administration of ministries through the formulation, promulgation and implementation of institutions, mechanisms and policies and their inspection.
General remarks
The government structure has been incrementally consolidated through different historical periods with the formulation of new agencies and organizations which have different positions, roles and functions but are interrelated in the performance of the government’s common role and authority to manage all aspects of socio-economic life. In fact, the government structure has taken shape since 1960 with four types of agencies and organizations, including ministries, ministerial-level agencies; independent agencies attached to the government; independent agencies attached to the Prime Minister; and advisory bodies. The independent agencies were classified into “hard structures” with their own offices and organizational apparatuses and “soft structures” being inter-sectoral advisory and coordinating bodies.
The government structures at all revolutionary stages have been governed by socio-economic management mechanisms. Consequently, there have appeared three types of governmental structures suitable to the following three management mechanisms:
First, the governmental structure during the 1945-1954 was suitable to the resistance war and the multi-sector economy. State administration was performed mainly through the State President’s decree. With the primary and foremost task of conducting the resistance war, the government structure had to ensure the role of consolidating and broadening the national unity bloc, stabilizing the domestic situation and coping with foreign invasion. So, the government was structured to consist of between 14 and 16 agencies, including the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Youth, the Ministry of Social Relief, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the State Bank.
Second, the governmental structure during 1955-1987 period suited the requirements of central planning. It began to swell, especially in economic management along the direction of direct, micro and specialized management of branches and domains. With 33 ministries and ministerial-level agencies and 34 agencies attached to the government or the Premier, the government apparatus became most cumbersome with 9 bodies concurrently managing the agricultural sector(15) and 7 others concurrently managing the industrial sector.(16)
- Third, the government in the period from 1988 to the present has been structured to suit the requirements of abolishing the bureaucratic central planning mechanism with state subsidies and gradually formulating a socialist-oriented market mechanism. As a result, the government apparatus started to be streamlined in 1988 with a sharp reduction in the number of economic management bodies.
Though under different historical conditions and socio-economic management mechanisms over 60 years, the government has been structured to always consist of such important agencies as the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the State Bank to maintain the State’s internal and external activities. Meanwhile, its economic management agencies have seen great fluctuation through the increase or decrease in their number through different development stages and different periods.
The government structure has over the past 60 years gone through four major adjustments. Of these, three were made in the 20 years of “doi moi,” with the biggest one between 1992 and 1995 creating a substantial improvemental in the governmental structure suitable to the market system.-
Notes:
(1) The Social Relief Ministry, among the first set up in 1945, was merged into the Ministry of War Invalids in 1954, then separated from it in 1955.
(2) (3) The resolution of the 8th session of the Ist National Assembly, held from April 16-29, 1958.
(4) Order No. 261-SL of March 28, 1956.
(5) The first six independent government agencies set up under the Law on Organization of the Government Council included the General Department of Geology, the General Department of Forestry, the General Department of Fisheries, the General Department of Supplies, the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and the Central Committee for Physical Training and Sports.
(6) Set up under Decree No. 209-CP of June 6, 1979, of the Government Council.
(7)Set up under Decree No. 59-CP of February 23, 1979, and renamed the National Institute of Atomic Energy in 1984.
(8) The State Planning Commission, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Home Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Trade existed during the 20-year period from 1960 through 1980.
(9)The Ministry of Industry was split into the Ministry of Heavy Industry and the Ministry of Light Industry in 1960; and in 1969, the Ministry of Heavy Industry was divided into three agencies: the Ministry of Mechanical Engineering and Metallurgy, the Ministry of Mines and Coal and the General Department of Chemicals. In the agricultural sector, there existed three ministries and three government agencies.
(10) The organizational structures of ministries and ministerial-level agencies were adjusted in 1988 under Resolution No. 66-NQ/HDNN of March 24, 1988, of the State Council.
(11) “Resolutely reorganizing and streamlining the administrative and non-business agencies right in 1991, making their apparatus light and efficient” (Document of the VIIth National Party Congress, Su That (Truth) Publishing House, 1991, p.92).
(12) “Adjusting the functions and renewing the mode of operation of the Government towards unified macro-management of the performance of political, economic, cultural, social, defense, security and external tasks throughout the country by a comprehensive system of laws and policies. Clearly defining the functions, tasks and powers of ministries along the direction of multi-branch or multi-domain management nationwide and provision of public services.”
(13) The (revised) 1992 Constitution made substantial adjustments of the functions of independent agencies, which no longer performed state administrative functions and were not allowed to promulgate normative documents.
(14) The Government’s Overall Administrative Reform Program in the 2001-2010 period, promulgated together with Decision No. 136/2001/QD-TTg of September 17, 2001.
(15) The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Food, the Ministry of Foodstuff Industry, the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Irrigation, the General Department of Rubber, the General Department of Land Administration, the Measurement and Map Department.
(16) The Ministry of Mechanical Engineering and Metallurgy, the Ministry of Electricity, the Ministry of Mine and Coal, the Ministry of Light Industry, the General Department of Petroleum, the General Department of Electronics and Informatics, the General Department of Chemicals.-