“ISO standards are merely a means and implementing them is necessary. It is more important, however, that government staff devote themselves entirely to serving citizens,” said chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan.

Applicants for household registration in Ho Chi Minh City under the “one door” policy

The city chairman made the statement at a meeting with leaders of the city’s agencies and departments yesterday to review the implementation of the administrative reform program 2007.
 
He said, “All agencies reported that they had implemented the administrative reforms well, but the best way to evaluate authorities’ ability and dignity and the operational effectiveness of the administrative system is based on residents’ content.”
 
After application of “one door” policies at the city’s agencies and departments, administrative procedures have been simplified and done quickly.

However, there hasn’t been cooperation among agencies and departments, so administrative tasks are still performed slowly, resulting in many residents’ querying unsolved issues.
 
Chairman Quan urged the city’s Internal Affairs Department and People’s Council and Committee Office to examine complicated procedures and overlapped tasks, and to ask involved agencies to solve problems or petition the city’s central committee for instruction where necessary.  
 
Attending the meeting were standing deputy secretary of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Van Dua and HCMC People’s Council chairwoman Pham Phuong Thao.
 
The city’s Internal Affairs Department sent official letters to people’s committees of 24 districts yesterday to get opinions on the implementation of the “one door, one seal” mechanism in administration during the past ten years (1997-2007).  
 
Opinions will have to be sent to the department by August 25 for submission to the city’s People Committee.