Government reforms offers opportunity to enhance local oversight

As Vietnam undertakes historic governance reform, transitioning to a two-tier local government system and preparing for provincial mergers, it has a critical opportunity to enhance inclusive governance and policy implementation to address the challenges identified in the 2024 PAPI report.

This includes prioritising digital literacy and infrastructure investment to improve citizens' access to online public services and bridge the existing digital divide. The implementation of the Law on Social Insurance also presents a timely opportunity to expand social protection and improve access for vulnerable populations, ensuring that no one is left behind.

The 16^th edition of the PAPI report captures the voices of 18,894 randomly selected respondents from across the country. The report offers insights into national and local governance, public administration, and service delivery in Vietnam.

As highlighted by Duong Trung Y, vice president of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, “For more than a decade, the PAPI survey results provide a very useful source of data and insights for local governments to assess their performance, public services quality, thereby developing policies and action plans to improve their effectiveness.”

Since 2018, PAPI has been co-funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of Australia, the Embassy of Ireland, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam.

"This is a trusted tool that supports evidence-based policymaking, a platform for citizens to engage with provincial authorities to improve their performance. PAPI has become even more relevant to support the government of Vietnam's effective re-structuring of the provinces," said Renée Deschamps, chargé d'affaires of the Australian embassy in Vietnam.

Ramla Khalidi, UNDP resident representative in Vietnam

According to the PAPI report, in 2024, citizens reported greater satisfaction with governance and public administration, highlighting improvements in transparency in local decision-making, control of corruption in the public sector, environmental governance, and e-governance.

However, despite these gains, significant opportunities remain to further enhance governance performance. Only three of eight governance dimensions measured by PAPI, control of corruption in the public sector, access to and quality of public administrative procedures and access to and quality of public services, achieve high citizen scores nationally.

Moreover, disparities in governance satisfaction persist across gender, ethnicity, migration status, and regions. Women consistently rated governance lower than men, particularly in terms of participation and transparency in local decision-making. Ethnic minority groups also reported lower satisfaction across multiple dimensions, while non-permanent residents, especially in migrant-receiving provinces, faced limited access to public services.

At the provincial level, mountainous and highland regions lagged behind lowland provinces in terms of citizen engagement, transparency and e-governance. On the latter, despite nationwide advances in e-governance, a persistent digital divide remains, with disparities in access and usage across gender, ethnicity, and urban-rural lines.

Corruption emerged as the most pressing concern for citizens in 2024, cited by a record 22.58 per cent of respondents, a sharp 17 per cent increase from the previous year. This surge in concern is likely driven by high-profile corruption cases in 2024 and the continued visibility of the government’s intensified national anti-corruption campaign.

Notably, this heightened concern contrasts with citizens’ growing recognition of local-level efforts to combat corruption, as reflected in fewer reports of bribe payments for services compared to 2023. The report recommends strengthening transparency, enforcement, and whistleblower protections as new administrative structures are implemented.

Reflecting an improving national economy, the percentage of respondents rating their household’s economic situation as “poor” or “very poor” dropped to 10.2 per cent in 2024, the lowest since 2019. This notwithstanding, poverty and hunger emerged as the second most critical concern for citizens (14.2 per cent), followed closely by jobs and employment (12.64 per cent).

Despite Vietnam’s robust economic growth of 7.09 per cent in 2024, economic insecurity remains a pressing issue, particularly for vulnerable populations. The report highlights a strong, and unsurprising, correlation between perceptions of household economic wellbeing and access to social insurance.

The report also highlights the impact of climate-related disasters on citizen perceptions of household economic wellbeing. As climate change intensifies, the 2024 PAPI survey highlights a growing sense of vulnerability among Vietnamese citizens, with nearly 40 per cent reporting direct impacts from extreme weather events over the past year.

The devastating effects of Typhoon Yagi and the increasing frequency of heatwaves, floods, and droughts underscore the urgent need for enhanced and preventive environmental governance. Strengthening disaster preparedness, investing in resilient infrastructure, and ensuring regionally tailored responses are critical to safeguarding communities and building long-term climate resilience.

“The 2024 PAPI findings highlight the urgent need and opportunity to advance gender equity, social inclusion, and equitable access to public services through the ongoing governance reforms,” said Ramla Khalidi, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam. "These findings offer an evidence-based roadmap, improving citizen-centric governance and ensuring that ongoing and upcoming institutional reform translates into tangible benefits for all Vietnamese citizens.”

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