Enhancing leadership standards towards building a modern public administration

In the process of reforming the State administrative apparatus, building a contingent of leaders and managers with integrity, competence, and prestige is a central and consistent task. This represents a strong political commitment to standardizing and improving the criteria for cadres, thereby meeting the requirements of national development in the new period, and ensuring consistency between the Party’s regulations, the State’s laws, and practical needs.

The draft Decree consists of five chapters and thirty-two articles, specifying standards on political will, moral qualities, and lifestyle; professional qualifications, political theory, and state management; work experience, prestige, ability to unite and mobilize personnel, as well as health, age, and other conditions for holding positions.

In particular, the draft supplements and revises standards for grassroots-level leaders to align with the two-level local government model, thereby enhancing the quality of personnel at the local level - where officials directly interact with and serve the people.

The new Decree proposes several major reforms, such as removing outdated standards and titles inconsistent with the Party’s organizational structure; adding leadership positions at the commune level to strengthen local governance; adjusting requirements for political theory training according to each leadership level to avoid formality and degree chasing; and abolishing mandatory certificates of rank-based training, shifting instead toward practical competency assessment consistent with job positions.

This marks a bold reform that eliminates excessive paperwork and formalism, focusing instead on selecting individuals with integrity, talent, and proven contributions.

Improving standards for leadership and management positions aims to develop a pool of strategic officials with competence, reputation, and moral quality; ensure succession and development of personnel at all levels; and contribute to building a democratic, professional, transparent, modern, effective, and efficient public administration. It also enhances service quality for citizens and enterprises while meeting the demands of international integration and national digital transformation.

The draft Decree serves as an important legal basis to further reform personnel work in accordance with the principles of “openness, transparency, objectivity, accountability, and merit-based evaluation grounded in competence and performance.”

The broad consultation of agencies, organizations, and the public demonstrates a democratic and receptive spirit in policymaking. Every official, public employee, and citizen is encouraged to actively study, comment, and contribute to the improvement of the Decree so that it becomes comprehensive, feasible, and applicable in practice - fostering a service-oriented, developmental, and people-centered administration devoted to the nation and its citizens.

The completion of standards for leadership and management titles is not only an immediate task but also a long-term strategy to build a capable and high-quality cadre that meets the country’s development requirements in the digital era and the context of global integration.