(VOVWORLD) - The 15th edition of the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) report was announced in Hanoi on Tuesday. It shows progress in citizen perceptions on local anti-corruption efforts and e-governance but a small backslide in transparency in 2023.
 The 2023 PAPI report which was released in Hanoi on April 2, 2024, shows progress in citizen perceptions on anti-corruption and e‑governance. (Photo: VOV) |
Addressing the event, Ramla Khalidi, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative in Vietnam, said that the 2023 PAPI Report was conducted through a set of more than 500 questions with nearly 20,000 respondents randomly selected from all 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam. This is the highest number of interviews ever, up nearly 20% compared to 2022.
Ms. Khalidi highlighted major points in the report concerning people’s praise of the improvement of the fight against corruption.
“We were encouraged by citizen perceptions that certain types of corruption in the public sector had improved at the local level. This is welcome progress, especially considering that, year after year, corruption indicators are those most prominently correlated with overall citizen’s satisfaction with local governance,” she said.
 Ramla Khalidi, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative in Vietnam, speaks at the ceremony to announce the 2023 PAPI report. |
Improvement in e-governance in localities is another highlight in the report. Analysis by Edmund J. Malesky, Professor at Duke University (USA) and member of the PAPI research group, shows that the proportion of people using Vietnam’s National Public Service Portal last year was at 8.3% but doubled compared to the previous year.
This is the 15th year that UNDP and international partners have coordinated with Vietnam to produce the PAPI Report. Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Andrew Goledzinowski said this demonstrates Vietnam’s strong, long-term commitment to listening to people’s opinions to improve public administration.
“There are many governments in the world and many systems. But for today, we can divide them into 2 categories: the governments that care about service delivery to the people and the governments that really don’t. I think after 15 years of this index, we can say with a very high degree of confidence that Vietnam is in the first category,” said Ambassador Goledzinowski.
According to the report, Thai Nguyen Province ranked first in the “Participation at Local Levels” dimension, Khanh Hoa in “Transparency”, Bac Lieu in “Vertical Accountability” and “Public Administrative Procedures”, Soc Trang in “Control of Corruption”, Thua Thien Hue in “Public Service Delivery”, Dong Thap in “Environmental Governance”, and Hanoi in “E-Governance.”