Vietnam, France boost cooperation in public services, administrative modernisation

The meeting took place on the occasion of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and State President To Lam's trip for attendance at the 19th Francophonie Summit and an official visit to France from October 3-7.

Vietnamese Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra and French Minister for Public Servants, Simplification and Transformation of Public Action Guillaume Kasbarian sign bilateral cooperation documents on public services, administrative modernisation. (Photo: VNA)

Tra highly valued the effectiveness of the cooperation between the two ministries over the past period (2016 - 2024) in improving the quality of public services, particularly in training young officials and female staff; the exchange of bilateral delegations at all levels; and the organisation of annual seminars and conferences with the participation of many international experts. She emphasised that the cooperation between the two sides has been truly deepened, becoming more practical and bringing practical benefits.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Home Affairs hopes to continue promoting the implementation of cooperative activities with the Ministry for Public Servants, Simplification and Transformation of Public Action in the next phase, Tra said.

She took this occasion to cordially extended an invitation to Kasbarian to visit Vietnam and work with the Ministry of Home Affairs in the near future, towards further tightening the relationship between the two countries in general and between the two ministries in particular.

For his part, Kasbarian stated that he considers the meeting with Tra and the Vietnamese delegation an important event that contributes to deepening the Vietnam-France strategic partnership in a intensive and practical manner, based on the positive development of the bilateral relations over the last five decades.

He spoke highly of cooperation activities between the two sides that have been implemented in recent times, which have helped strengthen the ties between the two ministries and opened up many promising prospects for future collaboration.

The two ministers signed an administrative agreement between the two ministries on cooperation in public services and administrative modernisation in the 2025-2028 period.

Under the agreement, the two sides agreed to carry out joint activities in exchanging experiences and practices across various fields, with priority given to developing e-government and promoting digital transformation of the public administration; managing digital records and documents in public service activities; focusing on gender equality policies and equal and responsible access to career opportunities; sharing experiences and practices in organising local administrations tailored to the characteristics of urban, rural, and island areas.

They will also cooperate in training and providing further training for civil servants, especially local civil servants and those involved in strategic planning, and advising on training policies for civil servants and public employees based on job positions; developing online training systems E-learning and distance learning; and building legal frameworks and systems for public service ethics control.

Kasbarian affirmed that the signing of the agreement marked an important milestone for the two sides to continue exchanging, sharing, and learning from each other, and promoting trust in bilateral cooperation to achieve the best results./