Ministries rated average in effectiveness survey

All 14 ministries involved in the Ministerial Effectiveness Index (MEI) survey, which evaluated the organizations’ effectiveness in developing and implementing business-related legal regulations, have been rated “average,” the survey conductor announced yesterday.

Businesses completing paperwork at the HCMC Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment earned the lowest score of the MEI 2011. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Conducted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the survey sketches out an overview of the effectiveness of the 14 ministries whose functions and tasks are related to the businesses and trading activities.

Results from the survey, which collected opinions from 207 associations that represent more than 419,000 businesses countrywide, show that all 14 ministries score just above the “average” rate.

This means none of them received “weak” or “poor” rates, but they didn’t attain “good” or “excellent” rates, either.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment earned the lowest score -- 51.37 points out of 100, followed by the Ministry of Transport (52.1), the Ministry of Construction (51.93), and the Ministry of Health (52.22).

The Ministry of Justice tops the rankings, despite earning a score of only 59.01 points. It is followed by the Ministry of Labors, Invalids, and Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, with respective scores of 58.51, and 56.59.

A score of 60 points and above would have earned the ministries a “good” rating, but none were able to achieve this.

The score difference between the top and bottom ministries is only 7.64 points, given the 100-point scoring scheme.

“This means there are neither ministries which post outstanding effectiveness, nor those with poor performance,” said Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, deputy head of VCCI’s legislation department.

“Their effectiveness is just on a straight line.”

VCCI chairman Vu Tien Loc said the enterprise community appreciates the ministries’ effort to “barely fulfill their functions,” while commenting that it “has yet to see necessary effort from the ministries to carry out their activities efficiently.”

In summarizing the survey results, Trang said that with the ministries posting average effectiveness in law building and implementation, the country’s economy can still maintain its health.

“However, the survey also proves that the ministries still have to expend more effort to improve their effectiveness in all aspects of developing and enforcing the law,” Trang concluded.

Improvement expected from ministries

Speaking at the ceremony to announce the MEI results, Le Thanh Long, Deputy Minister of Justice, spoke highly of the survey findings, adding that it will be “a good reference document for the ministries to review their operation.”

Economic expert Pham Chi Lan expressed her hope that the ministries will strengthen their effectiveness to help businesses during this difficult period for the economy after they were “scored” by the latter.

In 2005, VCCI also started its Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) survey to evaluate the competitiveness of all provinces in the country.

“Since the PCI has helped localities around the country put in effort to increase their competitiveness, the same expectation is now put on the MEI to foster the ministries’ operations,” Loc said. 

The Ministries’ MEI 2011 Ranking Table