On Thursday, August 29 and Friday, August 30, 2019, the “Vietnam-Japan Local Administration Seminar” jointly organised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan (MIC) and the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (MOHA) was held in Ho Chi Minh City.

The seminar was attended by about 90 central and local government officials from both Vietnam and Japan, including the Vietnamese Minister of Home Affairs, H.E. Le Vinh Tan. 2019’s seminar marked the third consecutive year in which a joint seminar was held in Vietnam, with the seminar held in Hue City in 2018 and Hanoi in 2017.

In 2019’s seminar, the following topics were discussed, introducing some case studies from both countries and exchanging opinions.
1) Authorities and duties at each level of local government
2) Best practices of staff recruitment, utilization of human resources, and training

At the beginning of the seminar, keynote speeches were given by the MIC and MOHA. From the Japanese side, the Principal of the Local Autonomy College shared on the theme of “Overview of Japan’s local administration”, and from the Vietnamese side, the director of the Local Government Department in MOHA presented on “Local administration system in Vietnam”.

Over the next two days, two speakers from Japan and four speakers from Vietnam gave presentations on the seminar topics.
From the Japanese side, two examples of staff recruitment and nurturing initiatives were presented by local government staff from Kawaguchi City in Saitama Prefecture, and Kumamoto Prefecture respectively.
On the other hand, from the Vietnamese side, recruitment and training systems for civil servants including executives, reduction of numbers of civil servants, and initiatives for human resource development were presented by officers from MOHA, Ho Chi Minh City and a former vice minister of MOHA.

The participants listened with great concentration to each presentation, and asked the speakers as many questions possible as time allowed. A question was asked about the case of MIC on the merger of local governments in Japan, and explanations were given on the benefits of financial incentives. In addition, in response to the case presentations from Kawaguchi City and Kumamoto Prefecture, specific questions were raised regarding “Points to mention in recruitment interviews”, “Use of student internships”, “Response to staff with poor personnel evaluations”, etc.
The recruitment and training of civil servants is an urgent issue in Vietnam, where economic growth is rapid, and there is a strong desire to learn from Japanese experience and best practices in the training and management of staff, and a strong will to work seriously on administrative reforms.
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