Roundtable discussion: Enabling conditions for local development

The roundtable featured international experts, local government representatives, and business leaders, including Prof. Dr. Alex Brillantes, Secretary-General of the Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration (EROPA); Mr. Pongsak Yingchoncharoen, Mayor of Yala City, Thailand; Dr. Nguyen Tien Thanh, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Council of Xuan Dinh Ward, Ha Noi; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Dieu Oanh, Dean of the Faculty of Law, APAG; and Ms. Phan Ngoc Diep, Strategy Planning Team Leader at LG Electronics R&D Viet Nam.

The roundtable was divided into two sessions. The first focused on identifying the conditions and key factors that determine local governments’ capacity to create development by connecting international experience with Viet Nam’s practical context.

First, local development-enabling capacity must be situated within the broader national development strategy and overarching development goals.

From an international perspective, Prof. Dr. Alex Brillantes, Secretary-General of EROPA, highlighted several fundamental conditions. First and foremost, the capacity of local government officials must be continuously strengthened as part of an ongoing capacity development programme for the civil service. In addition, attention must be paid to local fiscal capacity, budgetary decentralization mechanisms, and resource sharing and allocation to ensure that local governments have the means to proactively fulfil their functions.

Prof. Dr. Alex Brillantes placed particular emphasis on the role of local governance and community participation. He called for greater use of bottom-up planning approaches and stronger cooperation among local governments in addressing issues that transcend administrative boundaries. In his view, national, provincial, and local development plans should be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thereby ensuring consistency between national orientations and grassroots action.

Second, decentralization and delegation of authority must be accompanied by substantive empowerment, adequate enabling conditions, and clear accountability. Drawing on research and Viet Nam’s practical experience, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Dieu Oanh, Dean of the Faculty of Law at APAG, argued that, amid the implementation of the two-tier local government model and efforts to streamline the administrative apparatus, further decentralization and delegation of authority must be guided by the principle that “local authorities decide, implement, and take responsibility.” Accordingly, empowerment must clearly define which matters local authorities are authorized to decide, the conditions under which they can exercise their powers, and the entities responsible for the outcomes. It is also necessary to clarify who makes decisions, who provides advice, and who coordinates implementation. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Dieu Oanh emphasized that empowerment cannot be separated from the necessary enabling conditions, including professionally competent civil servants, financial resources, and digital data. In particular, responsibilities should be specified for each task in accordance with the “six clear” principles: clear personnel, clear tasks, clear responsibilities, clear timelines, clear expected results, and clear implementation progress. This would provide a practical foundation for ensuring that decentralization and the delegation of authority are substantive and effective.

Third, the capacity to enable development must be built on participation, community engagement, and the ability to create shared value.

The experience of Mr. Pongsak Yingchoncharoen, Mayor of Yala City, Thailand, demonstrates how local governments can strengthen their development capacity by investing in social cohesion and establishing mechanisms for citizens to participate in community life. For many years, Yala City has maintained the “We Love Our Hometown” programme, through which students from different communities are selected to participate in activities at city hall, engage in community service, and jointly develop local initiatives. In addition, the city organizes large-scale public forums and holds a monthly “Morning Coffee Forum,” providing residents with opportunities to raise issues of concern directly with local authorities. This experience demonstrates that a local government’s capacity to enable development lies not only in delivering public services but also in its ability to build trust, connect communities, and foster a society in which people can work together to address development challenges.

Fourth, the practical implementation of Viet Nam’s two-tier local government model shows that decentralization and the delegation of authority can only be effective when accompanied by adequate resources and grassroots implementation capacity.

Sharing insights from local governance practice, Dr. Nguyen Tien Thanh, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Council of Xuan Dinh Ward, Ha Noi, noted that, after more than a year of implementing the two-tier local government model, the redistribution of powers and responsibilities had enabled grassroots authorities to handle their work more proactively, while placing citizens and businesses at the centre of public service delivery. Key improvements include clearer delineation of authority, additional resources for grassroots officials and civil servants, and greater capacity for local authorities to resolve issues directly within their jurisdictions. However, implementation has also exposed a major bottleneck: the volume of assigned tasks has increased rapidly, while the capacity and staffing levels of grassroots authorities were initially insufficient to meet the new requirements. According to Dr. Nguyen Tien Thanh, addressing this challenge requires continued training and professional development for local officials, with an emphasis on practical skills and the ability to handle specific situations at the grassroots level rather than relying solely on general knowledge.

Fifth, from the business perspective, local governments’ capacity to enable development is also reflected in their ability to create a stable, business-friendly investment environment that supports long-term development.

Insights shared by Ms. Phan Ngoc Diep indicate that businesses consider three closely interconnected groups of factors when selecting investment locations: (1) macro-level policy orientations and support from local governments; (2) the availability of human resources and the quality of education, particularly the ability to ensure a long-term talent pipeline for research and development activities; and (3) infrastructure that meets international standards, enabling businesses to save time and reduce initial costs. From this perspective, a development-enabling local government must do more than formulate appropriate policies. It must also be able to integrate policy, human resources, and infrastructure into an attractive and sustainable development ecosystem that draws in and retains investors.

The second session focused on discussing reform priorities for strengthening local governments’ implementation capacity and generating tangible value for citizens, businesses, and communities. The discussions highlighted the need for a coordinated approach to local reform encompassing decentralization and the delegation of authority, public finance, citizen participation, workforce management, digital transformation, and innovative approaches to serving businesses.

First, decentralization and the delegation of authority should be further advanced while remaining firmly linked to accountability.

Prof. Dr. Alex Brillantes emphasized that local governments are in direct contact with citizens and have the clearest understanding of issues arising within their jurisdictions. They should therefore be granted appropriate powers and decision-making space. However, empowerment must go hand in hand with accountability: local authorities must be responsible for both their decisions and their implementation outcomes. He argued that strengthening local capacity involves more than expanding authority. It also requires mechanisms, criteria, and indicators for defining and assessing accountability. This is essential to ensuring that decentralization and the delegation of authority improve governance effectiveness rather than merely transferring responsibilities.

Second, fiscal decentralization should be reformed to ensure equitable allocation based on the actual needs of individual localities.

Prof. Dr. Alex Brillantes further noted that the transfer of financial resources from central to local governments must take into account substantial differences in development conditions across localities. Poorer localities with fewer resources should receive greater priority in resource allocation, while better-resourced localities should not necessarily receive additional funding according to the same formula. Drawing on the experiences of Indonesia and the Philippines, he noted that budget allocations can be based on criteria such as poverty levels and performance. This approach aims to ensure that public resources are targeted more effectively while helping narrow development disparities among localities.

Third, citizen participation should be strengthened and inclusiveness ensured in local governance.

Citizen participation is a key factor in successful local governance because grassroots authorities are on the front line, directly listening to and addressing community concerns. Experiences from Yala in Thailand, direct citizen engagement initiatives in Indonesia, and Naga City in the Philippines all demonstrate that creating channels for public participation can improve the quality of decision-making and strengthen public trust in government.

Fourth, personnel management for officials and civil servants should be reformed to clarify responsibilities, measure performance, and strengthen incentives for implementation.

Drawing on experience with the two-tier local government model, Dr. Nguyen Tien Thanh proposed using key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess actual work performance. In his view, results-based evaluation should be linked to appropriate staffing arrangements and flexible remuneration policies, ensuring that compensation reflects the volume of public services delivered. He also called for greater use of artificial intelligence (AI) to support administrative tasks and reduce the workload of officials and civil servants. Personnel management reform should therefore go beyond task assignment to establish an integrated mechanism linking tasks, results, evaluation, remuneration, and supporting technology.

Fifth, decentralization and the delegation of authority should continue to be refined on the principle that empowerment must be accompanied by adequate enabling conditions and directed towards creating public value.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Dieu Oanh noted that decentralization and the delegation of authority remain central issues requiring further research and refinement in the context of the two-tier local government model. Attention should also be given to the socialization of public services, the application of digital technologies, and new delivery approaches that reduce the range of tasks performed directly by the state apparatus. According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Dieu Oanh, a key reform priority at this stage is to ensure that empowerment is accompanied by accountability and adequate implementation conditions, thereby improving the quality and value of public services.

Sixth, a digital administration should be developed while narrowing the digital divide and strengthening meaningful technology adoption.

Prof. Dr. Alex Brillantes observed that efforts to strengthen local capacity can no longer be separated from digital capabilities and artificial intelligence. Local strategic visions should be linked to the effective use of AI to improve governance quality and decision-making. He also warned of the digital divide both among localities and across countries in the region. Digital transformation should not be approached as a simple process of digitization. Without appropriate support policies, it could actually widen disparities between localities with different levels of technological capacity.

Seventh, the mindset of “smart government” should evolve towards an administration that demonstrates empathy for citizens and businesses.

From the business perspective, Ms. Phan Ngoc Diep introduced the noteworthy concept of “empathetic governance.” Just as businesses pay attention to employee experience, public administrations should consider the entire “journey” businesses undertake when interacting with government, from establishing operations and applying for permits to completing related administrative procedures. Therefore, alongside digital, smart, and accurate government, public administration should develop “emotional intelligence”—the ability to understand the needs, difficulties, and actual experiences of businesses as they interact with the administrative system.

In her concluding remarks, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hoang Mai observed that the discussions had generated several important messages for developing local governments that actively enable development. These messages included the need to link decentralization and the delegation of authority with clearly defined accountability; ensure that local governance is inclusive, respects local identities, and builds consensus among different population groups; and strengthen local governments’ empathy and autonomy throughout the governance process. These are not merely conclusions drawn by the speakers but also reflect the expectations of citizens, businesses, and public officials regarding the reform of local government. They provide important guiding principles for local authorities to further explore and translate into action programmes, with a view to building development-enabling governments that possess strong implementation capacity, promote inclusion, remain close to the people, work alongside businesses, and generate tangible value for their communities.