The Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration PerformanceIndex (PAPI) has increasingly become a valuable and reliable tool forsupervising the implementation of policies, Dr Pham Thi Hong, DeputyDirector of the Centre for Fostering Personnel and Scientific Research(CFOSR), announced at a conference in central Quang Nam province onMay 28.

The conference on improving the PAPIwas organised by CFOSR, which is an affiliate of the Vietnam FatherlandFront (VFF).

PAPI data has been used to assessthe performance of governance at central and provincial levels as wellas for tracking changes in governance and public administration inVietnam each year, she said.

Participants inthe conference agreed that the PAPI Index is now seen as a measure ofgood governance at the central Government level and the quality ofpublic administration in local Government at all levels.

Since 2009, almost 61,000 individuals have responded to interviewquestions and provided feedback on their experiences and measures thatare applied effectively, thus contributing to improving the PAPI Index.

VFF chapters at all levels coordinated withrelevant units to implement the PAPI research project to hear fromcitizens about their satisfaction with leadership, management andgovernance capabilities in each locality.

Anumber of other reports were presented at the conference, such as thePAPI Index 2014 report on trends at the national level from 2011-2014or a report on the Southern Central provinces’ PAPI Index from2011-2014.

Participants also discussedachievements and limitations, focusing on the PAPI Index that measuresthe ‘right to know’ about Government policies that direct impact onresidents’ rights, responsibilities and livelihoods.

Participants said there was room for improvement in a number offields, including transparency in planning and land-use plans,disadvantaged households and poverty, and military servicemen andveterans.-VNA