Thanh Hoa takes the lead in action, creating a digital government for the people

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - From June 24, 2025, all fees and charges when performing online administrative procedures under the authority of the People's Council of Thanh Hoa province will be completely exempted. Not only is this a "popular" policy, it is also a clear demonstration of the action mindset, reform determination and strategic vision of Thanh Hoa province's leaders in the journey to realize the model of two-level local government, digital government serving the people.

Thanh Hoa police handle administrative procedures for people at the Provincial Public Administration Service Center.

Practical policy, spreading confidence

On June 24, 2025, the People's Council of Thanh Hoa province officially passed Resolution No. 12/2025/NQ-HDND, with breakthrough content: Exemption of all fees and charges for all administrative procedures performed through online public services. Behind this unprecedented policy is not only the high consensus of the Provincial People's Council, but also the innovative leadership mindset, daring to think, daring to do, daring to take responsibility for the benefit of the people.

Thanh Hoa provincial leaders have repeatedly emphasized in administrative reform conferences: “If we want people to use online public services, we must create trust, convenience and specific benefits for them. Free is a form of encouragement, but the root is to change the way of doing things, change the mindset of the administrative apparatus as well as the habits of people and businesses in handling administrative procedures.”

From that spirit, the free policy not only aims to reduce social costs, but also remove invisible barriers that have made people hesitant to access digital administration, one of the key goals of Plan No. 02-KH/BCĐTW dated June 19, 2025 of the Central Steering Committee on Science, Technology Development, Innovation and Digital Transformation on promoting interconnected, synchronous, fast and effective digital transformation, meeting the requirements of organizing the apparatus of the political system.

As a frontline force in direct contact, supporting the settlement and serving administrative procedures for the people, Thanh Hoa Provincial Police have been clearly demonstrating their pioneering role in implementing two-level government and digital government, especially at the commune level, where thousands of administrative procedures are directly resolved every day.

Since the beginning of 2025, Thanh Hoa Provincial Police have proactively issued a plan to coordinate with departments and branches to promote the application of Project 06, clean up population data, digitize household registration records, issue chip-embedded citizen identification cards and electronic identification platforms to make it easier for people to use online public services.

Thanh Hoa Provincial Police also increased support for vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, people who are not tech-savvy, women, people from remote areas, ethnic minorities, and people in difficult circumstances. Community digital technology teams in villages, hamlets, and neighborhoods were activated, in which the commune-level police force plays a core role, not only ensuring security, but also acting as a "technology bridge" for the people.

Major General To Anh Dung, Director of Thanh Hoa Provincial Police, affirmed: “Administrative reform and digital transformation are not the work of any individual, but the mission of serving the people of leaders, authorities, officers, and civil servants at all levels. Under the leadership and direction of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Committee, Thanh Hoa Provincial Police identified this as a key political task, accompanying and effectively implementing assigned tasks in building a modern, friendly, and effective government, especially serving two-level governments with a historical milestone starting from July 1st”.

From deploying regular police forces in 100% of communes and wards, to establishing community digital technology teams, coordinating with functional units to organize hundreds of sessions to guide people in filling out online records, Thanh Hoa Police not only builds digital citizens and a digital society but is also working with the entire political system to bring digital government to every citizen, every village, and every neighborhood.

Thanh Hoa - a model of reform action

Resolution No. 12/2025/NQ-HDND is not simply about exempting administrative fees, but more deeply, it is also a declaration of the political responsibility of the Thanh Hoa government system in the process of converting the organizational model from 3 levels to 2 levels, a big challenge that requires the apparatus to be "compact" but still "strong" to operate effectively, efficiently and effectively.

In that context, promoting online public services, reducing contact, procedures, people, and intermediaries is the "leverage" for the two-level apparatus to operate effectively, in accordance with the spirit of Resolution 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo on innovation of local government organization, ensuring streamlining, effectiveness, and efficiency.

Not only do the people benefit, but the entire system is also “liberated”. When hundreds of procedures are processed automatically through the digital system, officials no longer have to receive people manually, are no longer overloaded, and thus have the conditions to focus on professional work and improve service quality.

From June 24, 2025, all individuals and organizations in Thanh Hoa when submitting online applications via the Provincial Public Service Portal or the National Public Service Portal will not have to pay any fees or charges, whether for document confirmation, licensing or provincial, district or commune-level procedures. When costs are no longer a barrier, people will have greater motivation to change their administrative habits, moving from "applying for documents" to "self-performing services".

And when people are proactive, the government must keep up, must be transparent, must innovate to create a self-operating reform circle, with the focus on people's satisfaction. Talking about digital government, many places are still in the "pilot", "preparation" and "project building" stages. But in Thanh Hoa, digital government has been truly operated by specific policies and specific actions.

The determination and synchronization between the People's Council, People's Committee, departments, branches and the police force show that Thanh Hoa not only wants to go fast, but also wants to go steadily, go with close supervision and deep consensus from the entire political system.

Thanks to that consensus, Thanh Hoa is gradually becoming a model locality in digital transformation and administrative reform, a pioneer in realizing a two-level government that is compact but effective, modern but close to the people. Free online public services are the beginning. What is needed more is to change thinking, innovate governance models and improve the digital capacity of staff, especially at the grassroots level. The government cannot be digitalized if staff do not understand technology. And people cannot be served well if the system still operates in the old way.

Instead of waiting, Thanh Hoa chose to act immediately, act decisively in the spirit that Politburo member, Standing member of the Secretariat Tran Cam Tu, Deputy Head of the Central Steering Committee on Science, Technology Development, Innovation and Digital Transformation directed at the National Conference to deploy Plan No. 02-KH/BCĐTW on promoting interconnected, synchronous, fast and effective digital transformation to meet the requirements of restructuring the political system's apparatus on June 23.

Thanh Hoa has chosen to reform with results instead of slogans. And most importantly, it has chosen to put people and businesses at the center of all digital transformation decisions.

LIST OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES EXEMPTED FROM ALL FEES AND CHARGES WHEN PERFORMED THROUGH ONLINE PUBLIC SERVICES (According to Resolution No. 12/2025/NQ-HDND dated June 24, 2025 of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Council) I. Field of resources and environment 1. Appraisal of environmental impact assessment report (conducted by local authorities) 2. Appraisal of projects and reports on exploration, assessment of reserves, exploitation and use of underground water 3. Appraisal of documents and conditions for practicing underground water drilling 4. Appraisal of surface water exploitation and use projects 5. Appraisal, re-issuance, and adjustment of environmental licenses (performed by local authorities) 6. Appraisal of environmental improvement and restoration plans (performed by local authorities) 7. Exploitation and use of land documents 8. Providing information on security measures using land use rights and assets attached to land 9. Registration of security measures II. Land sector 10. Appraisal of application for Land Use Right Certificate 11. Granting of Certificate of land use rights, house ownership rights and other assets attached to land 12. Issuance of Certificate of land use rights only (no house and other assets) 13. Certificate of registration of land changes 14. Extracts of maps, documents, and cadastral records III. Civil status field 15. Birth registration 16. Death registration 17. Marriage registration 18. Recognize father, mother, child 19. Birth registration combined with recognition of father, mother, child 20. Changing and correcting household registration for people under 14 years old residing in the country 21. Supplementing household registration for Vietnamese citizens residing in the country 22. Issuance of Certificate of marital status 23. Confirm or record other civil status events in the family register 24. Registration of guardianship 25. Registration of other civil status events 26. Birth registration combined with recognition of father, mother, and child with foreign elements 27. Changing and correcting household registration for people aged 16 and over residing in the country 28. Redefining ethnicity 29. Changing, correcting, and supplementing civil status with foreign elements 30. Recording in the family register the family status of Vietnamese citizens that has been resolved at a competent foreign authority 31. Registration of other civil status matters involving foreign elements IV. Labor and employment (for foreigners) 32. Issuance and renewal of Work Permits 33. Re-issuance of Work Permit V. Construction field 34. Issuance of Construction Permit (new construction) 35. Issuance of construction permit (repair, renovation) 36. Issuance of Construction Permit (construction relocation) 37. Adjustment of Construction Permit 38. Re-issuance or extension of Construction Permit VI. Sports field 39. Appraisal and issuance of Certificate of eligibility for business in sports activities and professional sports clubs VII. Business registration fields 40. Registration of Cooperative Union (including new issuance, re-issuance, change of content of Registration Certificate and Certificate of registration of branch, representative office, business location) 41. Cooperative registration (including new issuance, re-issuance, and content change as above) 42. Business registration (including new issuance, re-issuance, and change of registration content).

Tien Minh (Contributor)

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/thanh-hoa-tien-phong-hanh-dong-kien-tao-chinh-quyen-so-vi-dan-253341.htm