Discussion on the "Three Dares" officials

Recently, an event that has attracted particular public attention is that Ho Chi Minh City's economy only grew by 0,7% in the first quarter of 2023. This is unprecedented for the country's leading economic hub in over 30 years.

So what are the reasons for such low growth?

It's true that there's an impact from the global economic downturn, the "post-COVID-19" period, and the influence of the Russia-Ukraine war. And of course, there are also many subjective causes stemming from our own actions.

At the meeting on the socio-economic situation in the first quarter and the implementation of tasks and solutions for the second quarter of 2023, held on the morning of April 1st, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Phan Van Mai, frankly admitted the main reason: It stems from a mentality of apprehension, avoidance, fear of making mistakes, and fear of taking responsibility among a segment of officials and civil servants. Therefore, no one dares to answer or approve, instead shifting responsibility from one department to another.

This story in Ho Chi Minh City is not an isolated case; it's a widespread situation, a "civil servant malpractice" among a large segment of officials and civil servants.

Recently, Party and Government leaders and many ministries have talked about the need to build mechanisms to encourage and protect those who "dare to think, dare to act, and dare to take responsibility" - (temporarily referred to as the "Three Dares").

The press and public opinion have talked a lot about the current situation where "it's impossible to find people who dare to think, dare to act, and dare to take responsibility"... To put it bluntly, in the last 3-4 years, there are very few people with the "Three Dares" mindset. In fact, many believe that officials with the "Three Dares" mindset have essentially become "extinct."

This is indeed a sad reality.

The history of Vietnam's economic development in the modern era has many examples of "Three Darings"... These include the clandestine contracting scheme of Party Secretary Doan Duy Thanh in Hai Phong; the monetization of salaries instead of ration coupons by former Long An Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Van Chinh; and the "breaking the rules" of the late General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh, then Party Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City.

Further back is the product-based contract system initiative of Mr. Kim Ngoc, Secretary of the Vinh Phu Provincial Party Committee. At that time, there were extremely harsh criticisms of his initiative, even accusing him of having the ideology of "turning the Party into a landlord who collects rent"... But history has proven his approach was correct, and it opened up new decisions on product-based contracts, from which Vietnamese agriculture "took off" and today has become a rice exporting powerhouse.

These unprecedented and audacious actions resulted in severe disciplinary actions. All of these individuals were disciplined for their innovative and creative ideas.

But our Party has been very insightful in summarizing and evaluating practical experience. By the time of the reform period, the Central Committee had recognized that the creative thinking and methods of these leaders were correct.

Therefore, many individuals were assigned by the Central Committee to higher leadership positions. Mr. Doan Duy Thanh and Mr. Chin Can rose to the position of Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Nguyen Van Linh became Standing Member of the Secretariat, and then General Secretary. Mr. Kim Ngoc was honored with prestigious awards from the Party and the State, and his name was featured in literature and art.

Most recently, there is the lesson from Quang Ninh – a locality frequently mentioned for its leading position nationwide in both the Provincial Public Administration and Governance Performance Index and the Provincial Competitiveness Index. Quang Ninh's development can be a prime example demonstrating the role of a team of officials who dare to think and act, led by Provincial Party Secretary Pham Minh Chinh during the period 2012-2016.

Thanks to the bold and innovative spirit of the Provincial Party Secretary, Quang Ninh has made remarkable progress, especially in changing its economic structure from "brown" to "green"... meaning from coal mining to services and tourism. Of course, everyone later understood that to achieve this, there had to be genuine internal unity, with someone taking the highest responsibility and inspiring subordinates.

And currently, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is also demonstrating himself to be a "Three-Dare" official. In his inaugural address to the National Assembly, the Prime Minister also emphasized the need for strong reforms to the national administration, with mechanisms to encourage and protect such "Three-Dare" officials.

For a long time, the phrase "protecting those who dare to think and act" has been mentioned here and there, but this time it has been included in the first Resolution of the Government after restructuring. This is of immense significance for officials who are proactive, creative in their work, and bold in innovation, because there will be a mechanism to protect them…

We all know that people with the "Three Dares" mindset are very intelligent and possess a decisive, strong character. Because of their superior intelligence, they have identified obstacles in their work through legal regulations; and to complete their tasks, they sometimes have to devise innovative and groundbreaking methods to overcome those obstacles.

Their methods, if successful, would earn them the title of "Three Dares"; but if they made even the slightest mistake, resulting in the loss of state assets or other negative consequences at the lower levels, their careers would be over.

Over the past three years, the Party and Government have focused on drastically removing and eliminating regulations that are no longer appropriate or hinder economic development; however, the conservatism of many ministries and sectors remains a major reason why the removal process has not been thorough or effective.

We need officials who "dare to think, dare to act, and dare to take responsibility." To some extent, each official who "dare to think, dares to act, and dares to take responsibility" is a locomotive. They are the ones who pull the entire train towards its destination.