Experience of Some Countries in the Region in Improving the Quality of State Administrative Civil Servants

pay for civil servants in paying civil servants. The British Government is very careful to implement the following principles:

- "Principle of fairness", this principle is considered one of the essential conditions to stabilize the civil service.

- The "principle of price adaptation" aims to ensure that the real income of civil servants does not decrease due to price increases.

- The "principle of mutual benefit" is mainly to apply to similar jobs that are treated equally, without male preference or female discrimination.

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- "Periodic salary increase principle" means that every year when civil servants have worked for enough years according to regulations, they will be included in the salary increase list.

- A strict hierarchy with many levels. In Japan, civil servants are divided into two types: state civil servants and local civil servants. State civil servants are divided into: general civil servants and special civil servants. Japanese civil servants are highly respected by society and are highly favored by the state. Because Japanese officials are all elite, selected through serious exams and through continuous training and practice in different positions when recruited.

Every year, the Japan Personnel Institute (a government agency independent of the ministries) holds three examinations: the examination for selecting type I (senior) civil servants, the examination for selecting type II and type III civil servants. Those who pass the examination for type I civil servants will be trained to become future leaders. Those who pass the examination for type II and type III civil servants are mostly professionals such as accountants, clerks, etc.

To be eligible to take the Type I civil service examination, candidates must first be admitted to large, prestigious universities with a tradition of training talented people. In order to unify the general quality of the Japanese civil service, ministries are not allowed to hold their own examinations from the beginning, but are only allowed to select civil servants for their ministries from among those who pass the annual examinations organized by the Personnel Institute. New civil servants recruited to ministries continue to be trained with the following contents:

- Training through working experience at various facilities within and outside the ministry.

- Training at training and refresher courses at various levels.

Thus, after 5 to 6 years of being recruited into the agency, through the above training content, young Japanese civil servants have a fairly high level of theoretical knowledge in economics and at this time they are assigned to be team leaders in the department. Then they are sent to the grassroots level as directors to take on independent responsibilities and handle administrative work, promoting leadership rights at the grassroots unit. After one year, this civil servant is brought back to the position of Deputy Head of Department and begins to participate in the policy planning process. Over the years, they will be rotated to hold different Deputy Head of Department positions, these civil servants have the opportunity to promote their administrative management ability, the ability to respond sensitively to new situations in many fields. Then they are sent to the local level to work as Deputy Head of Department of the Ministry or go abroad to work as attachés or economic counselors of embassies for 3 to 4 years and then brought back to the Ministry to hold the position of Head of Department for 6 consecutive years. The time as a department head is also rotated through many different departments. Then they are sent down to work as local department heads, most of those who pass the first-class civil service exam hold the position of department head. From here, civil servants continue to strive to be promoted to the positions of Deputy Department Head and Department Head. Finally, the best of these are selected to the position of Deputy Minister (Deputy Minister is the highest position of a civil servant, because Ministers are politicians appointed by the Prime Minister).

- Perfecting the legal system, working according to the law: civil servants not only work under professional regulations but are also guaranteed by law from social status, position, to rights and obligations. In France, the status of civil servants in their relationship with administrative organizations is regulated by law and regulations. To manage and improve the quality of civil servants, each sector in France has an "Administrative Council" . Administrative Councils at all levels are responsible for proposing opinions on issues of appraisal, promotion, transfer, reward and punishment of civil servants. If the administrative agency in charge does not accept the opinion of the Administrative Council, the Administrative Council at the same level can submit it to the Supreme Administrative Council for handling. Council

The administrative department is responsible for drafting and amending the personnel management regime and regulations of the sector. The French civil service recruitment regime is based on two principles:

- Principle of equality: no distinction between men, women, background, political orientation, religion, or culture.

- Principle of selection through examination: examination is conducted publicly, in the form of written and oral examination. Judicial authorities check the entire examination and recruitment process.

Since the 1960s, France has attached great importance to the professional training of civil servants. Administrative levels are responsible for the training of civil servants in their units. Civil servant training in France is divided into two types:

First, initial training: For senior civil servants, after studying at college or a specialized school, some must undergo a six-month internship before their title is determined. Some must study at a general college, then do a two to three-year internship in a department before their title is determined.

Second, improve the qualifications of current civil servants: if they want to move up to a higher level, current civil servants can voluntarily register to take the exam, and the managing unit must create conditions for candidates to review for the exam.

Every year, civil servants must make a self-assessment of their work performance and professional ability. The evaluation of good and bad civil servants is directly related to the promotion and advancement of civil servants. Promotion of civil servants in France is carried out in the following forms:

First, the selection method: for those with a relatively long working period, the administrative head will base on the comments of civil servants for three consecutive years to select typical people from among them, make a list and report to the Promotion Council.

Second, the form of professional examination: The examination council examines, evaluates, classifies and references the civil servant's profile to write comments. After being approved by the Promotion Council, the administrative head makes the decision to promote. By organizing these examinations, civil servants can strive to be promoted, and at the same time, it is an opportunity for the state to improve the quality of civil servants.

In addition, the treatment of French civil servants, including basic salary and allowances, is given great attention by the French Government and considered an important requirement to improve the quality of civil servants.

- Synchronous management system, developed countries have a large and growing civil servant team; in France and the US, there are 2-3 million civil servants. To keep this team together, the government has paid attention to building a management system suitable to the characteristics of its country, from a unified apparatus, a strict examination and recruitment system, to a strict training and fostering method, arrangement and use.

- Emphasizing style, discipline, and professional ethics, developed countries require civil servants to maintain high standards of personal conduct, especially integrity when performing official duties. Civil servants must not only comply with the disciplinary regulations prescribed by the state but also follow the "rules of honor" - professional ethics.

In Japan, civil servant ethics is considered a very important content in the quality of civil servants. Ethics here means impartiality, integrity and a high sense of responsibility. These are the necessary qualities of a Japanese civil servant. This ethics is not innate but is largely nurtured and promoted by the following objective administrative management mechanisms and methods:

- The recruitment system is public and fair, and only the best people are recruited to become civil servants, so they are respected and trusted by society, and from there, civil servants have pride in the important responsibilities entrusted by society.

The life of Japanese civil servants is guaranteed for life through policies such as housing, salary, pension... Even in the case of no further promotion or having to resign before retirement age, Japanese officials still receive appropriate treatment from the state, ensuring their life. The number of civil servants in Japan is relatively small, so the authority of each civil servant is relatively large. Thus, the benefits of Japanese civil servants are long-term benefits, including material, prestige, honor..., and things that cannot be bought with money. This has prevented all corruption motives of Japanese civil servants, because there is no corrupt behavior.

Which can bring as many benefits as the benefits of state policy for them?

- The supervision and criticism of Japanese civil servants by society is very strict and rigorous, forcing civil servants to be extremely careful and cautious.

- The term of office of leaders in ministries is usually very short, only two years, so the structure of state civil servants in Japan is always youthful and easily avoids negative aspects of privileges and benefits.

1.5.1.2. Experience of some countries in the region in improving the quality of the state administrative civil servant team

a, China's experience

China is a country with a large area (ranked 4th in the world) and the largest population in the world at 1.3 billion (2002). Despite facing many problems, China's economy has improved a lot since implementing the reform strategy in 1978. China is considered to have one of the highest annual GDP growth rates in the world and has been relatively stable for many years (over 7%). The fundamental reason for this success is that China has had reasonable strategies and policies in developing high-quality human resources to meet the requirements of economic development and international economic integration (China is a member of the WTO).

China's principle in using high-quality human resources is "respecting intellectuals, respecting talents, and planning a great plan to revive the country for a hundred years" which is one of the reasons for the success of this populous country.

Another reason for China's success is the building of a team of state administrative civil servants at all levels. China believes that the rejuvenation of the state administrative civil servants is a need of the modernization process, an important condition for the country's development. Of the total 344 members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (15th tenure), 92% have a university degree or higher. The average age of the leadership is 55.9, of which 72 members of the Central Committee of the Party are under 50 years old [56, pp. 42-44].

In addition to the trend of rejuvenating the cadres, China is very interested in building a team of HCNN civil servants. Shenzhen is one of the special economic zones of China assigned by the Government to take the lead in building a state civil servant system to gain experience and then deploy it nationwide. In a short time (7-8 years), Shenzhen has transformed from a small, backward town into a modern city. The main reason for this victory is that "a team of cadres with relatively high political level and professional qualities has been built" [11, p.220].

Building the HCNN civil servant team in Shenzhen started from establishing training planning, building training apparatus and training facilities to institutionalizing the HCNN civil servant team. Thanks to that, from only 9% of cadres and civil servants with university degrees or higher, by 1987, Shenzhen had 37.2%. Of the total

Of the 43,583 civil servants in Shenzhen, 20,000 have been trained. In addition, the special zone has carried out a series of reforms in the existing personnel system. The special zone government has reformed the system of transferring and assigning cadres, implemented many coordination methods, focused on recruitment; combined education with specialized training to cultivate talents; reformed the examination system, conducted public opinion polls, and democratically evaluated civil servants; expanded management and supervision; reformed the system of appointing cadres, practiced the system of delegation, took exams to work according to terms, and had to undergo probation before taking up a leadership position. The special zone government has also investigated and analyzed the positions of employees working in state agencies, issued relatively detailed regulations on the responsibility system according to the positions of different types and levels of cadres; reformed the salary system, established a salary table with 48 levels...

Shenzhen's experience has become a model for many other localities in China in building and improving the quality of the public administration staff.

b, Korean experience

Over the past two decades, the Korean economy has grown at a high rate. From 1962 to 1992, GDP increased from 2.3 billion USD to 294.5 billion USD.

USD; GDP per capita increased from 87 USD to 6,749 USD. The reason for this success is that: Korea has applied an outward-oriented development strategy with exports as the driving force and implemented a policy of building a streamlined and effective administrative apparatus.

The Korean civil service system is based on the concept of “public authority” and is closely tied to the principle of “merit” (mission accomplished), which means creating for civil servants the authority to perform their duties and being evaluated and rewarded through “merit”, gradually eliminating the salary system, implementing a strict regime, monitoring and recording the work process of civil servants in each stage, considering it a professional certificate.

On the other hand, Korea attaches great importance to civil servant training. The goal of civil servant training is to improve knowledge and skills to perform tasks well, to increase positivity to achieve optimal efficiency in work, and to encourage civil servants to work with peace of mind. Civil servant training not only aims to improve professional knowledge and management skills but also places special emphasis on personality development; to enhance the sense of responsibility in public service. All Korean civil servants are encouraged to participate in a form of personality and positivity training for comprehensive development, to enhance their responsibilities and duties as a member of the civil service.

In short, in developed countries as well as countries in the region, the main driving force for socio-economic development is investment in human resources, including the public service staff, and is considered an important factor in ensuring state management in all areas of society.

1.5.2. Some experiences that can be applied in Vietnam in improving the quality of the state administrative civil servant team

Through studying the experiences of some countries in building and improving the quality of the public service staff, the following lessons can be drawn:

Firstly, the State must issue synchronous legal documents to unify the construction, management and use of civil servants in general and civil servants in particular.

HCNN officials in particular. These documents are the basis for the selection, use and training of HCNN civil servants.

Second, the HCNN civil servants must be those who have received basic training in universities and continuous training and development after recruitment. They must be trained through necessary positions in practice and fully possess the basic moral qualities of a civil servant.

Third, the State develops specific title standards for each type of civil servant's work. Title standards are the basis for selecting, using, and evaluating the work performance of civil servants and are the standards for civil servants to strive for and practice.

Fourth, to effectively select civil servants through public, serious, and fair examinations, creating conditions for everyone to have the opportunity to compete. Only then can we select truly talented people to work in public administrative agencies and encourage everyone to continuously study and improve. That is one of the best ways to select a team of high-quality public administrative officials.

Fifth, it is necessary to arrange and use the public service staff appropriately. We must know how to "use people according to their talents", assign the right people to the right jobs to maximize their working capacity, and create conditions for public servants to develop their strengths; the State needs to have a suitable remuneration regime for public service staff, ensuring that the lives of public service staff are increasingly improved; pay special attention to salary regimes, pension regimes, and other types of social insurance.

Sixth, strictly maintain the management, supervision, and reward and punishment regime for civil servants; seriously inspect and evaluate civil servants annually, according to specific standards to discover talents for promotion and use. Transfer or dismiss those who are unqualified or have committed violations. On the other hand, this is an opportunity for civil servants to re-evaluate themselves, promote their strengths, correct their limitations and shortcomings...

Seventh, shorten the term of office for leading civil servants; streamline the state apparatus, reduce the number of civil servants, especially high-ranking civil servants, following the experience of countries that have successfully implemented it; pay attention to the trend of rejuvenation and intellectualization.

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