The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will be streamlined to the maximum when merged.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Do Duc Duy announced the above content at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on December 9 on the plan to merge and arrange affiliated units between the two ministries.

Along with maximally streamlining specialized and specialized management departments and divisions, areas with overlapping functions and tasks of the two ministries will be integrated and have their functions and tasks supplemented for unified and smooth management, leaving no gaps.

The two ministries will merge their respective staff and synthesis units; and streamline their public service units. The proposed name of the new ministry after the merger was also discussed at the meeting, along with a plan to ensure consistency and synchronization in apparatus, organization, and operations.

After listening to the merger plan of the leaders of the two ministries, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha affirmed that the goal of this policy is to reduce overlap, duplication, conflict or omission of state management tasks.

The merger also aims to organize a scientific, streamlined, effective and efficient apparatus, better meeting the tasks of state management in the new situation.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that merging the two ministries is an important task and cannot be innovated any further in order to reduce specialized state management agencies according to the principle "one job cannot be assigned to two people".

Therefore, the merger project of the two ministries must be based on a comprehensive, multi-sectoral, multi-field management mindset. The implementation process must promote the spirit of science, collectivity, democracy, and objectivity, "not mechanical merger".

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the two ministries to immediately set up a working group and develop a project to merge the two ministries, establish a Party Committee of the merged ministry directly under the Government Party Committee; and calculate the plan for using facilities and infrastructure after the merger. The Ministry of Home Affairs will guide the criteria for rearranging cadres, civil servants, and public employees after the merger.

According to the Government's organizational restructuring plan announced on December 6, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment are expected to merge and take the new name of the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Environment.