Saigon's mayor says prolonged meetings are a waste of time

By Trung Son   November 22, 2017 | 02:49 am PT
Saigon's mayor says prolonged meetings are a waste of time
Ho Chi Minh City's chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong (C) at a meeting. Photo by VnExpress/Trung Son
In order to reduce the number of meetings, more meetings will have to be held first.

Ho Chi Minh City's mayor has called for less talk and more action to reduce the number of official meetings that are held in the city.

Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, has said that officials need to spend less time at the meeting table and more time interacting with people to understand what's actually going on in their constituencies.

“If we have to hold meetings they need to be quick and participants should be on time,” Phong said.

“Officials are unable to digest the content of lengthy meetings and are therefore unable to come up with the solutions the city needs,” he said.

Su Ngoc Anh, director of the city’s Department of Planning and Investment, said he attended more than 2,000 meetings in the first seven months of this year, which equates to more than 10 meetings a day.

His subordinates attended three to four meetings a day on average, he said.

Nguyen Thanh Nha, director of the city's Department of Planning and Architecture, and his three deputies have sat down to more than 1,500 meetings so far this year.

In order to reduce the number of meetings officials are required to attend, the country's largest metropolis is going to need to hold more meetings first.

Chairman Phong has established a board of 19 members led by the director of the city’s Department of Home Affairs to discuss and conduct surveys to come up with a solution.

 
 
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