PAPI is a tool that reflects citizens’ experiences and perceptions of the performance and quality of policy implementation and services delivery by provincial governments at all levels.

In 2023, Son La province’s PAPI reached 42.3 points, ranking 30 out of 63 provinces and cities and up 16 places compared to 2022, in the group with a high average score in the country. However, sub-indexes experienced an uneven increase in scores, and the results were not stable and sustainable. Among the eight sub-indexes, five were in the low-average group, including Participation at Local Levels, Transparency in Local Decisionmaking, Control of Corruption in the Public Sector, Environmental Governance, and E-Governance.

At the workshop, experts exchanged views on the PAPI, shared practical experiences of provinces and cities, and recommended a number of solutions to improve the efficiency of governance and public administration in Son La province.

Son La province needs to fully implement the task of publicising land use plans and land price frames at the communal People's Committees and on the provincial portal; apply measures to minimise shortcomings and limitations in processing applications for land use rights certificates; improve the quality of district-level public hospitals, and increase accessibility to and quality of medical services at the grassroots level.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Le Hong Minh requested agencies, units and localities to absorb the opinions of experts to propose solutions to further improve the PAPI in 2024 and the following years.