The 4th training in Japan for Director-General to Deputy Director-level Local Leaders

From April 13 to 24, 2025, 12 days training program was conducted in Tokyo and Tochigi prefecture for 19 leaders at the Director-General and Deputy Director General level from local government offices.

The training was planned and implemented by the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). In addition to the three pillars of good governance, modernization of industrial and economic structure, and leadership and management, the program also covered topics of great interest to participants, such as Japan's local autonomy and financial systems, the civil service system including personnel and evaluation, population issues, and promoting digital transformation (DX) at the local government level.

Vietnam is currently undergoing an unprecedented scale of mergers and restructuring of central and local government organizations, as well as local administrative units. GRIPS Vice President Takada, who oversees this training, organized lectures, discussions, and site visits that incorporated many specific examples of administrative reform based on Japan's experience. In particular, many questions were raised about the knowledge gained in the process of decentralization in Japan, which participants found highly relevant to the challenges they face in their daily work.

In Tochigi prefecture, after a courtesy call on the Vice Governor, the participants learned about the prefecture's personnel and financial systems. In Utsunomiya City, which aims to become a "Super Smart City," several initiatives utilizing DX and artificial intelligence (AI) were introduced. As Vietnam is promoting DX nationwide, the cases such as one project that successfully reduced working hours to one-tenth through DX served as very useful reference.

In the post-training survey, many participants gave positive feedback, stating that they had gained numerous useful hints for improving their work after returning to Vietnam.