Mozambique learns from good practices in public sector management

Dr Vitoria Dias Diogo, the minister of Public Service in Mozambique, led a seven person delegation on a study tour to Singapore and Malaysia from 11 to 22 February 2008. The visit, organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat, enabled the delegation to learn from the experiences of Singapore and Malaysia in public service management and service delivery. In this interview, conducted after the first leg of the tour in Singapore, Dr Diogo shares her impressions.

What has impressed you most during your visit?

I have been impressed by the efficiency of the public administration and its responsiveness to public needs as well as their capacity to anticipate what is best for the citizens. They also have a very strong interactive relationship between departments, allowing the different sectors to work as a whole. At the end of the day, you can see that the whole country is benefitting from this arrangement.

How important is this study tour to the work you are doing in Mozambique?

It is certainly very important because it has given us an opportunity to learn and to share our experiences with our colleagues in Singapore and to identify which areas we can learn from and adapt to our realities.

How will this study tour address your most urgent needs?

As we are now carrying out the second wave of reforms in the public sector, we think that training will be the backbone of our success. But we do not have the capacity to do this and we think that Singapore can help us. We had an opportunity to meet with executives from the Civil Service College in Singapore which is very similar to the Higher Institute of Public Administration in Mozambique. If we can twin these two institutions, and we cooperate in the area of training trainers, we are confident we will be able to build the capacity of our public sector.

What aspects of Singapore’s successful management performance system can be replicated in Mozambique?

They have a very good system for measuring performance of public sector instittions, which if adopted can increase efficiency and good delivery of public services in Mozambique.

Singapore has reduced bureacracy to a minimum. It takes not more than three days to get a passport for example. And, if you want to register a company you can do that just in a day. It is important for us to try and learn from their example and simplify procedures. This is particularly vital if you want to attract foreign investment.

What can other Commonwealth countries learn from Singapore’s experience?

Clear political guidance is very important to the development of any nation. Honesty is also vital. Every Singaporean looks at the way public officials perform and they see intergrity in them. Officials know that if they don’t perform well, it will appear in their performance evaluation in the end. Singapore also has a very good education system. Their literacy rate is 98 per cent, which is very impressive. If developing countries can invest in education, citizens will have more opportunities, and this will ultimately lead to economic growth.

Can you briefly highlight the roadmap for Mozambique over the next ten years?

The roadmap is based on a programme to reduce poverty. Education will continue to be a priority, as will healthcare, infrastructure improvement, and good governance. If we can maintain a growth rate of between 8 to 10 per cent, we will continue to move forward.

In Malaysia, the Mozambique delegation had discussions with senior government officials in various institutions including the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit, the Malaysian Institute of Integrity, the Public Service Department, INTAN- the public service training college and the Ministry of Local Government.

Commenting on the Malaysian part of the visit Dr Diogo said: “This has been very useful because there are a lot of similarities between Malaysia and Mozambique in the systems that are followed in the public service.”

The Minister added that while some issues will be followed up with the Government of Singapore and the Government of Malaysia on a bilateral basis, she requested the Commonwealth Secretariat to, among other things, facilitate a process that will enable the Civil Service College in Singapore and INTAN in Malaysia to contribute to the transformation of the Higher Institute of Public Administration to become a centre of excellence for training of senior public officials in Mozambique.

Janet Kathyola, the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Adviser responsible for Southern Africa who was with the delegation, said that the study visit is part of a broader Commonwealth Secretariat programme for strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Public Service, which is responsible for spearheading and coordinating public sector reforms in Mozambique.

Secretariat Links:

• Governance