Government at a Glance Southeast Asia 2019 is the first edition in the Government at a Glance series for the region. It provides the latest available data on public administrations in the 10 ASEAN member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. For more information see http://www.oecd.org/gov/government-at-a-glance-southeast-asia-2018-9789264305915-en.htm

1. PUBLIC FINANCES PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT GENDER EQUALITY TRANSPARENCY
HRM DIGITAL GOVERNMENT OPEN GOVERNMENT CITIZEN SATISFACTION
The public finances of SEA countries are improving, but
there are wide variations.
Fiscal deficits, on average, dropped to 1.79% of GDP
in 2016, compared to 2.73% in 2009, although still
higher than in 2007 (0.19%). Fiscal balances ranged
from a deficit of 21.5% to a surplus of 3.3% in 2016.
Government debt across SEA countries also varies
significantly, from a high of 107% to a low of 3% in
2016; between 2007 and 2016 debt increased in six
out of 10 SEA countries.
Public sectors in the SEA region are relatively small.
In 2016, public employment in the SEA region repre-
sented on average 15% of total employment,
compared to 21% for OECD countries. SEA govern-
ment expenditures were 20% of GDP, but 40.6% for
the OECD.
Overall, women are well represented in the public sector,
but face significant barriers in reaching senior leadership
positions; women’s political representation in
parliament and in ministerial positions could also be
improved.
On average, 10% of ministerial posts were filled by
women in 2017, compared to 28% in OECD countries.
On average, women held 20% of parliamentary seats
in SEA countries in 2018, only 1.7 percentage points
higher than in 2008.
To strengthen fiscal frameworks, SEA countries should
reinforce medium-term expenditure planning and make
budget information more widely available.
Two-thirds of SEA countries have established
medium-term expenditure frameworks (MTEF)
(compared to 91% of OECD countries). In Indonesia
and Thailand the MTEF is enshrined in law while for
most SEA countries they are part of a strategy or
policy.
SEA countries operate more centralised human resources
management (HRM) practices than OECD countries.
On average, SEA countries are less likely to delegate
HRM to line departments and managers than OECD
countries. All countries use employee performance
evaluations. Some countries link performance to pay,
particularly for members of the senior civil service
(SCS), who are managed under different employment
frameworks in most SEA countries.
All SEA countries have digital government strategies,
but they are largely limited to general public services
(e.g. permits, licences, certificates).
SEA countries should broaden the scope of digital
strategies to other areas of the public sector. Digital
identification mechanisms, integrated with a national
online portal for public services, can give citizens
better access to services. Currently, seven of the ten
SEA countries have a digital identification mecha-
nism.
SEA countries have begun laying the foundations for
open government, but challenges remain.
Only three countries in the SEA region currently have
a “freedom of information” law. Furthermore, only
four SEA countries have formal requirements for all
public sector organisations to make their data open
by default. Half of the countries surveyed monitor
and evaluate the impact of open government
initiatives.
Citizens in Southeast Asia report relatively high
satisfaction with public service quality based on
available Gallup polling data.
While these data have their limitations it is the only
international dataset that covers at regular intervals a
wide range of countries both OECD and SEA ones,
however there are considerable differences among
SEA countries. For example, 93% of citizens in Singa-
pore are satisfied with the quality and availability of
health care, but only 62% in Vietnam.
General government fiscal balance as a percentage of GDP, 2007, 2009, 2016 and 2017
Sources: Data for SEA countries: IMF, World Economic Outlook database (IMF WEO) (April 2018).
Data for the OECD countries: OECD National Accounts Statistics (database)
Employment in public sector as a percentage of total employment, 2009 and 2016
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
BRN LAO MYS SEA VNM THA IDN PHL MMR OECD KOR JPN
2016 2009%
Source: International Labour Organization (ILO) ILOSTAT (database), Employment by sex and institutional sector.
Data for Korea were provided by national authorities.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
IDN PHL THA SEA KHM MYS LAO SGP MMR VNM BRN OECD NZL AUS JPN KOR
2017 2014 2008
%
Share of women ministers, 2008, 2014 and 2017
Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) "Women in Politics", 2017, 2014 and 2008.
BRN
LAO
IDN
KHM
MMR
MYS
PHL
SGP
THA
VNM
No / not
applicable
20%
Yes
80%
Publication of citizens’ budget, 2018
Source: 2015 OECD Survey on Budget Practices and Procedures for Asian Countries, updated in 2018.
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
PHLVNM THA IDN KHM SGP LAO BRN MYS AUS NZL JPN KOR
SEA OECDHigh level ofdelega�on
Low level ofdelega�on
Extent of delegation of HRM practices in line ministries in central government, 2018
Sources: For SEA countries, OECD (2018) Strategic Human Resources Management Survey.
For OECD countries, OECD (2016) Strategic Human Resources Management Survey.
Existence of a legally recognised digital identification mechanism, 2018
Source: OECD (2018) Digital Government Performance Survey.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
IDN MYS THA SGP PHL SEA BRN KHM VNM KOR JPN AUS NZL OECD
Data availability Data accessibility Government support to the reuse
Open-Useful-Reusable Government Data (OURdata) Index, 2018
Sources: For SEA countries, OECD (2018) Open Government Data Survey. For OECD countries, OECD (2017) Open Government Data Survey.
Citizen satisfaction with the health care system, 2007 and 2017
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
SGP THA KHM PHL SEA IDN MYS MMR LAO VNM OECD AUS NZL JPN KOR
% 2017 2007
Source: Gallup World Poll (database).
Southeast Asia (SEA) is one of the most dynamic regions in the world today. Rapidly evolving economies and societies, however, present new challenges for governments. For
example, citizens and businesses alike have higher expectations: better and more efficient services delivered through both traditional and digital channels, greater transparency, and
more inclusive decision-making processes.
SEA and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries share the objective of delivering good quality services to citizens within a sound
fiscal framework. The starting point for improving public sector effectiveness is to accurately benchmark government activity and performance.
These data and indicators allow countries to compare their performance to each other, to the regional average, to key OECD neighbouring countries, and to the OECD average. Such
comparisons contribute to a robust assessment of public sector reforms in the region and provide good practices for future actions.
BRN
IDN
MYS
PHL
SGPTHA
VNM
KHM
LAO
MMR
Yes70%
No 30%
-22
-16
-12
-8
-4
0
4
8
12
BRN VNM LAO MYS MMR IDN SEA KHM PHL THA SGP OECD JPN AUS NZL KOR
2016 2009 2007 2017