As part of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

's 2024–2025 Institutional Reforms, the governing Communist Party and

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

have officially announced the Plan to Arrange and Merge Administrative Units (). As part of the re-organisation, the district level of units is to be eliminated and the number of local government units at the provincial and communal levels is to be reduced by around 50% each. A

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment (or constitutional alteration) is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly alt ...

will be required to eliminate the district level of local authorities. Therefore, it is even considered to be the transition period to revise the Vietnamese constitution and legal system.

Background

Starting on 5 November 2024, state media began announcing major structural reforms of the bureaucracy. On that date, the Communist Review, an official publication of the

Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of North Vietnam in 1954 and then all of Vietnam after the col ...

, published an article titled ''Tinh – Gọn – Mạnh – Hiệu năng – Hiệu lực – Hiệu quả'' (roughly translated as ''Sharp, compact, strong ; High-performance, effective, efficient'') credited to

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

Tô Lâm Tô Lâm (; born 10 July 1957) is a Vietnamese politician and former police officer who has served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) since August 2024 and the 13th p ...

, in which he proclaimed the general strategic direction of the upcoming reforms. Billed as "''a revolution in streamlining the apparatus of the political system''" (), the reform aims to remove overlapping areas of responsibility between different agencies and levels of government, distinguishing between levels of government responsible for the formulation and implementation of policy, and reassessing public sector employees in number and quality based on measurables. Particularly pertinent to the organisation of local government is the slogan "''Locals decide, locals do, locals take responsibility''" (). In December 2024, plans were announced to merge several ministries and ministry-level agencies, with provinces following suit in merging their corresponding provincial-level departments. These reforms were enacted into law by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

in February 2025 and came into force in March of the same year. As late as mid-February, the Minister of Home Affairs denied plans for provincial mergers, with the National Assembly continuing to debate changes to the ''Law on the organisation of local government'' without any consideration of eliminating the district level. Discussion revolved mainly around the elimination or retention of commune-level people's councils. The rural-district level was only due to be abolished for the

police forces The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citize ...

. On 19 February, state media began announcing that the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

had requested the consideration of eliminating the rural-district level of government and merging "some" provinces.

Progress

Phase 1

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs has proposed merging districts that do not meet the criteria for area and

demography Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examine ...

. On February 18, 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued Decision 73/QĐ–BNV regarding the ''Program of practicing thrift and combating wastefulness by the Ministry of Home Affairs for 2025''. However, just before the start of the 2025 New Year holidays, the top state bodies announced the first program of

reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

s. The campaign began with the merger or dissolution of a series of state agencies, which were considered inefficient and wasteful of budget funds. This has led to the dismissal of thousands of government employees who failed to meet work performance standards. In addition, the arrangement and merger at the provincial-level also takes into account geographical conditions, socio-economic level, and infrastructure. On February 21, the

Government of Vietnam The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (; less formally the Vietnamese Government or the Government of Vietnam, ) is the Cabinet (government), cabinet and the central Executive (government), executive arm of the Politics of Vietn ...

issued ''Declaration on Vietnam's baselines in the Gulf of Tonkin'' and immediately submitted to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

a depository copy of the nautical chart and coordinates of the baselines in the

Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin ( northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern co ...

. The event, although causing outrage in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, is seen as a stepping stone for efforts to reform

's already troubled

administrative unit Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

system.

Phase 2

After the 2025

Lunar New Year Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendar years begin with a new moon and have a fixed number of lunar months, usually twelve, in contrast to lunisolar calendar ye ...

, on February 22, with Concludes 126 and 127, the Politburo and the Central Secretariat announced a number of proposals on merging

s. Among them, the plan for a government with only three levels has received high consensus. Six days later, the Politburo and the Secretariat officially announced the policy of eliminating

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

s (huyện), then merging communes (xã) and finally merging

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

s (tỉnh). In response to this directive, localities were required to suspend all

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

s and not build new government buildings to save

budget A budget is a calculation plan, usually but not always financial plan, financial, for a defined accounting period, period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including tim ...

. Under this criterion, the number of communes and provinces in

will begin to be reduced by 1/5 (commune) to 1/2 (province), with completion by May 2025 at the latest. From March 7 to 17, 2025, the

and the Fatherland Front gradually announced plans to cut personnel and eliminate ineffective agencies in localities. The implementation must ensure caution, thoroughness and quality. It also stated to be focusing on receiving the opinions from the Politburo at the meeting on March 7, 2025, completing the submission and project for arrangement and reorganization of

s at all levels and building a model for organizing local

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

s to ensure adequate political, legal basis and praxis in implementing. However, this move was criticized by many domestic and international

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

outlets for the lack of transparency of the apparatus, because the people's voice was not respected. On March 14, 2025, the Politburo and the

began a meeting, which is said to be the longest in its history, lasting until May. This event was to prepare for the announcement of the official list of

s invited after the arrangement and merger. According to a statement by Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính to the press on March 11, 2025, the deadline for this reform is August 30 so that by September 1, the new

s will be operational. Based on Resolution 1211 in 2016 by the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Ministry of Home Affairs officially announced the list of province-level administrative units subject to merging because they did not meet population, economic and infrastructural standards in the morning of March 26, 2025.Danh sách 52 tỉnh đề xuất sáp nhập theo tiêu chí mới
(vi) In addition, the government also encouraged provinces to name new communes in order number. *11 localities are kept the same:

Hà Nội Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

Lai Châu Lai Châu () is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital city of Lai Châu Province. The city borders Phong Thổ District, Sìn Hồ District và Tam Đường District. History Lai Châu, or Muang Lay (Vietnamese: M� ...

, Điện Biên,

Sơn La Sơn La (; Tai Dam: ) is a city in the north-west region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Sơn La Province. It is bordered by Thuận Châu District, Mường La District, and Mai Sơn District. History In the era of the Sip Hoc Chau Tai, ...

Cao Bằng Cao Bằng () is a city in northern Vietnam. It is the capital and largest settlement of Cao Bằng Province. It is located on the bank of the Bằng Giang river, and is around away from the border with China's Guangxi region. According to the 2 ...

Lạng Sơn Lạng Sơn () is a city in far Northern Vietnam, and the capital of Lạng Sơn Province. It is accessible by road and rail from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, and it is the northernmost point on National Route 1. History Due to its geograph ...

, Quảng Ninh,

Thanh Hóa Thanh Hóa () is the capital of Thanh Hóa Province. The city is situated in the east of the province on the Ma River (Sông Mã), about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of capital Hanoi and 1560 kilometers (969 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh Cit ...

, Nghệ An,

Hà Tĩnh Hà Tĩnh () is a city in Vietnam.Atlas of the World', Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 236. It is the capital of Hà Tĩnh Province, and lies in the North Central Coast region. It is located on National Highway 1A. The Vietnamese capital Han ...

. *52 localities must be arranged: Hải Phòng, Hồ Chí Minh, Đà Nẵng, Cần Thơ, Hà Nam, Hưng Yên, Vĩnh Phúc, Bắc Ninh, Thái Bình, Hải Dương, Nam Định, Ninh Bình, Bắc Kạn, Thái Nguyên, Phú Thọ, Bắc Giang, Hòa Bình, Tuyên Quang, Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Hà Giang, Ninh Thuận, Quảng Trị, Phú Yên, Quảng Bình, Quảng Ngãi, Khánh Hòa, Đắk Nông, Tây Ninh, Bình Dương, Bình Thuận, Bình Phước, Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu, Bến Tre, Bạc Liêu, Vĩnh Long, Hậu Giang, Trà Vinh, Tiền Giang, Sóc Trăng, Đồng Tháp, An Giang, Long An, Cà Mau, Quảng Nam, Bình Định, Đắk Lắk, Đồng Nai, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Lâm Đồng, Kiên Giang. Therefore, 34 new localities are expected: Hà Nội, Huế, Lai Châu, Điện Biên, Sơn La, Lạng Sơn, Quảng Ninh, Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Cao Bằng, Tuyên Quang, Lào Cai, Thái Nguyên, Phú Thọ, Bắc Ninh, Hưng Yên, Hải Phòng, Ninh Bình, Quảng Trị, Đà Nẵng, Quảng Ngãi, Gia Lai, Khánh Hòa, Lâm Đồng, Đắk Lắk, Hồ Chí Minh, Đồng Nai, Tây Ninh, Cần Thơ, Vĩnh Long, Đồng Tháp, Cà Mau, An Giang. Besides, 13 island districts are transformed into special zones under their respective provinces: Bạch Long Vĩ, Cát Hải, Cồn Cỏ, Côn Đảo, Cô Tô, Hoàng Sa, Lý Sơn, Kiên Hải, Phú Quốc, Phú Quý, Thổ Châu, Trường Sa, Vân Đồn. According to Resolution 60–NQ/TW on April 12, 2025, of the 11th Conference of the XIII

Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam ( Vietnamese: ''Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam''), commonly the Party Central Committee (PCC; - or ), is the highest organ between two national congresses ...

, nationwide is divided into 6 key economic regions: Northern Midlands and Mountains, Red River Delta, North-Central and Central Coastal, Western Highlands, Southeast, Mekong River Delta.

Phase 3

On April 14, 2025, Mr. Lê Minh Hùng – Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Central Organizing Committee cum Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Central Steering Committee (Steering Committee) – on the review of Resolution 18–NQ/TW (October 25, 2017 of the Communist Party Central Committee (XII term) some issues on continuing to renovate and organize the streamlined political system of the entire political system. 47–KH/BCD (Plan 47) of the Steering Committee on the arrangement and merger of the provincial and commune-level administrative units and organize the 2-level local government

system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...

. The project clearly stated the implementation of Resolution 60–NQ/TW, dated 12 April, 2025, of the XIII Communist Party Central Committee on continuing to re-organize the organizational structure of the political system. In order for the implementation to ensure the proposed schedule, achieve the streamlined, performance, effective and effective goals associated with the successful organization of the Party Congress at all levels to the XIV National Party Congress of the XIV Party, the Central Steering Committee on the review of Resolution 18 (hereinafter referred to as the Steering Committee) promulgates the ''Plan to arrange and merge the administrative unit at the provincial and commune authorities''. Plan 47 clearly stated the requirements, the Party committees, party organizations, agencies, units and heads: #Sticking to the resolutions and conclusions of the Central Executive Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat. Proactively and actively do well the work of thorough grasping, propagating, mobilizing, ideological and social public orientation, ensuring solidarity, consensus and high unity among officials, party members,

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

s, workers and people of all classes. #Focusing on directing and urgently concretizing plans according to functions, tasks and competence ; drastically implement the tasks and assign specific responsibilities in the implementation organization to ensure the completion of the plan. At the same time, ensure agencies, units and organizations before, during and after arranging continuous, smooth, effective, effective and effective operation, not to interrupt work, abandoning tasks, areas, areas and affecting normal activities of agencies, units, organizations and society. #Strong application of

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

, digital conversion to reform activities of agencies and units. Urgently digitize documents, comprehensive renovation of administrative procedures, improve the quality of online public services, digital services for people and businesses. #Strictly control the situation, ensure security and order in areas, absolutely do not let the situation of many people's complaints or arise hot and complicated spots. #Closely, timely, synchronous, effective and proactive coordination, strengthening inspection, inspection and supervision of the implementation of the tasks assigned in this plan. Praise and reward organizations and individuals effectively and strictly handle and promptly handle organizations and individuals that do not comply with or comply with regulations, fail to reach the goal of arranging and merging provincial and commune-level administrative units and organizing a 2-level local government system. #From April 16 to October 31, 2025, periodically reporting on the progress of performing tasks and projects on the Steering Committee (via the Central Organizing Committee) before 15:00 every Wednesday, for the Central Organizing Committee to synthesize, report to the Politburo and Secretariat every Friday. Also according to Plan 47, the Central Organizing Committee shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the concerned committees, agencies and units to help the Steering Committee: #Regularly monitor, firmly grasp the situation, participate in opinions (when necessary) in the process of implementing the steps to perform the tasks of the committees, agencies and units to ensure the schedule and policies of the Central Executive Committee, the Ministry of Politics, the Secretariat and the Steering Committee. #Timely adjust and supplement the contents, tasks and progress of implementation in the plan to ensure the

leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

and direction of the Politburo, the Secretariat and in accordance with the practical situation.

Influence

Since the beginning of 2023, Vietnamese public opinion has been very interested in issues that are often thought to be the secret of the

and the

, which is revealed by

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

RFA RFA may refer to: Groups, organizations * Radio Free Asia, a private news broadcaster and publisher in East Asia, funded in part by the U.S. government * Renewable Fuels Agency, a former UK renewable fuel regulatory agency * Renewable Fuels A ...

, RFI,

VOA Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American international ...

and especially ''ThoiBao.de'', a non-orthodox information channel run by Vietnamese persons in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Therefore, this general institutional reform is considered to be only aimed at eliminating district-level military agencies, which is often thought to be the main potential of the military faction (or Nghệ-Tĩnh sect) in the

. It is also part of the program to acquire power for the Hưng Yên sect before the XIV National Congress of the Vietnam Communist Party in January 2026, the event will surely determine

's most important positions in the next 10 years. *National Assembly's Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn: Chủ tịch Quốc hội Trần Thanh Mẫn: Đoàn kết, nỗ lực, bảo đảm tiến độ sắp xếp đơn vị hành chính
/ref> *Home Affairs's Minister Phạm Thị Thanh Trà: The arrangement and merger of administrative units at all levels is being implemented 'quickly' and thoroughly
/ref> *Department of Local Government's Director Phan Trung Tuấn:

Background

Progress

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Influence

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

Further reading

Bibliography

External links