The whole country is expected to have 5,000 communes and wards remaining.

This information was provided by a representative of the Ministry of Interior on the afternoon of April 1st. The draft was finalized to institutionalize the policies of the Politburo and the Secretariat, and to create a legal basis for the rearrangement and reorganization of administrative units at all levels.

Central square of Ha Tinh city, March 2025.

Compared to the initial draft, the criteria for reorganizing commune-level administrative units have been adjusted to align with directives from higher authorities and the current situation. Accordingly, the reorganization of administrative units at all levels will be based on criteria related to natural area and population size. Simultaneously, relevant agencies will consider historical, traditional, cultural, and ethnic factors; geographical location and conditions; scale and level of socio-economic development; transportation and information technology infrastructure; as well as ensuring national defense, security, and international integration.

Representatives from the Ministry of Interior emphasized that the reorganization of administrative units at all levels is not simply about adjusting administrative boundaries and streamlining the apparatus, but also about adjusting economic space, decentralization, allocation, and integration of economic resources. The larger goal is to expand development space, create a foundation and momentum for the country in line with long-term strategic goals and visions, consistent with global realities and development trends.

Two days ago in Da Nang, General Secretary To Lam announced that the Central Committee would meet in early April to discuss options for streamlining the administrative apparatus. "Initially, it is projected that the country will have approximately 34 provinces and cities based on the reorganization of the current 63 provinces and cities; the operation of district-level administrative units will be terminated; and approximately 5,000 commune and ward-level administrative units will be merged," the General Secretary stated.

The latest plan for merging communes and wards has undergone significant changes compared to previous projections. Last week, the draft Resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee proposed reorganizing 9,996 out of a total of 10,035 commune-level administrative units to reduce the number to below 3,000.

According to the draft dated March 23rd, communes and wards with an area or population below 300% of the standard will be merged. However, this standard is not mandatory for mergers of four or more units. The goal is to reduce the number of commune-level units by 70-75%, creating a foundation for reorganizing local government into a two-tier model (province - commune), instead of the current three-tier model (province - district - commune).

The merger of communes will be carried out on the principle of maintaining the status quo of existing administrative units and may involve merging communes from one district into communes from another. Communes merged with other communes will continue to be called communes, and communes merged with wards will continue to be called wards. Local authorities will proactively choose the new names, but the central government encourages naming them after the district-level units before the reorganization, accompanied by a sequential number for convenience in digitizing and updating data.

According to VnExpress

Source: https://baobacgiang.vn/ca-nuoc-du-kien-con-5-000-xa-phuong-postid415275.bbg