Some remaining issues and limitations in the organization of administrative units in recent times according to the Report of the Ministry of Home Affairs of Vietnam

Some remaining issues and limitations in the organization of administrative units in recent times according to the Report of the Ministry of Home Affairs of Vietnam​ (Image from the internet)

On December 31, 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs of Vietnam issued Report 8677/BC-BNV regarding the status and results of the implementation of arranging district-level and commune-level administrative units for the period 2023-2025, as of December 31, 2024.

Some remaining issues and limitations in the organization of administrative units in recent times according to the Report of the Ministry of Home Affairs of Vietnam

The Ministry of Home Affairs of Vietnam highlighted several issues and limitations in the arrangement of district and commune-level administrative units as follows:

- Some instances of arranging rural administrative units into urban areas encountered difficulties regarding planning and reviewing urban criteria as per regulations, hence had to be excluded from the local comprehensive Scheme files (such as in Thua Thien Hue, Lang Son, Yen Bai, Thai Nguyen, Binh Thuan, Binh Dinh provinces, and Hanoi city, etc.).

- Some localities have not been decisive in the implementation process, failing to submit proposal dossiers on schedule as required by the set plan. Some localities developed Comprehensive Plans but subsequently left a significant number of district and commune-level administrative units unarranged during 2023–2025 (for instance, Thanh Hoa province proposed not to rearrange 01 district-level and 126 commune-level administrative units; Phu Tho province proposed not to rearrange 40 commune-level units, Ha Tinh province proposed not to rearrange 01 district-level and 21 commune-level units, or Lai Chau province, which developed a Comprehensive Plan for rearranging 03 district-level and 02 commune-level units, later proposed not to proceed with the arrangement).

- The number of newly formed district and commune-level administrative units after rearrangement that did not meet the standards as per regulations remains quite high (02/28 district-level and 185/615 commune-level units).

Results of the arrangement of administrative units in 51 locations in Vietnam during the period 2023 – 2025

According to Report 8677/BC-BNV from 2024, as of November 30, 2024, the National Assembly issued 01 Resolution, and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly issued 51 Resolutions regarding the arrangement of district-level and commune-level administrative units for the period 2023-2025 in 51 provinces and centrally-run cities.

Regarding the results of arrangement and establishment of administrative units at various levels during 2023-2025, as reported for 51 localities:

* Provincial Level: 01 new centrally-run city was established (City of Hue).

* District Level: 37 units were rearranged, including 07 units in the mandatory rearrangement category, 14 encouraged for rearrangement, 10 contiguous units, and 06 units established in their previous state). After the rearrangement, the number of district-level administrative units was reduced by 09.

* Commune Level: 1,178 units underwent rearrangement (664 in the mandatory category, 134 encouraged for rearrangement, 298 contiguous units, and 82 units established in their previous state). There was a reduction of 563 commune-level administrative units after the rearrangement.

Number of officials and public employees in locations after merger and dissolution in Vietnam

According to Article 11 of Resolution 35/2023/UBTVQH15, regulations concerning the number of leaders, managers, officials, and public employees of agencies and organizations after arranging district-level and commune-level administrative units are as follows:

(i) When developing proposals for arranging district-level and commune-level administrative units, provincial-level People's Committees must direct a review and plan the allocation of tasks for officials and public employees appropriate to job positions, clearly determining the surplus number of staff in association with streamlining the workforce; arrange the number of leaders and managers in new agencies and organizations, and the surplus officials and public employees must follow a timeline suitable to the specifics of each locality and the timeframe specified at (iii).

(ii) The provincial-level People's Committees shall decide on the list and number of job positions and continue to streamline staff, restructure the team of officials and public employees in accordance with party resolutions, legal regulations, and in line with the actual situation of the locality.

(iii) No later than 5 years from the effective date of the resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for arranging each administrative unit, the number of leaders, managers, and the number of officials and public employees in agencies and organizations in the arranged administrative units must comply with regulations. In special cases, report to the Ministry of Home Affairs for submission to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

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