No further mergers of provincial, commune-level units planned: official

No plans are in place for further rearrangement or merger of provinces, cities or commune-level administrative units, an official from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) confirmed at the Government’s regular press briefing on March 4.

Phan Trung Tuan, Director of the ministry's Department of Local Government, dismissed recent rumours circulating on social media platforms such as Facebook and TikTok about possible administrative restructuring in the near term, responding to a question from a reporter of the Vietnam News Agency.

He said some posts even included images of what was purported to be an official document signed by a Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and sent to the Ministry of National Defence, accompanied by an appendix on a plan to reduce the current 34 provinces and cities to 16.

Tuan stressed that the restructuring and reorganisation of the political system’s apparatus from the central to grassroots levels in 2025 represent a strategic step of historic significance in Vietnam’s development process.

The reform reduced the number of provinces and cities from 63 to 34, while reorganising commune-level administrative units and completely abolishing district-level administrative units, he elaborated, noting that the Party Central Committee, the National Assembly, and the Government carefully weighed the restructuring to ensure the long-term stability of the administrative system.

“The Party and the Government convened five meetings, while the Politburo and the Secretariat reviewed the matter three times before submitting it to the Party Central Committee, leading to the issuance of Resolution No. 60-NQ/TW on implementing the two-tier local administration model in association with the reorganisation of administrative units at all levels nationwide,” Tuan said.

At present, Vietnam has 34 provinces and cities and 3,321 commune-level administrative units, including communes, wards and special administrative zones, he added.

The two-tier local administration model officially came into operation on July 1, 2025. After eight months of implementation, the political system from the central to grassroots levels has been focusing on improving institutions and addressing obstacles to ensure the apparatus operates effectively, smoothly, and remains close to the people, and delivers better public services.

Tuan reaffirmed that the Party, the State, the NA and the Government currently have no policy to reorganise or merge provincial- and commune-level administrative units nationwide.

The official further said that at its 52nd session in late 2025, the NA Standing Committee adopted two resolutions on criteria for classifying administrative units and urban areas to support the operation of the two-tier local administration model. At the same session, NA Vice Chairman Nguyen Khac Dinh also confirmed that the Party and the State have not adopted any policy to reorganise, merge or split administrative units in the years ahead.

According to Tuan, the development and refinement of the institutional framework aim to concretise the Law on Organisation of Local Governments and relevant laws, meeting the requirements of the organisation of two-tier local administrations and the nation’s development needs, improving the efficiency of local governance, and enhancing the quality of service to the people./.