Prime Minister sets criteria for province merger

On the afternoon of March 5, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting of the Government Party Committee Standing Committee to discuss and give opinions on the project to rearrange and reorganize administrative units at all levels and build two-level local governments in preparation for submission to competent authorities.

After listening to the report of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the opinions of delegates, the Standing Committee of the Government Party Committee agreed on a two-level local government model, namely the provincial level (including provinces and centrally-run cities) and the grassroots level.

The Government Party Committee also discussed plans to merge some provincial-level units, not organize at the district level, and merge some commune-level units.

Along with noting the criteria for merging some provinces, the Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Home Affairs and relevant agencies to soon complete the project to report to the Politburo for comments.

On February 28, the Politburo and the Secretariat issued Conclusion 127, assigning the Government Party Committee to coordinate with the Central Organization Committee, the National Assembly Party Committee, the Fatherland Front Party Committee, central mass organizations and relevant agencies to direct research, develop a project, and submit to the Politburo on merging a number of provincial-level administrative units, not organizing at the district level; continue to merge commune-level administrative units.

In merging provinces, in addition to the basis of population size and area, the Politburo and Secretariat require careful study of national master plans, regional plans, local plans, socio-economic development strategies, industry development, expanding development space, promoting comparative advantages, meeting development requirements for each locality and requirements and development orientations for the new period.

The Government Party Committee promptly asked the Politburo and the Secretariat for approval on the provincial merger project before March 9, completed the project after receiving comments, sent it to relevant parties for comments before March 12, completed the project after receiving comments, reported to the Politburo and the Secretariat before March 27 and submitted it to the Central Executive Committee (through the Central Organizing Committee) before April 7.

Vietnam currently has 63 provincial-level administrative units, 705 district-level administrative units, and 10,595 commune-level administrative units. The National Assembly Standing Committee has prescribed criteria for area, population, and number of district-level administrative units for classification. According to this regulation, there are currently 10 provinces and cities nationwide that do not meet all three criteria, and dozens of other provinces and cities that do not meet one or two criteria for area, population, or number of district-level administrative units.