After the merger, the new province will have 92 commune-level administrative units including 15 wards and 77 communes.
On the eve of the proposal to merge the two provinces of Thai Nguyen and Bac Kan, the economic picture of the two localities shows a deep difference. While Thai Nguyen has made a strong breakthrough in budget revenue and industry, Bac Kan still faces many difficulties, with a small economy and dependent mainly on the central budget.
Thai Nguyen
Thai Nguyen continues to maintain its position as a major industrial center in the North. In particular, thanks to the leading role of FDI enterprises such as Samsung, in 2023, the province's total state budget revenue will reach nearly 20,200 billion VND.
Of which, domestic revenue accounts for more than VND 17,500 billion. This figure helps Thai Nguyen rank 14th nationwide in terms of total budget revenue, and 9th if only counting domestic revenue.
By 2024, the total budget revenue of the whole province will reach VND 20,403 billion - the highest level ever - exceeding the estimate assigned by the Central Government by 26.6% and increasing by 2.5% compared to the previous year. Domestic revenue remains high, reaching VND17,590 billion, equal to 129.2% of the central estimate.
With this result, Thai Nguyen continues to maintain the 14th position nationwide in total budget revenue and is one of 15 provinces capable of self-balancing the budget, with the central regulation rate reaching 4%.
Bac Kan
In contrast to Thai Nguyen, Bac Kan is still the province with the lowest total budget revenue in the country in many years. In 2023, the province's total budget revenue will only reach 837.5 billion VND - ranked last (63/63 provinces and cities). Although it increased slightly by 1.8% compared to 2022, this figure is still much lower than the assigned estimate.
In 2024, Bac Kan's total budget revenue will reach VND 930.3 billion, domestic revenue will be VND 864 billion, up 3.1% over the previous year. However, the province still holds the bottom position in the national budget revenue ranking, reflecting the limited economic scale and great dependence on central budget subsidies.
The large difference between the two provinces poses a significant challenge in the merger process, especially in financial and budgetary management.
