After arrangement, there are currently 34 provincial-level administrative units (UAs) nationwide; 3,321 commune-level UAs including 2,621 communes, 687 wards and 13 special zones. Currently, there are 705 commune-level UAs nationwide that do not meet standards.
Based on summarizing the opinions of localities, the Government Party Committee has reported to the Central Steering Committee and the Politburo on the arrangement, adjustment, and reorganization of commune-level administrative units.
In Hanoi, from July 1, 2025, when implementing the 2-level local government model, the city has 126 communes and wards; reducing 400 commune-level administrative units.
Hanoi City is concretizing the Central Government's orientation related to reviewing and adjusting the administrative boundaries of communes and wards that have not met the criteria and standards after one year of implementing the 2-level local government model.
Currently, according to the city's direction, the Department of Home Affairs is continuing to review and evaluate the criteria to ensure that the arrangement of communes and wards is in accordance with the Central Government's policy and in accordance with the specific characteristics of Hanoi City.
Also in the near future, Hanoi will build and pilot the model of "socialist communes and wards" in the city.
In Quang Tri province, through local review, there are 9 communes with areas and populations that do not meet regulations. Some places have fragmented and scattered areas, small administrative boundaries, which limit development space, lack of synchronization in planning, regional linkage and connection of technical infrastructure and social infrastructure.
Quang Tri proposed to continue to arrange and streamline the organization, complete the apparatus, and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the political system's operations.
The locality proposed that the Central Government, the Politburo, and the Secretariat allow the implementation of arranging commune-level administrative units, especially communes that do not meet the standards for area and population, in order to expand development space, concentrate investment resources, and synchronize regional and local planning.
In Dong Nai City, after the merger, the province has arranged 270 communes down to 95 communes and wards, reducing 175 units. Dong Nai Department of Home Affairs proposed a comprehensive assessment of the appropriateness of the communes after the arrangement to have directions for adjusting administrative boundaries and merging.
Continuing to complete commune-level administrative units will contribute to expanding development space, effectively using resources, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of grassroots government activities; and at the same time ensuring implementation according to a suitable roadmap, creating consensus among the people and maintaining socio-political stability.
According to the preliminary report on one year of implementing the 2-level local government model, Thanh Hoa is still the locality with the second largest number of commune-level administrative units in the country. Many communes are small in scale, with distributed resources, affecting planning, investment attraction and staff arrangement.
Therefore, Thanh Hoa province is one of the localities that proposed to the Central Government to continue to allow the arrangement of commune-level administrative units.
Regarding commune-level administrative units that do not meet standards, Mr. Phan Trung Tuan - Director of the Department of Local Government (Ministry of Home Affairs) said that many localities fall into "special cases" related to borders, remote areas, remote areas, complex terrain, with historical, traditional, cultural factors...
Therefore, many units may not continue to be arranged as in the 2023-2025 period. The remaining small units, with natural area standards and population size not meeting standards, can proactively study adjustments to increase scale compared to regulations.
When the Central Government has a conclusion, the Government or the Ministry of Home Affairs has instructions for implementation, and localities proactively propose plans. The initial spirit of the Central Government is not to implement simultaneous arrangement but to propose specific cases depending on the conditions and specific characteristics of each area and each locality.
