The whole country currently has 705 commune-level administrative units that have not met the standards. Of which, 17 units have not met both standards for area and population, 529 units have not met the area standard and 159 units have not met the population standard.
At the conference to summarize the work in the first 6 months of the year and deploy key tasks for the last 6 months of 2026 of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Director of the Department of Local Government (Ministry of Home Affairs) Phan Trung Tuan said that there will be special cases related to borders, remote areas, remote areas, complex terrain, with historical, traditional, and cultural factors.
Therefore, there are many units in the above list that may not be in the case of arrangement as in the 2023-2025 period. For the remaining small units that do not meet the standards of natural area and population size, localities can proactively study adjustments according to regulations," Mr. Tuan emphasized.
After the Central Government has a conclusion, the Government or the Ministry of Home Affairs will have guidance on implementation, and localities will proactively propose.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Dr. Doan Van Tinh - Deputy Head of the Faculty of Human Resource Management, Academy of Public Administration and Management (Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics) assessed: The shift in thinking from synchronous arrangement to decentralization and authorization for localities to proactively propose plans to adjust commune-level administrative units is an important step forward in both theory and practice.
He believes that this policy decision is not simply a manipulation to adjust administrative boundaries, but in fact a process of expanding development space and optimizing local governance capacity. This brings benefits but also poses many challenges to be solved.
In terms of benefits, proactiveness helps localities closely follow overall planning, natural conditions, population size and cultural and historical characteristics to design a suitable management space. This approach helps avoid forced mergers, limits the risk of dividing economic space or affecting sustainable community lifestyle" - he said.
At the same time, according to Mr. Tinh, the Party Committee and local authorities are the places that best understand the advantages as well as bottlenecks of the area. When empowered, the locality will better promote the spirit of self-reliance and responsibility to the people.
More importantly, starting from the actual needs of the grassroots level will help the process of collecting people's opinions become substantive, creating consensus and proactive companionship from the people.
Besides the benefits, Dr. Doan Van Tinh believes that this approach also poses significant challenges.
If there is a lack of specific guidance and appropriate control mechanisms, localities may develop a psychology of hesitation, avoiding arrangement, or vice versa, proposing without careful consideration.
In addition, when the pressure of appraisal and project development falls on localities, both provincial and commune levels must improve their capacity to analyze data and assess multi-dimensional impacts on economy, society, national defense, security and culture.
Finally, not implementing it simultaneously requires the Government and the Ministry of Home Affairs to soon issue a set of clear framework guiding criteria, based on transparent data, ensuring uniformity nationwide.
