The whole country currently has 705 commune-level administrative units (UAs) 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.
However, the Central Government does not raise the issue of rearranging or adjusting the administrative boundaries of communes, because basically the entire system is operating stably and effectively.
Localities that find it truly necessary to adjust, based on the Party's guidelines, the State's laws, planning, management practices and the legitimate aspirations of the people, should propose to competent authorities to decide.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee has just sent a document to the Party Committee of the City People's Committee, Party Committees of communes, wards, special zones, the City Development Research Board, the City Party Committee's Organization Board and the City Party Committee Office on continuing to study the plan to arrange commune-level administrative units in the area.
If it is deemed really necessary to adjust, localities are required to develop plans based on science, prudence, ensuring social consensus, unity between relevant administrative units and in accordance with practical requirements.
Communes, wards, and special zones must send results reports to the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee, through the Organization Committee of the City Party Committee, before August 30, 2026.
In Hai Phong, the whole city has only 9 communes and wards after the merger that do not meet the standards for area and 1 ward that does not meet the standards for population size (excluding Bach Long Vy special zone due to its characteristics).
Hai Phong's policy is not to have major changes in the administrative boundaries of communes.
Discussing this content, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son - Specialized Member of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Society - said that because the conditions of each locality are very different, the continued arrangement cannot only be based on criteria on area and population size.
According to the delegate, currently a set of criteria cannot be applied to all areas. Because some mountainous communes have a small population but a large area, difficult transportation and dispersed population.
If mergers are only to meet population or area standards, people may have to travel further to resolve administrative procedures, the government will have to stick closer to the grassroots level, and public services will also be more difficult to access. At that time, "meeting standards" in terms of data may reduce management efficiency in practice.
According to the delegate, the most important thing is to shift thinking from administrative boundaries arrangement to building grassroots governance capacity. The first thing is to avoid mechanical thinking in administrative unit organizations.
Therefore, the next rearrangement should not only be seen as a step to further improve the standards on area and population. More importantly, it is necessary to create administrative units with better management capacity, meeting development requirements in the new stage.
After more than 1 year of implementing the two-level local government model, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son said that the biggest lesson is that administrative organization must go hand in hand with governance innovation.
If we only reduce focal points without improving operational capacity, not improving service quality, not clearly defining responsibilities, and not allocating enough resources to grassroots levels, then the goal of streamlining will not be able to be converted into real efficiency.
When the commune level is stronger, closer to the people, understands the people better, and serves the people better, the organizational reform of the apparatus will truly go deeper. The ultimate meaning of arrangement is not only to make the administrative map more compact, but also to make people's lives better and the country's development capacity more sustainable.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son said that along with continuing to arrange administrative units, special attention should be paid to the quality of the commune-level cadre team. Personnel arrangement cannot just be "mechanical integration" of the old team into the new unit, but must be based on the capacity, strengths, qualities and adaptability of each cadre.
