The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Home Affairs is seeking opinions on the draft Resolution of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council stipulating the number, establishment, reorganization, dissolution of specialized agencies and other administrative organizations under the management scope of the City.
This is to concretize the Law on Urban Development, which takes effect from October 1, 2026.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Home Affairs, the arrangement of the entire natural area and population size of Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province and Binh Duong province into Ho Chi Minh City has formed a new development space, large-scale and diverse.
The new space includes the central urban area, industrial parks, new urban areas, coastal areas and island areas such as Con Dao special zone, Thanh An island commune.
With a population of more than 14 million people, large area and wide management scope, the tasks of state management, public service provision and development requirements of Ho Chi Minh City are increasingly diverse, complex, and highly inter-sectoral and inter-regional.
According to the Department of Home Affairs, this poses a requirement for a more suitable organizational structure for each field, area and management characteristics of the new City.
After the merger, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has implemented the arrangement and consolidation of provincial-level specialized agencies according to the direction of the Central Government.
From 43 specialized agencies of 3 localities before the merger, the apparatus currently has 15 specialized agencies and 1 specialized agency being piloted for establishment under Resolution 98/2023/QH15.
These 16 agencies include: Office of the City People's Committee, City Inspectorate, Department of Justice, Department of Finance, Department of Home Affairs, Department of Construction, Department of Agriculture and Environment, Department of Education and Training, Department of Health, Department of Industry and Trade, Department of Culture and Sports, Department of Religious Affairs and Ethnic Minorities, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Tourism, Department of Planning and Architecture, Department of Food Safety.
For other administrative agencies under the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the number is also streamlined from 6 to 4 agencies.
At the commune level, 3 professional departments are organized, including the Department of Economy - Infrastructure, Urban; Department of Culture - Society; Office of People's Council - People's Committee and 1 Public Administrative Service Center. Thanh An commune alone did not establish a professional department at the time of arrangement.
From the current situation of the organizational structure after the merger, the draft Resolution proposes that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee be organized with no more than 18 specialized agencies.
In addition to specialized agencies, the draft also proposes that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee be allowed to organize no more than 5 administrative organizations.
At the commune level, the commune-level People's Committee is organized with 5 administrative organizations, including professional departments and the Public Administration Service Center.
