On August 28, the Party Committee of Binh Tay Ward said that it had organized the 13th (expanded) Conference of the Executive Committee of the Ward Party Committee to study, evaluate and propose plans for arranging commune-level administrative units in the area.
Binh Tay Ward was established on the basis of merging Ward 2 and Ward 9 of the old District 6, with an area of 1.05 km2 (not yet meeting the minimum standard of 5.5 km2) and a population of more than 64,000 people. This is one of the wards with the smallest area in Ho Chi Minh City but high population density.
Through comprehensive review and evaluation, 100% of delegates at the conference unanimously proposed to maintain stability in Binh Tay ward for the time being, and not to continue merging in the current period.
According to the Binh Tay Ward Party Committee, the difficulties in the operation of the current 2-level local government model mainly relate to human resources, job positions, data, infrastructure, headquarters and coordination methods.
The locality believes that these issues can be gradually resolved through resource restructuring, perfecting mechanisms, strengthening decentralization and delegation of power, and innovating governance methods. Through practical review, there is no basis to show that expanding administrative boundaries is a mandatory condition to improve management efficiency.
Besides, Binh Tay is a special urban area with high population density, associated with Binh Tay Market, Cho Lon space and commercial - service activities formed and developed from a long time ago.
With a small area but a large management volume, the locality believes that the requirement is to build a specialized governance model, allocate appropriate resources and improve the quality of service to the people, instead of simply expanding the scope of administrative boundaries.
One of the reasons emphasized by the locality is that there is currently no specific merger plan. Therefore, it is not possible to fully quantify the benefits, conversion costs, social impacts as well as the management efficiency of a new merger plan.
According to the Binh Tay Ward Party Committee, in the condition that there is no specific plan for assessment, maintaining territorial stability in the current period will create conditions for the locality to focus on consolidating the organizational structure and improving operational efficiency.
Maintaining geographical stability does not mean maintaining the status quo of the apparatus. Binh Tay orients to continue to optimize resources, improve the quality of staff, strengthen decentralization and delegation of power, promote digital transformation, exploit data and improve the quality of service to the people.
According to the direction of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee on continuing to study the plan to arrange commune-level administrative units, Party committees of communes, wards, and special zones must send reports proposing plans to the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee through the Organization Committee of the City Party Committee before August 30, 2026.
The final plan will be considered and decided on policy by the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee.
To ensure objectivity, the Ho Chi Minh City Development Research Board is developing a thematic report, analyzing the current situation and proposing plans, to be completed before August 30, 2026.
After that, the Organization Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee will summarize and report to the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee, completing before September 5, 2026.
