On August 25, the Hoa Binh Ward Party Committee said that it had organized an expanded Conference of the Ward Party Committee Executive Committee to evaluate activities after the operation of the 2-level local government model and give opinions on the plan to arrange administrative units in the coming time.
Hoa Binh Ward was established from Ward 5 and Ward 14 of the old District 11, with an area of only 0.98 km2 (only reaching 17.8% of the minimum standard of 5.5 km2), currently the ward with the smallest area in Ho Chi Minh City. The ward's population is nearly 70,000 people.
At the conference, delegates said that the arrangement of administrative units needs to be considered simultaneously between legal criteria and actual conditions. If continuing to merge with adjacent areas to ensure the criteria of area and population size of the new unit will increase very much, leading to pressure on urban management, organizational structure, technical infrastructure and administrative procedure settlement.
Delegates also said that in the context of increasingly high requirements for digital transformation, data management and improving the quality of people's services, continuing to adjust boundaries may cause disruption, while the local apparatus is still in the process of consolidation and completion.
Based on discussions, the Executive Committee of the Hoa Binh Ward Party Committee unanimously proposed to maintain the status quo and not merge in the current period.
Not only Hoa Binh, but Binh Thoi and Phu Tho wards, both established from wards in the old District 11, also did not meet the standards for area but organized conferences and agreed to propose not to continue merging.
Phu Tho ward has an area of about 1.38 km2, with a population of more than 65,000 people. According to the locality, from July 2025 to now, the ward is focusing on consolidating its organization, receiving tasks and gradually stabilizing the apparatus. Continuing to adjust boundaries in a short time may generate an additional arrangement cycle, affecting the operation process.
The ward believes that, with a convenient location, connected transportation, developed trade - services and large population, the locality still has room for development in the existing space. Maintaining stable boundaries will help the ward proactively manage planning, investment, and limit the disruption of records, data, public assets and programs being implemented.
In the context of the new apparatus gradually stabilizing, Phu Tho ward believes that more time is needed to assess operational efficiency, overcome bottlenecks and focus resources on development instead of continuing to adjust boundaries.
Binh Thoi ward has an area of 1.52 km2, with a population of more than 76,000 people. Opinions at the Binh Thoi ward conference unanimously agreed that maintaining territorial stability in the current period will help the locality continue to consolidate the apparatus, focus resources on socio-economic development, administrative reform, digital transformation and care for people's lives.
The voting results showed that 100% of delegates unanimously proposed not to merge Binh Thoi ward in the current period.
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.
