# Plan for arrangement and merger of administrative units

Plan for arrangement and merger of administrative units (Vietnamese: Phương án sắp xếp và sáp nhập các đơn vị hành chính) is the most important policy in the Institutional Reform of Vietnam 2024–2025.

## Background

Starting from November 5, 2024, Vietnam's national media has announced a series of reform plans from the central to local scale, which is considered the largest since 1977. Its purpose was clearly stated in General Secretary Tô Lâm's article Tinh – Gọn – Mạnh – Hiệu năng – Hiệu lực – Hiệu quả with the expectation of an "era of rising" for the whole Vietnam. The move is said to have been made in the context of global political upheaval, which has forced Vietnamese authorities to face the risk of recession due to corruption and institutional bloat by BBC.

## History

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs has proposed merging districts that do not meet the criteria for area and demography. In particular, on February 18, 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued Decision 73/QĐ-BNV regarding the Program of practicing thrift and combating wastefulness by the Ministry of Home Affairs for the year 2025. However, just before the start of the 2025 Christian New Year holidays, the top state bodies announced the first program of reforms. The campaign began with the merger or dissolution of a series of state agencies, which were considered inefficient and wasteful of budget funds. This has led to the dismissal of thousands of office workers who failed to meet work performance standards. In addition to the criteria on natural area and demography size, the arrangement and merger at the provincial-level also takes into account geographical conditions, socio-economic level, and infrastructure.
On February 21, the Government of Vietnam issued Declaration on Vietnam's baselines in the Gulf of Tonkin and immediately submitted to the United Nations a depository copy of the nautical chart and coordinates of the baselines in the Gulf of Tonkin. The event, although causing outrage in the People's Republic of China, is seen as a stepping stone for efforts to reform Vietnam's already troubled administrative unit system.
After the 2025 Lunar New Year, on February 22, with Concludes 126 and 127, the Politburo and the Central Secretariat announced a number of proposals on merging administrative units. Among them, the plan for a government with only three levels has received high consensus. On February 28, the Politburo and the Secretariat officially announced the policy of eliminating rural districts (huyện), then merging communes (xã) and finally merging provinces (tỉnh). In response to this directive, localities were required to suspend all elections and not build new government buildings to save budget. Under this criterion, the number of communes and provinces in Vietnam will begin to be reduced by 1/5 (commune) to 1/2 (province), with completion by May 2025 at the latest.
| Old Province / Municipal City Rural District / Urban District / Provincial Municipality Commune / Town / Ward Village / Township / Resident Group Hamlet / Neighborhood / [...] | New Province / Municipal City Commune / Provincial Municipality / Town / Ward Village / Township / Resident Group |
From March 7 to 17, 2025, the Government of Vietnam and the Fatherland Front gradually announced plans to cut personnel and eliminate ineffective administrative agencies in localities. The implementation of the content on the arrangement of administrative units and the development of a model for organizing local governments must ensure caution, thoroughness and quality, focusing on receiving the opinions of the Politburo at the meeting on March 7, 2025, completing the submission and project for arrangement and reorganization of administrative units at all levels and building a model for organizing local governments at both levels to ensure adequate political basis, legal basis and practice when implementing the arrangement. However, this move was criticized by many domestic and international media outlets for the lack of transparency of the mechanism, because the people's voice was not respected.
On March 14, 2025, the Politburo and the Vietnam National Assembly began a meeting, which is said to be the longest in history, as it lasted until May. This event was to prepare for the announcement of the official list of administrative units invited after the arrangement and merger.
According to a statement by Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính to the press on March 11, 2025, the deadline for this reform is August 30 so that by September 1, the new administrative units will be operational.

## Influence

Since the beginning of 2023, Vietnamese public opinion has been very interested in issues that are often thought to be the secret of the Government and the Communist Party of Vietnam, which is revealed by BBC, RFA, VOA and especially ThoiBao.de, an non-orthodox information channel run by Vietnamese persons in Berlin. Therefore, this general institutional reform is considered to be only aimed at eliminating district-level military agencies, which is often thought to be the main potential of the military faction in the government. It is also part of the program to acquire power for the Hưng Yên sect before the XIV National Congress of the Vietnam Communist Party in January 2026, the event will surely determine Vietnam's most important positions in the next 10 years.
* National Assembly's Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn : "The issuance of Resolution 1104 [of Nam Định province] aims to concentrate local resources, optimise potential and advantages, expand the development space, enhance regional connectivity, attract investment, create new development momentum, boost growth and economic restructuring, and better the quality of people’s material and spiritual life. The re-arrangement will improve the balance and harmony in population distribution, create a lean apparatus of the political system, and promote civil servants and public employees’ performance and sense of responsibility to better serve people and enterprises, especially when the decentralisation of power to local administrations is being fostered. A strong commune will contribute to a strong district, and a strong district will contribute to a strong province which will subsequently contribute to a strong country".