The Road to a Streamlined System: Refining the Organizational Structure of 34 Provinces Post-Merger

Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra submitted a report to the Government on the arrangement of administrative units at the provincial level for 2025.

Cao Bang province has specific factors and will not be merged.

The Home Affairs proposal clearly states that the People’s Committees of 23 provinces and cities, where the new political and administrative centers are located, have chaired and coordinated with related localities to build 23 dossier projects to arrange the 52 provinces to be merged in this phase.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has appraised the 23 dossiers mentioned above and synthesized and built them into a government proposal on arranging administrative units at the provincial level in 2025.

Regarding the arrangement plan for the provinces, the draft proposal specifically mentions information about the four centrally-run cities and 48 provinces that will be merged and consolidated.

The remaining 11 provinces and cities that will not be arranged include ten provinces that meet the standards specified in the National Assembly’s Resolution No. 76/2025, namely Hanoi, Hue, Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh. Cao Bang province, which does not yet meet the standards but has specific factors, will also remain unchanged.

After the rearrangement, the country will have 34 provinces and cities, including six centrally-run cities: Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hue, Danang, Can Tho, and Ho Chi Minh City.

The 28 provinces include Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Lang Son, Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai, Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Quang Ngai, Gia Lai, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Dak Lak, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Vinh Long, Dong Thap, Ca Mau, and An Giang.

The 23 new provinces and cities will be allocated 937,935 official positions.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, all 23/23 newly formed provinces have met the orientation standards for administrative units at the provincial level as stipulated in Resolution No. 76/2025 of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee.

Currently, the total allocated official positions for the 52 provinces and cities undergoing rearrangement are 937,935, including 37,447 officials, 130,705 civil servants, and 769,783 public employees.

After the rearrangement, the number of officials, civil servants, and public employees at the provincial level must not exceed the total number before the merger. Within five years, the provinces must streamline the apparatus in conjunction with restructuring and improving the quality of the team.

Regarding the plan for arranging and consolidating the organizational apparatus for the Party and mass organizations, the Party Committees of the provinces and cities will be established after the merger based on consolidating the number of Party members and Party organizations directly under the Provincial Party Committees and Municipal Party Committees before the merger.

The draft proposal also mentions the issue of appointing the Party Committee of the province or city after the rearrangement according to the regulations on cadre management and the Central’s guidance.

In addition to establishing the advisory body of the Provincial Party Committee and Municipal Party Committee under the Central Committee, the draft proposal also mentions establishing a new Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee after the rearrangement.

For the government block, the new provincial level will have the People’s Council and the People’s Committee. The People’s Councils of the provinces after the rearrangement will establish three committees: the Legal Committee, the Economic and Budget Committee, and the Culture and Social Affairs Committee. Provinces with a large number of ethnic minority people can establish an additional Ethnic Council.

The People’s Councils of centrally-run cities will establish four committees: the Legal Committee, the Economic and Budget Committee, the Culture and Social Affairs Committee, and the Urban Affairs Committee.

Regarding the departments and equivalent agencies, those with similar functions and tasks will be merged. Some special professional agencies under the People’s Committees at the provincial level (not uniform among provinces and cities undergoing rearrangement) will basically retain their organizational structure, functions, tasks, organizational structure, and personnel.

After the rearrangement, the People’s Committees at the provincial level will have a maximum of 14 departments and equivalent units. Ho Chi Minh City will have a maximum of 15 departments and equivalent units.

In addition, the unified principle is to maintain the public health and education establishments in the locality. Other public establishments directly under the People’s Committees of the provinces and directly under the departments and agencies will be implemented according to the guidance of the competent authority.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, there are 38,182 provincial-level public offices in the 52 provinces and cities undergoing rearrangement, according to the data reported in the proposals of the provinces and cities. Of these, 33,956 public offices are expected to continue to be used, and 4,226 public offices are expected to be redundant.

The arrangement of offices and the handling of finances and public assets after the rearrangement of provincial-level units will be implemented according to the Government’s regulations and the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.