Ho Chi Minh City is expected to pilot a socialist-model framework in at least five wards and communes with the goal of improving residents' quality of life.
Speaking to Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper, Associate Professor Le Van Cuong, Deputy Director of the Institute for Party Building under the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, described the initiative as a historic step for a dynamic and compassionate city, as well as a strategy to translate socialist theory into the realities of everyday life.
He said the pilot would both refine theoretical foundations and test them through practical implementation, enabling authorities to draw timely lessons and promptly address emerging challenges.
Socialism, ultimately, is about liberating people, providing a prosperous, free and happy life, and creating conditions for comprehensive human development, he said. Therefore, building socialist-model communes and wards must ensure several core principles.
The first is maintaining the stability of the political system, operating under the mechanism of Party leadership, State management and people's ownership exercised through socio-political organizations. At the same time, authorities must genuinely implement the principle that people are informed, consulted, involved, able to inspect and supervise public affairs, and benefit from development.
For Ho Chi Minh City, Associate Professor Le Van Cuong said the city should identify and select several wards for the pilot, as launching the model simultaneously across the entire city would be difficult. Within the pilot model, Party leadership would serve as the guiding core, while the State would manage and administer effectively to ensure that no one is left behind and that all residents enjoy a prosperous, free and happy life.
To successfully build socialist-model communes and wards under current conditions, he said Ho Chi Minh City must fully capitalize on the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and accelerate digital transformation, thereby creating a service-oriented, transparent and accountable government.
Meanwhile, Hanoi plans to implement its socialist-model communes and wards by combining two adjacent communes to create administrative units with populations ranging from 500,000 to 700,000.
The capital has translated the model into a set of 54 specific, measurable indicators, enabling residents to easily monitor, supervise and evaluate implementation. The criteria are clearly divided into core categories.
For example, the political criteria focus on ensuring political stability, security and public safety, strengthening the Party-led political system and State management, and establishing mechanisms that enable people to exercise their rights at the local level.
The economic criteria define the leading development model and establish concrete measures of economic growth, according to the Associate Professor. The social welfare criteria specify residents' entitlement indicators, including, for example, the frequency of medical examinations and treatment they are entitled to receive each year.
As the country's two largest cities, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi could share several common criteria, Associate Professor Le Van Cuong said. However, given its distinct characteristics, Ho Chi Minh City should develop a set of indicators that reflect its own identity.
"When people mention Ho Chi Minh City, they think of a dynamic, compassionate and highly livable city," he said.
He added that these values should be translated into measurable indicators within the evaluation framework. In addition, with its innovation-driven mindset and leadership in digital transformation and economic development, Ho Chi Minh City needs breakthrough indicators. The framework should also include locality-specific criteria directly linked to the conditions and characteristics of each ward or commune selected for the pilot.
