Mr. Phan Trung Tuan, Director of the Department of Local Government under the Ministry of Home Affairs, said neither the Party, National Assembly, nor Government has plans for further mergers or reorganization of provincial or commune-level units. Current reports circulating online are entirely inaccurate.
Since July 1, 2025, Vietnam has operated under a two-tier local governance model with 34 provinces/cities and 3,321 communes, wards, and special administrative units.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is drafting a decree to update procedures for soliciting public opinion on establishing, dissolving, merging, dividing, or renaming administrative units, replacing Decrees 54/2018 and 66/2023. Deputy Minister Truong Hai Long emphasized the draft is procedural and not a plan for implementation.
The decree is part of the Law on Organization of Local Governments and the Prime Minister’s Decision 1589/QD-TTg.
)
