If the district level is abolished, commune-level officials must be 'upgraded' to the same level as provincial-level officials.

According to Conclusion 126, the Politburo assigned the Party Committee of the Government to preside over and coordinate with the Central Organization Committee, the Party Committee of the National Assembly, and relevant Party committees and organizations at all levels to study the direction for continuing to reorganize and abolish intermediate administrative levels (district level).

The country has 696 district-level administrative units.

Following two recent rounds of reorganization and merger of district-level administrative units (2019-2021 and 2023-2025), the country now has 696 district-level administrative units. These include 2 cities under centrally-governed cities (Thu Duc - Ho Chi Minh City, Thuy Nguyen - Hai Phong City), 84 provincial cities, 53 towns, 49 districts, and 508 counties.

Hanoi currently has the most district-level administrative units with 30, followed by Thanh Hoa with 26, Ho Chi Minh City with 22, Nghe An with 20, Quang Nam with 17, and Gia Lai with 17.

Four provinces have 15 district-level administrative units: Kien Giang, Long An, Hai Phong, and Dak Lak. Four provinces have 13 district-level administrative units: Ha Tinh, Phu Tho, Quang Ngai, and Quang Ninh. Four provinces have 12 district-level administrative units: Son La, Lam Dong, Hai Duong, and Dong Thap.

Eight provinces have 11 district-level administrative units, including: An Giang, Binh Dinh, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Ha Giang, Lang Son, Soc Trang, and Tien Giang.

Nine provinces have 10 district-level administrative units, including: Quang Tri, Nam Dinh, Kon Tum, Hung Yen, Hoa Binh, Dien Bien, Cao Bang, Binh Thuan, and Bac Giang.

The 14 provinces and cities have 9 district-level administrative units, including: Ben Tre, Binh Duong, Ca Mau, Can Tho, Khanh Hoa, Lao Cai, Phu Yen, Tay Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Thua Thien Hue, Tra Vinh, Vinh Phuc, and Yen Bai.

Eleven provinces and cities have eight district-level administrative units, including: Vinh Long, Thai Binh, Quang Binh, Ninh Binh, Lai Chau, Hau Giang, Dak Nong, Da Nang, Bac Ninh, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, and Bac Kan.

Three provinces have seven district-level administrative units: Bac Lieu, Ninh Thuan, and Tuyen Quang. Ha Nam is the province with the fewest district-level administrative units in the country, with only six.

No boundary barriers between districts or counties.

Emphasizing that abolishing district-level administrative units is inevitable, former Deputy Minister of the Interior Nguyen Tien Dinh stated that, according to the Politburo's guidelines, Vietnam's administrative apparatus may eventually have only 3 levels (central, provincial, and commune) instead of the current 4 levels.

"This is also the practice in many countries around the world because most countries also only have a three-tiered administrative model," Mr. Dinh emphasized.

The former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs argued that the district level is currently an intermediate level and has revealed many limitations, given Vietnam's four-tiered system. The central level plays a key role in policy planning and the development of legal frameworks, while the provincial level, in addition to implementing the Party's guidelines and the State's policies and laws, also makes decisions on many local self-governance issues.

Accordingly, the district level is merely an intermediary level for transmitting information downwards, while the commune level is the one that directly implements it.

According to Mr. Dinh, several issues arise from this intermediate level. Firstly, implementing policies at the district level can easily lead to delays because it has to go through another intermediate level, requiring meetings, document drafting, and then implementation.

"Furthermore, it's not just a delay, but often a hindrance, because if the district level doesn't implement or implements incorrectly, it can cause further delays and hinder policy enforcement. Therefore, eliminating the intermediate level will ensure smooth implementation down to the commune level," the former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs analyzed.

Professor Tran Ngoc Duong, a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and former Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office, believes that abolishing the district level would bring many advantages.

Specifically, abolishing the district level will create a relatively broader space for economic and social development, without being confined to any particular district or county; it will create a larger environment to attract potential and resources for development.

"That's a huge advantage in the context of increasingly broad economic integration. Then, there are no barriers created by the boundaries and territories of districts and counties," Mr. Duong emphasized.

Furthermore, eliminating the district level also facilitates attracting greater resources from the entire province to support a project in a particular commune or ward.

Reducing the number of intermediate levels also contributes to increasing the state budget, because the current costs of the district and county administrations are already very high.

"If we eliminate the intermediate level of district, we will remove one step in decentralization and delegation of power. Then, decentralization and delegation of power will go directly from the provincial level down to the commune and ward levels, creating a more open and convenient management environment," Professor Tran Ngoc Duong stated.

No distinction between commune-level officials

However, in order to implement the policy of abolishing district-level administrative units, the former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Interior noted that several conditions need to be prepared, ranging from funding and organizational structure to the capacity and qualifications of officials and civil servants at the commune level.

Currently, the Ministry of Interior has proposed linking civil servants at the commune, district, and provincial levels, meaning there will be no distinction between civil servants at the commune and provincial levels, but rather they will be referred to as civil servants in the general state administrative system. The Law on Cadres and Civil Servants will be amended in the near future to address this issue.

To reorganize and eliminate the intermediate level of district, the commune level must be strengthened. At the same time, decentralization and delegation of power must go hand in hand. As the General Secretary said: Local authorities decide, local authorities act, and local authorities are responsible.

"It's crucial that we strengthen and improve the quality and conditions for local governments at the grassroots level to perform their duties effectively, in order to meet the increasingly demanding requirements and tasks. In addition, the regulations and policies must also be different. All of this is for the sake of the administrative apparatus."compact, powerful, high performance, capability, efficiency"And the fundamental issue remains effectiveness and efficiency," Mr. Dinh emphasized.