The whole country is expected to reduce to 2,500 commune-level administrative units, to be completed in June.

"It is expected that the merger and construction of the commune-level administrative unit system will be completed next June," said Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh during a working session with the Standing Committee of the Binh Thuan Provincial Party Committee on March 8, in his role as Head of the inspection delegation of the Politburo and Secretariat.

According to the plan, the Central Government will issue criteria for localities to develop plans to reorganize commune-level administrative units. The Politburo has also requested to temporarily suspend the organization of district and commune-level party congresses, and will soon issue instructions on this issue.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh stressed that the merger will change the scale of commune-level administrative units, so localities need to carefully calculate documents and personnel. The commune-level Party Congress will be held after the merger is completed, expected in the second half of June or early July.

In addition to the merger, the quality of commune-level cadres will also be improved, equivalent to provincial-level cadres. This is because after the merger, commune Party Secretaries can become provincial Party Committee members, even join the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee.

Currently, Vietnam has 63 provincial-level administrative units; 705 districts and 10,595 communes and wards. In the 2019-2021 period, 8 district-level units and 561 commune-level units were merged. The resolution on rearranging district-level and commune-level administrative units in the 2023-2030 period continues to be implemented to streamline the apparatus and improve management efficiency.