Following the mergers, significant changes have been made to the territories of the provinces and the administrative procedures in these provinces. Navigating these changes may pose challenges for local communities and businesses.
On June 12, the National Assembly officially passed the Resolution of the National Assembly on the arrangement of provincial-level administrative units in 2025. Accordingly, the whole country has 34 provincial-level administrative units, including 6 centrally-run cities and 28 provinces.
28 provinces: Cao Bang, Dien Bien, Ha Tinh, Lai Chau, Lang Son, Nghe An, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Son La, Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai, Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, 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; and
6 centrally governed cities: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Hue, Da Nang, Can Tho, and Hai Phong.
Eleven provinces and cities were not changed due to their territorial size, geographical importance or constraints.
Shift Toward a Service-Oriented Administrative Model
This administrative reform, together with broader legislative reforms, introduces a fundamental shift in state governance. Despite short-term implementation challenges, the old focus on administrative control has been replaced by a new service-oriented mindset. For example, people and businesses can now complete administrative procedures at any communal service centre, rather than being restricted to their local area. Online administrative procedures can be completed through the one-stop National Public Service Portal, no matter which ministry or locality they involve.
The new merged Ho Chi Minh City has been re-envisioned as the core of a Southern mega-metropolitan region, integrating surrounding industrial, logistics, and port-based territories (notably Bình Dương and Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu in functional planning, even where administrative consolidation remains phased).
With territorial rescaling, the city’s functional area now covers manufacturing belts, deep-sea ports, and logistics corridors previously governed by separate provinces. A stronger urban-centric governance model is promoted, with unified planning for transport, land use, investment promotion, and digital infrastructure. The merged planning space supports integrated industrial supply chains, financial services, and international logistics, positioning Ho Chi Minh City as Vietnam’s first true mega-metropolis.
Mergers reorient local state design from “city-province” to city-region governance, reducing inter-provincial fragmentation.
Emerging Regional Growth Hubs: Hai Phong Model
The newly merged Hai Phong City serves as a port-industrial mega-city corridor. In Northern Vietnam, the consolidation of Hải Phòng with adjacent industrial territories such as Hải Dương reflects a strategic move to strengthen the Red River Delta’s port–industrial axis.
With the integration, administrative work becomes more consolidated. Port management,
industrial zoning, and logistics planning are coordinated under a single regional authority structure. Infrastructure is aligned as major ports (Lạch Huyện), expressways, and industrial parks are planned as a unified system rather than competing provincial assets. Essentially, the merged entity presents a clearer value proposition for FDI in manufacturing, logistics, and export-oriented industries.
Central Region Transformation: Da Nang Model
The new Da Nang City is a Central Regional City Model. The merger between Đà Nẵng and Quảng Nam restructures Central Vietnam’s governance by combining a service-oriented city with surrounding land, heritage, and industrial zones.
Post-Merger, the development space is expanded. Đà Nẵng gains access to land and population necessary for long-term urban and industrial expansion. Tourism (Hội An, Mỹ Sơn), industry, logistics, and urban services are planned within one administrative framework. Public service efficiency is improved, as unified administration reduces duplication and improves service delivery across urban–rural areas.
In a regional hub city model like this, mergers correct spatial constraints and unlock development capacity.
However, the logic behind this configuration goes beyond numerical reduction.
A Differentiated Approach to Territorial Consolidation
The new map reflects a differentiated approach:
Some provinces and cities were merged, often forming larger regional units.
Others remained unchanged, typically because of their large size, strategic importance, geographic constraints, or national security considerations.
This selective approach indicates that the objective was not arbitrary consolidation, but the creation of administratively viable and development-oriented territorial units.
Scaling Up: Multi-Province Mergers as Growth Strategy
Notably, Vietnam adopted multi-province mergers in some cases, rather than simple pairwise consolidation. This suggests an ambition to create provinces with sufficient scale to act as regional growth engines, capable of coordinating infrastructure, industrial policy, and land management more effectively than their predecessors.
Transition to a Two-Tier Local Government Structure
Territorial mergers are inseparable from Vietnam’s move toward a two-tier local government structure consisting of:
Provincial level, and Commune/ward level.
Under this model, district-level administration is functionally removed or significantly reduced, with its responsibilities redistributed upward to provinces or downward to communes.
This restructuring represents a profound change in administrative architecture. Districts historically served as key intermediaries for land administration, construction permits, social policy implementation, and dispute resolution. Their removal is intended to:
- Reduce administrative layers;
- Accelerate decision-making; and
- Eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks.
However, it also places greater operational pressure on provinces and communes, which must absorb new responsibilities without creating new layers of complexity.
Internal Administrative Consolidation
Within the newly merged provinces, governance structures undergo substantial internal consolidation:
People’s Committees are reorganized to oversee larger territories and more diverse socio-economic conditions.
Provincial departments (planning, construction, natural resources, transport, industry and trade, etc.) are merged or restructured to reflect the new territorial scope.
Leadership arrangements must integrate cadres from former provinces, raising issues of hierarchy, coordination, and institutional culture.
Implementation Challenges and Institutional Frictions
This internal reorganization is one of the most complex aspects of the reform. While mergers promise efficiency gains, they also risk short-term disruption, particularly where administrative practices, data systems, and organizational cultures differ across former provinces.
Territorial Reform as a Development Strategy
Beyond governance mechanics, the new territorial architecture is explicitly framed as a development instrument. Larger provinces are expected to:
- Plan and finance large-scale infrastructure;
- Coordinate industrial clusters and logistics networks; and
- Manage environmental and land-use challenges more holistically.
In effect, the provincial merger reform seeks to align administrative geography with economic geography. Whether this alignment is realized in practice will depend on how effectively planning systems and investment decision-making are harmonized in the post-merger environment.
Read more: Vietnam’s Biggest State Reform Since Đổi Mới: Understanding the 2024–2025 Changes
