Vietnam lawmakers approve merging provinces, slashing nearly 80,000 jobs

HANOI – The National Assembly of Vietnam approved

plans to merge provinces and cities

on June 12, slashing nearly 80,000 state jobs, as part of major reforms to the communist country’s administrative structure.

Lawmakers voted to reduce the 63 provincial and city administrations to just 34, as the government looks to radically cut state spending.

The move follows the government’s reduction of ministries and agencies from 30 to 22 in February, resulting in about 23,000 job losses.

The dramatic changes echo US President Donald Trump’s push to take a hatchet to government spending, but they have created unease among some in a communist system where working for the state has long meant a job for life.

Vietnam’s top leader To Lam has said the drastic restructuring of the country’s governance is needed if it is to achieve “fast, stable and sustainable development”.

In the June 12 vote, the assembly – a rubber-stamp body in a one-party system – approved the government’s plans by 461 ballots to one, with three abstentions.

Only 11 provinces and cities are left unchanged by the reform, with the rest all merged.

Home Affairs Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra said it amounted to the “biggest-ever revolution since the country was founded” in 1945, state media reported on June 11.

Mr Tra told the National Assembly that “79,339 officials will have to be streamlined, quit their jobs or submit for early retirement” following the mergers.

One provincial official told AFP he was “shocked and sad”, as he will have to leave his position after more than 30 years of public service.

“I may receive some billion dong in compensation, but I am not happy,” the 58-year-old communist party member said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I don’t know what to do now though I think I am still completely fit for work.”

‘Native province gone’

The streamlined administrative bodies will be expected to “shift from passive management to active service to the people”, said Mr Lam, the Communist Party general secretary and most powerful figure in the country.

“The mergers are good for all, and I fully support it,” said northern Thai Binh resident Nguyen Thang Loi, 52, whose province is being merged. “Though I feel really sad as the name of my native province, which has lasted generations, will now be gone.”

According to the government, all cities and provinces will announce their new leadership on June 30 and start full operation at the beginning of July.

In the next few days, the National Assembly will vote on an amended national Constitution, under which the country’s three-level administrative structure of province, district and commune will be reduced to two.

The middle district level will be eliminated and the commune level expanded.

Vietnam – a global manufacturing hub – recorded economic growth of 7.1 per cent in 2024 and is aiming for 8 per cent in 2025, as it targets “middle-income country” status by 2030.

But the economy is dependent on exports and Mr Trump’s threatened 46 per cent tariff on Vietnam has sent officials racing to negotiate a reduction.

The reforms to the structure of government follow a sprawling, high-profile anti-corruption campaign in recent years. Dubbed the “blazing furnace”, the drive has swept up dozens of business leaders and senior government figures, including two presidents and three deputy prime ministers since 2021.

The radical reforms piloted by Mr Lam come after a long period in which change took place slowly, with the government emphasising stability and calm to build a reputation for predictability that foreign investors found appealing. AFP