The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been tasked with drafting numerous laws, resolutions, and decrees related to reorganizing the state apparatus and administrative units at all levels.

Specifically, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOH) is assigned to advise and submit to the Government for presentation to the National Assembly the new laws replacing the Law on Local Government and the 2008 Law on Civil Servants (amended 2019), due by April 30.

It will also advise the Government to submit a draft resolution on administrative unit restructuring in 2025 to the National Assembly Standing Committee by April 8.

By June 30, MHA will lead and coordinate with ministries, agencies, and localities to present to the Government the draft decree replacing Decree 61/2018 on one-stop-shop and interlinked administrative procedures; the decree on the number of vice chairs of People’s Committees, along with election, resignation, dismissal, transfer, and removal procedures for committee members and acting chair assignments; and the decree on organizing specialized agencies under ward, commune, and special zone People’s Committees, including job positions tied to staffing quotas.

Additionally, the ministry will submit decrees amending leadership allowance tables for state agencies, public service units, and armed forces; and circulars guiding regional and attraction allowances for civil servants and armed forces, plus minimum wage zones for enterprise workers.

By November 1, MHA will lead and work with central ministries and localities to issue a circular on creating and managing administrative boundary records.

The ministry will also preside over and coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to issue guidelines on: arranging, perfecting the organization and operation of People's Councils and People's Committees of wards, communes and special zones; standards for titles, ranks and regimes, and policies on salaries and allowances for cadres and civil servants in wards, communes and special zones when implementing the arrangement of commune-level administrative units.

It will also provide guidelines on the organization of specialized agencies under the People's Committees of wards, communes and special zones, building job positions associated with the payroll of each specialized agency under the People's Committees of wards, communes and special zones; arranging and assigning cadres, civil servants and public employees when merging provincial-level administrative units, and reorganizing commune-level administrative units and organizing the implementation of 2-level local government, all by April 10.

Updating residency and seals

By April 10, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) will submit to the PM assignments for ministries to draft decrees on specialized fields tied to local government structures and powers at provincial and commune levels.

Also, by April 10, MOJ will issue guidance on handling civil registry and secured transaction registration issues arising from administrative restructuring.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE) will guide the updating of cadastral records, land use certificates, and land databases, plus provide natural area data for restructured units.

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) will guide the recalling of old seals, issuing new ones, and updating citizen residency in national databases due to boundary and name changes, addressing judicial record issues, and providing population data.

The Ministry of National Defense will guide the identifying of border and defense-critical administrative units, building military defense zones under a two-tier system, and organizing militia forces in restructured units.

The Ministry of Ethnic Affairs and Religion will guide policies for national target programs aiding ethnic minorities and mountainous areas in restructured units.

The Ministry of Construction will guide the review of urban planning and assessing urban quality post-restructuring, plus numbering and labeling houses and buildings consistently across urban, rural, and mountainous areas.

The Ministry of Science and Technology will guide e-government and digital government to support digital transformation, building interconnected data systems between the commune and provincial levels and with central agencies.

The Ministry of Health will guide the reorganizing of healthcare facilities in restructured units.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) will give guidance on maintaining and improving education quality in restructured units and managing state oversight of education as district-level units end.

A nationwide conference to roll out plans to central ministries and localities is set before April 18, following the Politburo’s briefing.

For commune-level restructuring, provincial People’s Committees will draft proposals by May 1, with the Ministry of Home Affairs appraising and submitting the Government’s proposal to the National Assembly Standing Committee by May 30.

For provincial mergers, provincial committees will draft proposals by May 1; MHA will submit the Government’s proposal to the National Assembly by May 30, with the Law and Justice Committee reviewing and the National Assembly approving by June 20. A wrap-up of all restructuring is due by September 20.

Tran Thuong