Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) – On the afternoon of the 24th, the Standing Committee of the 15th National Assembly of Vietnam held a meeting to review and vote on several resolutions, including two core draft resolutions on administrative unit standards and city classification, as well as two draft resolutions related to National Assembly oversight rules. All resolutions were passed with 100% approval from the attending delegates.
At the meeting, Vietnamese Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh presented the draft resolution on city classification. Its core focus is on reforming the city classification method—the draft abandons the previous model of binding cities to specific administrative units, instead classifying them based on development space, nature, function, role, and status within the national urban system, precisely aligning with the increasingly prominent trends of diffusion, multi-center development, and regional linkage in the current urbanization process.
Accordingly, Vietnam's national urban system will be simplified from the original six categories to four: special-tier cities, first-tier cities, second-tier cities, and third-tier cities. This adjustment not only aims to simplify management processes but also clearly define the positioning and functions of each city within the national and provincial systems. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will retain their status as special-class cities, while other centrally administered cities will be classified as first-tier cities. (Image: vna-potal-cac-anh-lay-chu-thich-nay-nhe-moi-day-chuong-trinh-len-ubtv-quoc-hoi-xem-xet-thong-qua-cac-nghi-quyet-8492369.jpg Photo from Vietnam News Agency, taken at the National Assembly Standing Committee deliberation.)
Subsequently, Minister of the Interior Do Thanh Binh presented a draft resolution on standards for administrative units. This draft, comprising 3 chapters and 12 articles, was revised and improved after incorporating feedback from the Law and Justice Committee. Its core content is to restructure the indicator system for various administrative units, making adaptive adjustments to reflect the new situation while inheriting existing reasonable regulations.
For "ward" level administrative units, the draft significantly increases the population size standard (adjusting it to 2 to 3 times the original standard) while retaining the minimum natural area requirement. Notably, the draft does not restrict the "wards" to specific city categories, fully embodying the core principle that "cities are not limited to a single administrative unit," aligning with the central government's overall development direction. Furthermore, the draft retains specific provisions for administrative units in special areas such as mountainous regions, border areas, islands, heritage cities, and national tourism centers.
In his concluding remarks, National Assembly Vice Chairman Nguyen Khac Dinh made a clear request: the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Home Affairs, in conjunction with the Standing Committee of the Law and Justice Committee, must further refine the two draft administrative resolutions based on the opinions of this National Assembly Standing Committee meeting. After soliciting written opinions from the National Assembly Standing Committee, they should be submitted to the National Assembly President for signature and promulgation by December 31st. Both resolutions will officially take effect on January 1, 2026, to ensure the uniformity of policy implementation.
That afternoon, the National Assembly Standing Committee also held a principled vote on the draft resolution "Detailed Rules for Regulations and Guidance on the Implementation of the National Assembly and People's Council Supervision Law," which was unanimously approved. Simultaneously, the National Assembly Standing Committee resolution "Detailed Rules for Regulations and Guidance on the Supervision of Normative Legal Documents in the National Assembly and People's Council Supervision Law" was also unanimously approved. (End)
