Vietnam merges provinces, slashing nearly 80,000 jobs
HANOI
Vietnam's National Assembly Thursday approved plans to merge provinces and cities, slashing nearly 80,000 state jobs, as part of major reforms to the communist country's administrative structure.
Lawmakers voted to reduce the country's 63 provincial and city administrations to just 34, as the government looks to radically cut state expenditure.
The move comes after the government cut the number of ministries and agencies from 30 to 22 in February, resulting in 23,000 job losses.
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."
Interior Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra said it amounted to the "biggest ever revolution since the country was founded" in 1945.
"79,339 officials will have to be streamlined, quitting their jobs or submitting for early retirement following the merge," Tra told the National Assembly.
The streamlined administrative bodies will be expected to "shift from passive management to active service to the people", said Lam, the Communist Party general secretary and most powerful figure in the country.
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.
