The modern national governance model, which plays a pillar role in the socialist rule-of-law state—where “the Party leads through vision; the State governs through law; and society operates on trust and citizens’ participation”—has officially come into operation since July 1, 2025.
Building our rule-of-law state means building a strong state without abusing power; one with discipline but close to the people; decisive in action yet humane, persuasive and open to dialogue. Such orientations need to be clearly articulated in the Documents of the 14th National Party Congress.
Party General Secretary To Lam
Clear decentralisation, substantive empowerment
Regarded as a historic milestone in Viet Nam’s legislative work—when, for the first time in nearly 80 years since the founding of the country, a major Party policy was institutionalised—at its 9th session, the 15th National Assembly reviewed and decided to transform the local government model from three tiers to two.
This comprehensive institutional and administrative reform is deeply formative in nature, reflecting the strategic vision and reform determination of the Politburo, the Party Central Committee, the National Assembly and the Government as the country confidently enters a new era.
Discussing the two-tier local government model, when she was Minister of Home Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra explained that this model represents a strong shift from administrative management thinking to developmental governance; from administrative assignment to clear decentralisation and delegation of powers, with genuine empowerment. The goal is to be closer to the people, better understand the people, and serve them more effectively.
Regarding the foundational elements for local government reform, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra analysed: first, establishing the overall legal structure of the two-tier local government based on compliance with relevant provisions of the amended Constitution and orientations to institutionalise the Party’s policy on streamlining the organisational apparatus of the entire political system.
Second, inheriting, supplementing and clearly delineating authority to decentralise, delegate and authorise between the central and local levels, and among different levels of local government. This principle promotes proactivity, creativity and accountability of localities in the spirit of “localities decide, localities implement, localities take responsibility”. At the same time, it is necessary to clearly define the functions, tasks and powers of each level of local government in line with the requirements of the country’s new development stage. In addition, a full and comprehensive legal basis must be established to remove all difficulties, barriers and bottlenecks in transitioning from the three-tier to the two-tier local government model and to operate the new apparatus while immediately implementing decentralisation and delegation as intended.
“Party committees and local authorities must identify the consolidation of organisational structures and the contingent of cadres, civil servants and public employees at the commune level as an urgent and long-term core task, focusing leadership and direction to basically resolve obstacles as early as December 2025,” Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra stressed.
Strengthening the bond between the people and the State
At present, with thousands of online administrative procedures, borderless administrative processes are narrowing the gap between citizens and the State. More broadly, from a national governance perspective, strategy formulation and implementation based on digital data and online information also help accelerate decision-making in governance.
A developmental, well-governed administration not only manages, but also inspires, mobilises and builds trust. Many localities pioneering a shift in governance thinking (such as Bac Ninh and Quang Ninh provinces) have operated smart operation centres, providing real-time information to support transparent and timely decision-making by leaders.
In Da Nang, the city government has developed a two-way interactive digital governance model, creating direct feedback channels between authorities and citizens. Administrative procedures have been reformed, and government data and operations are publicly digitised, enabling businesses and citizens to easily monitor and supervise, thereby strengthening trust among enterprises and the public.
In remarks outlining new points and key orientations for contributing opinions to the draft Documents for the 14th National Party Congress at the 10th session of the 15th National Assembly, General Secretary To Lam raised the issue that the essence of modern national governance lies in building an intelligent, integrity-based rule-of-law state with strong service capacity for the people. In such a system, law is the tool, data the foundation, people the centre and development the goal.
If previous management thinking emphasised control and administration, “governance” must focus on coordination and creation. The General Secretary called for a clearer affirmation of the superiority of the national governance model in the coming period—governance based on transparent law, reliable data, modern digital infrastructure, a streamlined apparatus, upright officials, and discipline combined with service. Such governance is developmental governance, not a “petition–grant” model.
“Resources must follow responsibilities”
As the country is undergoing strong and positive changes across many fields, adjusting administrative boundaries and implementing the two-tier local government model not only create a solid foundation for continued reform, but also generate additional momentum for a comprehensive restructuring turning point. This opens up new development space with a streamlined, scientific and modern administration, capable of seizing major development opportunities right from the beginning of the 14th Party Congress term.
However, practice over five months of implementing the two-tier local government model shows that alongside positive results, difficulties and bottlenecks remain. These include pressure to reduce staffing while decentralised tasks continue to increase; limited experience among commune-level officials; and a growing workload and number of administrative procedures despite significantly reduced processing time, leading to declining operational capacity.
Transitioning to a two-tier model is not merely about removing an administrative layer, but about restructuring state power at the grassroots level. Executive power now flows more directly from province to commune—faster and clearer—but also exposes weaknesses if the apparatus lacks sufficient capacity.
At the National Assembly forum, deputy Dang Thi My Huong (Khanh Hoa Province delegation) frankly noted that when implementing the two-tier local government model, some legal provisions remain unclear, leading to different interpretations and difficulties in application. For example, financial and budgetary mechanisms have not kept pace with the new organisational model, with some localities assigned tasks through authorisation but without accompanying funding.
Sharing this view, deputy To Van Tam (Quang Ngai Province delegation) said: “The two-tier local government model has served the people well, but in the coming period it needs to be better, more timely and more convenient, responding quickly to legitimate public needs.” To achieve this, Tam stressed that the key lies in reviewing, arranging and allocating resources rationally for the commune level, in accordance with the principle that “resources must follow responsibilities”, avoiding the situation of assigning tasks without ensuring funding and resources for implementation.
Citing practical issues arising from the model’s implementation in Da Nang, at the first Law-Building Forum organised by the National Assembly Standing Committee, Phan Thai Binh, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang City People’s Committee, said that while this is a “people-centred, people-serving” governance model, the legal framework still needs to be further reviewed and refined. In particular, decentralisation and delegation of powers should continue to be strengthened, but must be accompanied by effective post-inspection and supervision mechanisms, to empower localities while safeguarding the lawful and legitimate rights and interests of citizens.
The Party has clearly identified decentralisation and delegation of powers as a breakthrough to streamline the apparatus, enhance the proactivity and accountability of local authorities, while ensuring unified leadership and effective power control at the grassroots level.
In reality, when transitioning to the two-tier local government model, Viet Nam’s national governance philosophy remains unchanged in its people-centred orientation. However, the expanded application of digital technology has fundamentally transformed the way the state apparatus operates, governs and serves the people.
