Nearly two months after Ho Chi Minh City rolled out its ambitious two-level local government model, the city is already seeing a mix of promising results and persistent challenges. The sweeping reorganization, which began in June 2025, aims to streamline the administrative apparatus, boost public service efficiency, and better serve a rapidly growing population. But as with any major overhaul, the journey has been anything but straightforward.
According to Pham Thanh Nhan, Deputy Director of the Department of Home Affairs for Ho Chi Minh City, the city’s efforts to revamp its administrative machinery have largely stayed on schedule. "The basic reorganization progress has been ensured, including streamlining the apparatus, distributing and arranging the staff and officials to agencies and units, and operating the Public Administrative Service Center at the commune level," Nhan told reporters at a press conference on August 21, 2025, as cited by VTV.
The numbers behind the reform are striking. Ho Chi Minh City now counts 3,878 officials in the Party and mass organizations bloc, 12,119 in the government bloc, and 6,532 non-specialized personnel at the commune level, according to data from the Department of Home Affairs. The city has also completed a thorough review and reorganization of the headquarters for the new administrative units, ensuring they fit the new organizational scale. Key management domains—ranging from economic and cultural affairs to land, resources, environment, defense, and security—have remained stable throughout the transition, reports PLVN.
One of the most visible changes is the dramatic reduction in the number of specialized agencies. After the reorganization, Ho Chi Minh City now operates with just 15 specialized agencies, down from 43—a 65.12% decrease. The number of other administrative agencies has also been halved, dropping from six to three. The city has maintained the original status of 58 public service units, with further reorganization planned for a second phase. These moves are designed to cut administrative fat and make the government more nimble, according to city officials.
To make sure the gears of government keep turning smoothly, the city established a provincial-level Public Administrative Service Center and staffed it with adequate personnel across all levels. On July 27, 2025, Ho Chi Minh City hosted a major training conference for 160 city-level officials and 1,223 commune-level officials, covering three specialized topics and offering direct answers to thorny questions about administrative procedures. This emphasis on training is crucial, as many newly appointed or transferred commune-level staff have struggled to quickly update their knowledge and skills to meet the demands of the new system.
Administrative procedures—often the bane of citizens and businesses alike—have received a technological facelift. The city has rolled out a non-territorial administrative procedure system, issuing a comprehensive list of 1,336 administrative procedures under the jurisdiction of various departments and commune-level People’s Committees. Of these, 1,182 are handled by departments and sectors, while 154 fall under commune-level authority. All procedures have been configured in specialized software, with accounts set up for 38 Public Administrative Service Centers and 168 commune-level units. As a result, by July 31, 2025, the city had received more than 366,000 administrative procedure dossiers, boasting a citizen and business satisfaction rate of 95.56%.
But the picture isn’t all rosy. The rapid pace of change has left some localities scrambling to keep up. "Despite many achievements, difficulties remain due to changes in organizational structure, authority, and operation methods, causing local confusion and challenges in applying new regulations," Nhan admitted, as reported by VTV. One of the most pressing issues is at the commune level, where staffing has not kept pace with the workload. On average, each commune-level specialized office is staffed by just 5 to 7 officials, each juggling between four and nine task groups—each group packed with complex, detailed, and labor-intensive work. This has led to overworked officials, challenges maintaining quality and progress, and a lack of backup when staff are absent for leave, illness, or training.
Leadership at these offices is also thin, with only one Head and one Deputy Head per office. This lean structure, while efficient on paper, has made it tough to manage, operate, and provide sound advice, especially when unexpected challenges arise. The end of district-level People’s Committee operations has further complicated matters. Urban Order Management Teams under former district-level departments have ceased operations, and district-level Construction Inspection teams have been reorganized. The upshot? Many wards, communes, and special zones now lack specialized forces to inspect, supervise, and enforce regulations on urban order and construction.
Some technical hurdles remain as well. After merging three provinces into the city’s administrative boundaries, Ho Chi Minh City now covers a vast area, making travel between some localities lengthy and inconvenient. Not all headquarters have adequate facilities, and the National Public Service Portal is still being integrated with other national and sectoral databases. This means that some interlinked administrative procedures—especially those involving civil status—cannot yet retrieve previously stored information, causing delays for citizens seeking to resolve their dossiers.
Despite these bumps in the road, city leaders are pushing forward with a slew of solutions. One headline initiative is a high-point emulation campaign dubbed “100 days of operation: agile – strong – efficient – effective,” launched to celebrate the upcoming Party Congresses for 2025-2030 and the 14th National Party Congress. The goal, leaders say, is to further improve the quality of public service for both residents and businesses. There’s also a strong focus on continuing the second phase of agency and unit reorganization, promoting decentralization to empower localities, speeding up work resolution, and investing in training and development for staff at all levels.
Financial management hasn’t been ignored either. The city has carefully reviewed and adjusted budget collection indicators and public investment capital disbursement to fit the new administrative landscape. Regime and policy resolutions for retirement and job termination for officials and public servants have been handled promptly, with 3,867 cases resolved to date.
There’s a sense of cautious optimism among city officials. The reforms are undeniably ambitious, and the early results—especially in terms of administrative streamlining and citizen satisfaction—are encouraging. Yet, the city’s leaders are under no illusions about the scale of the task ahead. As Pham Thanh Nhan noted, "This leads to overloading, difficulty ensuring quality and progress, and lack of reserve resources when officials take leave, get sick, or attend training. In addition, because the number of leadership staff is limited, there are restrictions in management, operation, and advisory work."
Ho Chi Minh City’s experiment with a two-level local government model is still in its infancy. As the city continues to tweak, train, and troubleshoot, much will depend on how quickly it can address the lingering gaps in staffing, management, and technology. For now, the city’s residents can take heart in the fact that the wheels of reform are turning—and, for the most part, turning in the right direction.
