The Ministry of Planning and Investment has proposed two plans to the Government, one of which divides the country into seven regions, which are the Northeast (7 provinces), Northwest (7 provinces), Red River Delta (11 provinces and cities), North Central (5 provinces), South Central (comprising south central coastal areas and the Tay Nguyen Central Highlands), Southeast (8 province and cities), and the Mekong Delta (13 provinces and cities).
The second plan, which is based on the Deputy PM’s instruction, proposed keeping the six current regions while dividing the North Central and Central Coastal region into two regions – the North Central and South Central.
Under this plan, which received support from 10 out of 14 ministries and sectors, and 49 out of 59 localities, the seven regions would be comprised of the Northern Mountainous region (10 provinces); Red River delta and midland region (15 provinces with the addition of 4 more provinces - Hoa Binh, Phu Tho, Thai Nguyen and Bac Giang); North Central region (5 provinces from Thanh Hoa to Thua Thien-Hue); South Central region (8 provinces from Da Nang to Binh Thuan); Tay Nguyen Central Highlands (5 provinces); Southeast region (6 provinces and cities), and the Mekong Delta region (13 provinces and cities).
Most experts also favoured the second plan.
Deputy PM Dung said regional division is of special importance in the national planning system. He said the division should be based on similarities in geographic and natural conditions, socio-economic situations, culture and ethnicity in order to bring each region’s potentials and advantages for development into full play.
Dung instructed the Ministry of Planning and Investment to study and sum up opinions at the conference and submit a report to the Government.
