Vietnam’s National Assembly voted a resolution in favour of an administrative reform that strengthens the power of the country’s current leadership, which emerged victorious from the “blazing furnace" anti-corruption campaign inside the party. The country of 101 million will be divided between 28 provinces and six centrally run cities.
The measure was introduced in 1989 after the war to reduce the pressure on scarce resources. Removing the limit is meant to reverse the declining birthrate and the aging of the population. The drop is not uniform and affects mainly large centres like Ho Chi Minh City.
After a five-year hiatus, passenger rail service between Hanoi and Nanning restarted yesterday. The two countries recently announced a new high-speed railway to Haiphong Port, part of joint plans to boost tourism and regional trade.
Life expectancy in Vietnam tops 74 years, but chronic diseases are up among the over 60s, particularly men. Public health authorities are grappling with high costs, inadequate services, and a rapid demographic transition. By 2050, one in four Vietnamese will be elderly.
Just days after the death of Pope Francis and during the conclave that elected Leo XIV, a statue of the Virgin Mary — who appeared in support of persecuted Vietnamese Catholics — was placed just a short distance from the Dome of St Peter’s. The Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City said: “May she intercede for the Pope and for all our communities around the world.”
The ILO reports a 10 per cent drop in informal work in Vietnam, but many complain that workers in large, export-oriented companies still suffer from job insecurity and lower wages. Manufacturing employs some 17 million people. Set to come into force on 1 July 2025, Vietnam’s new trade union law remains controversial.
