How to choose the capital and province name when merging?

The revolution to streamline the apparatus is entering a new phase, in which the merger of provincial administrative units is expected to be completed before August 30.

According to Mr. Tran Ngoc Chinh, former Deputy Minister of Construction, Chairman of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association, this is an issue that people across the country are very interested in, especially the choice of name and capital after the merger.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Chinh.

Need breakthrough, innovative thinking

The reality of many times merging and splitting provinces shows that localities always choose geographically central areas, convenient in terms of transportation, with historical value as their capitals. In your opinion, should we continue to do so this time?

The criteria for selecting the capital of a province or city need to be carefully calculated because this is an issue of concern to the people, officials and civil servants.

Each time will pose different requirements, so in addition to inheriting history and good experiences from previous mergers, we also need to have breakthroughs, innovate thinking and choose the most suitable options for the current context.

There is a long-standing principle that the new administrative center is often located in the most developed and modern urban area among the merged provinces. What is your opinion?

Yes, in previous administrative boundary arrangements, the new administrative center was often chosen that way. For example, in the past, when Bac Ninh and Bac Giang were one province called Ha Bac, the capital was determined to be Bac Giang.

Or like Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa merged into Phu Khanh city, then Nha Trang, which is a big city, was taken as the capital.

In my opinion, that is still true and can be inherited to apply to the current process of arranging provinces and cities. Because, up to this point, many provinces have developed modern administrative centers. Choosing those available administrative centers will reduce waste.

Is it enough to rely only on urban development criteria, sir?

That is just one of the criteria, in my opinion, we also have to consider the geographical location. We need to choose a place near the highway, airport, and port because choosing the capital is not only to serve the people in the province. The capital is also an important place to serve foreign affairs activities.

If you choose a capital far from the airport or highway, when you get to the airport, you have to travel for several more hours to reach the administrative center, which is not reasonable.

Choose a convenient place for travel and trade

Some people think that the capital should be located in the center of the merged provinces. What do you think?

This is also one of the criteria I want to mention. When merging 2-3 provinces, it is necessary to choose a provincial capital where civil servants from the 3 provinces can travel and work conveniently.

In previous administrative boundary arrangements, the new administrative center was often located in the most developed and modern urban area among the merged provinces.

If the capital is located in a certain province, it will be difficult to travel. But if the capital is located in the center of three provinces, it is clearly more convenient for civil servants.

In summary, there are some criteria to pay attention to, which is to choose a location with a good, convenient administrative center or within the planning of an administrative center and with development conditions. The second is the criterion of convenient international and domestic travel. The third is convenient travel for local people and civil servants in the province.

In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to security and defense factors when choosing the provincial capital.

In reality, not every locality has the conditions to choose an administrative center that meets all of those ideal criteria. So what is the most important criterion, sir?

Of course, not every province can choose a location for an administrative center that meets all of these criteria. The most important thing is to choose a place that already has the best administrative center, is a developing urban area, has sufficient economic conditions, and has commercial service facilities to serve the new administrative center well.

Furthermore, in the context of "running and queuing at the same time", to rearrange administrative boundaries, I think this criterion is even more important because it will help shorten time and reduce waste.

If you choose to live in an area without an existing administrative center, it will take many years to build and develop, leading to a waste of both time and resources.

Name a new province or choose a province name?

Regarding the names of new provinces and cities after the merger, what do you think is the most important criterion to achieve the highest consensus?

The names of localities carry a lot of meaning in terms of value, history, culture and tradition.

The names of all provinces have great significance and importance, but when merging, it is necessary to choose a name that carries domestic and international value and brand. In addition, naming a new province should evoke the past and tradition, but also need to be linked to the present and consider the common development needs.

Or if Ca Mau and Bac Lieu are merged together, I think we should keep the name Ca Mau because this place name is associated with the southernmost point of the country.

Some people think that when merging 2-3 provinces into one, the name of one province should be chosen. Some people also think that a new name should be given. What is your opinion on this issue?

I think choosing the name of a province to name the newly merged province will help retain a valuable name, domestic and international brand, and reduce the need to change documents and administrative procedures later because some people will not have to change documents according to the new name.

On the other hand, you should not choose the option of combining the names of merged localities because not all names are reasonable.

It is a fact that when merging ministries, branches or provinces, eliminating intermediate levels, there will inevitably be a fear of change. Especially when the story of merging provinces and cities is related to cultural, historical, traditional factors, etc., there will certainly be concerns. In your opinion, how can we resolve this story?

With natural psychology, when merging new provinces and cities, forcing changes and losing familiar local names, most local people will be concerned.

As before, when Ha Tay was merged into Hanoi, there were many opinions against removing the name Ha Tay. Many opinions said that Ha Tay is a large province with the culture of the Doai region, contributing significantly to trade and services.

However, after a period of merging and taking the common name of Hanoi, people's lives changed, space expanded, people themselves felt the innovation and development, and gradually came to understand. Moreover, in my opinion, people of each province should accept to sacrifice a little personal feelings to serve the common development of the country.

Thank you!

National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Tao:

The name should reflect local characteristics.

In the process of merging provinces, naming should be based on cultural, customary and community criteria. At the same time, administratively, it must be concise and easy to understand.

We are implementing streamlining and the name must reflect the streamlining, show the criteria of that locality and especially be supported by the people and voters. Choosing a name to create a brand, to shape the development of the local economy is also a "revolution".

It is difficult to come up with a general criterion for naming merged provinces, but there is a principle that the name must reflect the most distinctive features of the locality. It is possible to choose a name after the merger according to the more favorable locality, with better development potential to lead and supplement development conditions for the remaining locality.

Mr. Nguyen Tuc (Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front):

The location of the capital should be announced soon.

Choosing where to locate the capital when merging provinces is always a matter of concern for people, officials and civil servants.

Because many officials and civil servants have stable homes, if the province merges, if the administrative center is moved elsewhere, they will have to move their families as well. Therefore, when announcing the plan to merge the provinces, it is also necessary to announce the plan to locate the capital soon.

Through many mergers and separations of provinces, localities have chosen geographically central areas, convenient transportation, and historical value to set up administrative and political centers.

After 1975, Ha Nam Ninh province was established on the basis of merging Nam Ha province (Ha Nam and Nam Dinh) with Ninh Binh province and took Nam Dinh city as its capital.

But after the separation of the province, Ninh Binh has now become one of the major tourist centers and Ha Nam has also strongly developed industry and tourism. At the same time, both of these provinces are near the main traffic routes.

That said, some people say that if 2 or 3 provinces are merged together, an old capital of a locality can be chosen as the administrative-political center of the new province. This helps to take advantage of existing infrastructure, avoid having to build a new headquarters, and save resources.

However, I think we must consider very carefully and make specific assessments. Most importantly, the newly chosen capital must be the most central and convenient area for people and tourists to travel to.

At the same time, historical and cultural values ​​must be taken into account to both meet development requirements and ensure continuity and suitability.

Tran Trang (written)

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/chon-thu-phu-ten-tinh-the-nao-khi-sap-nhap-192250321001809011.htm