In a significant cabinet assignment, the former Minister of Home Affairs will now oversee critical national programs, including public sector wage reform and new labor policies, from one of the government's highest positions.
HANOI, October 28, 2025 – Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Thị Thanh Trà has been formally assigned to oversee a powerful and complex portfolio, taking charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs while also directing the government's strategies on labor, employment, and social policies.
This assignment is considered highly significant, placing one of the government's most experienced administrators at the helm of Vietnam's most critical domestic reforms.
A Continued Mandate for Reform
The decision to have DPM Trà oversee the Ministry of Home Affairs is a clear signal of continuity. Prior to her elevation to Deputy Prime Minister, Ms. Trà served as the Minister of Home Affairs, making her intimately familiar with its complex agenda.
In this expanded role, she will now have the senior cabinet-level authority to steer the ministry's two largest and most challenging initiatives:
Public Administration Reform (PAR): This involves the massive, ongoing effort to streamline Vietnam's vast state apparatus, improve bureaucratic efficiency, and enhance public service delivery.
Public Sector Wage Reform: This is arguably one of the government's most anticipated and complex projects. DPM Trà will be responsible for implementing a new, comprehensive salary policy for millions of public servants, civil servants, and armed forces personnel—a move aimed at boosting motivation and curbing corruption.
Steering the Social and Labor Agenda
By simultaneously handing her the portfolios for labor, employment, and social policies, the government has consolidated a powerful "human and administrative" mandate under her leadership.
This places DPM Trà in the driver's seat for navigating several pressing socio-economic challenges:
Labor Market Dynamics: Addressing a post-pandemic skills gap, promoting vocational training, and improving labor productivity to meet the demands of a high-tech manufacturing economy.
Employment and Social Insurance: Managing the stability of the national social insurance fund, a critical issue as Vietnam's "golden" population structure begins to age.
Social Policies: Overseeing national programs for poverty reduction, social welfare, and support for vulnerable populations.
This dual-portfolio assignment is seen by analysts as a strategic move. It empowers a single, experienced leader to synchronize the reform of the state apparatus (Home Affairs) with the development of the social safety net (Labor and Social Policies), ensuring two of the nation's most important domestic agendas move in lockstep.