Close legal loopholes in changing land use purpose

Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc.

Currently, Vietnam Government has made great efforts to revise the Land Law 2013, which is expected to issue provisions to improve the efficiency in land use and bring the land to become an essential resource in economic development and enhance people’s living standards.

The thematic session of the Vietnam Socio-Economic Forum 2022, “stepping up institutional reform-improving land-related policies, important means to foster socio-economic recovery and development”, opened in Hanoi on September 18. Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phuoc said that Government Resolution 18-NQ/TW on “ongoing reform and improvement in institutions and policies, enhancement of effectiveness and efficiency of land management and use, serving as the driving force in developing our country into a high-income economy” is the key legal framework in developing and issuing legal documents.

The change of land use purpose is the big legal loophole that the Land Law 2013 has not yet removed, leading to some violations.

The legal loopholes in changing land use purposes are not revised in the Land Law 2013, leading to some violations.

“The rental land must be used for rent. When there is no need for using it, the state will revoke the land for auction or hand it over to another agency, creating a financial resource for economic development, said Minister Ho Duc Phoc.

The Minister said there are five methods of assessing land prices, but these methods still show loopholes. When changing land use purposes, the surplus method is mainly used.

“This method is accurate because the revenue value and investment costs are assumed. If the assumption is incorrect, it will pose legal risks for management agencies and enterprises,” the Minister said.

According to the Minister, assessing land prices must be reviewed in the near future, providing accurate methods.

For example, the comparison and the coefficient methods are scientific methods. The coefficient method eliminates the land price bracket. The coefficient is built as the market asymptote. When the market sees fluctuations, it is adjusted by the coefficient, which will create consistency and accuracy in the performance.

Regarding land allotment, the Minister said the time of land price assessment is the time of land allotment, but it is unknown whether the period from the land allotment to the price assessment is one month, six months or one year. Therefore, the land price must be determined before the land allotment to ensure accuracy; and payment must be made to the State budget before land allotment.

The Minister also suggested some provisions related to the land lease, exemption and reduction of land use fee should be supplemented in the revised law.

Thematic session.

Evaluating the 10-year implementation of the 2013 Land Law, Mr Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said that the law provides key policies on land recovery under the planning. The land will be auctioned to collect more land use and rent fees for the State budget.

However, implementing the land recovery mechanism under the planning for auction faces difficulties. The land development fund is insufficient to settle compensation, support and resettlement upon land acquisition.

On the other hand, the land recovery mechanism requires a huge fund for compensation, support and resettlement, which is difficult to implement, especially for the area where the land has been revoked, leading to waste due to acquisition but cannot be used.

In order to perfect the land policy in line with the new context, Mr Dang Hung Vo said that the amendment of the Land Law must be considered an important factor, having a great impact on the goal of bringing Vietnam from a low-average income country to a high-income country by 2045.

Some contents must be discussed when implementing the amendment, such as multi-purpose land use management, modernizing 3D and 4D cadastral administration systems for land use, digital transformation in land management, and perfecting the compensation, support and resettlement mechanism.