VietNamNet Bridge - At the ongoing National Assembly, the
revised Land Law will be discussed. To provide more scientific information and
analysis related to this issue, which is a widespread public concern,
VietNamNet would like to introduce the study of policies and laws on land,
conducted by the Institute for Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural
Development (IPSARD) under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture in
collaboration with the Harvard University and the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP).
>> The Land Law in Vietnam
>> If Land Law not amended, there will be more Tien Lang cases
>> Investors call for land law revision
>> If Land Law not amended, there will be more Tien Lang cases
>> Investors call for land law revision
This is the work of the group of
authors, including Ho Dang Hoa, Le Thi Quynh Tram, Pham Duy Nghia and Malcolm
F. McPherson under the project "Analyzing policies to develop land
policies for socio-economic development in Vietnam."
Land policy is understood here as
the actions and activities through which the Government of Vietnam determines
for individuals and groups in society about their rights over land; specifies
the circumstances in which the land-related rights can be transferred; and
develops mechanisms to protect those rights and gives orientations to deal with
related disputes.
The official land policies (de
jure) of Vietnam were previously reflected through several laws (such as the
Land Law 1993 and the Land Law 2003), decrees, directives, decisions and
circulars. These policies are set by central government and implemented by ministries
and relevant agencies at all level.
The informal land policies (de
facto) are determined by different agencies and interpreted, obeyed and
implemented the directions of the Central Government by functional agencies.
The coherence of intentions and results that are achieved in practice will
determine the validity of the land policy.
The data below shows that besides
land-related documents, which are carefully prepared and applied as intended,
there are still quite a lot of documents which do not achieve the purpose.
Historical experience, including
in Vietnam and other countries, shows that the use, allocation, planning and
management of land have always been the most sensitive issues; the most
controversial and under the biggest political pressure in any society. This is
true even in today's era.
Land has many uses. Land is the
production resource and its basic characteristic is the relative location to
where raw materials for the production are supplied and the market for
products. The geography of land is distinguished by climate, topography, soil
and other physical factors that serve the environmental, cultural, and
administrative purposes. Efficient use of land will bring about jobs, create
products and source of income.
Land is cultural asset for the
individual and the community. Land creates the concept of "place" and
identity so that it contributes to national social capital, including the
system of relationships and networks to support and maintain communities and
regions in the country.
Land is also considered tangible
assets and can be priced on the market, exchanged, inherited or given or
received as a gift as well as being used as collateral. For many individuals,
especially in rural areas, land is livelihood and the source of life assurance.
Land plays a key role to create
and maintain the services for public purposes, such as infrastructure,
watersheds, coastal mangroves, aquaculture areas, forests, parks and natural
reserves. The public value of land is also the place to enjoy with the value
that increases rapidly when the social urbanization and per capita income
increase.
Land is a political entity in
which the border shows the boundaries of national sovereignty and is the basis
of international recognition and international cooperation. Finally, land (or
space in general) is a basis for determining the rights and responsibilities
between the administrative units such as villages, counties / districts,
communities, provincial and central governments. Depending on each issue, such
as infrastructure, environmental management, education, or land acquisition
which areas of responsibility may be overlapped.
Who has the right to access land?
The Constitution of Vietnam
claims the people’s ownership of the land and the State’s right of management
over land. However, the Constitution does not provide adequate guidance about
how land management will be like, by which State agency, or who will have the
right to have access to land and under what conditions.
These aspects are handled by administrative
measures so the land law can be negotiated, expressed in different ways and be
amended continuously. This creates confusion and uncertainty in land
management. At the same time, it also creates loopholes for officials at
different levels to determine the meaning of provisions of the law and for the
benefit of whom.
The difficulty is not because the
government is not willing to amend the Law, but by the lack of a complete set
of rules that allows problems related to land (and assets) be resolved in a
fair and impartial manner.
Access to land is highly
politicized and due to the scarcity of land, it is difficult for officials to
handles issues related to land in a well-defined way that does not take into
account of economic benefit calculation, political or other interests.
If there is a set of rules to be
applied, at least the right to use land, the conditions for the transfer of
these rights and mechanisms to resolve conflicts will ensure consistency as
between those who have access to land, according to a given procedure and is
done in a fair, transparent and impartial way.
Currently, the Land Law and
relevant regulations are applied in a number of areas and applied primarily to
urban residents and foreign investors. Meanwhile, farmers and rural residents
are less guaranteed of their right of having access to land and the same
protection.
It does not matter if the results
of that do not make consequences. However, the largest group of constituents,
farmers and rural residents, has not been treated fairly by the land owner. If
this situation continues, it will not help strengthen sustainable economic
development.
No country can quickly and easily
switch from the centralized management system to a decentralized system, in
having access to the above property based on a set of consistent and fair
regulations on the rights to use property that are distributed and protected
under impartial and non-political way. Vietnam is and will not be the
exception.
Along with the process of
modernization, Vietnam will gradually make progress on this issue. It is more
important that Vietnam needs to achieve successes on this issue if the State
wants to achieve the ambitious goals of economic growth and industrialization.
The clear land policy will play a key role to achieve that ambition.
Currently, the reference
documents on land policies in Vietnam are relatively abundant. There are a lot
of research works are being done. Each study emphasizes the importance, the
ability to influence and suggests the change of land use along with the process
of urbanization, industrialization and globalization.
TVN
To be continued
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. Since we are currently changing the platform of www.yourvietnamexpert.com, you may contact us at: sbc.pte@gmail.com, provisionally. Many thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment