Experts have proposed developing a new land law, instead, that is simple, easy to understand and has tighter regulations.
At a seminar on land management and solutions to use land effectively, Nguyen Van Xa, former head of the Department of Public Asset Management, under the Ministry of Finance, said that shortcomings in land pricing and reclamation and the granting of land use rights certificates have resulted in multiple lawsuits and reduced the State budget revenue.
Meanwhile, prevailing regulations on land management are complicated and difficult to apply.
However, the 2013 Land Law should not be amended any further. Instead, a new law should be formulated by the legislature, rather than by law enforcement agencies, he stressed, to prevent these agencies from making regulations that favor them.
Former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Hung Vo supported this view, noting that the current law is no longer appropriate.
For example, Vietnam has land registry offices and notary offices performing overlapping tasks.
Vo proposed abolishing a regulation that the Government must issue the land price framework and suggested assigning the job to a national land evaluation agency or council. In addition, strict penalties on localities that set land prices below the average market prices should be applied, Vo remarked.
Dao Trung Chinh, deputy head of the General Department of Land Administration, under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, pointed out that consulting with residents on land management regulations has proven ineffective.
The State had earlier encouraged project investors and land owners to negotiate site clearance compensation. However, the management agencies have applied administrative measures to take back land lots for projects, in line with market principles.
Complaints and lawsuits related to compensation remain rampant due to the large gap between the compensation paid for the land and the market prices. If the compensation sums are increased to be equivalent to market prices, the tax rates imposed on enterprises should be reduced, Chinh suggested.
