Webinar on “Land Conflicts in Suburban Areas in Vietnam: Causes and Effects”

In this webinar, Huyen Thanh Do analysed the causes and effects of land conflicts in Vietnam’s suburban areas since the enactment of the 2003 and 2013 land laws. She also discussed how the Vietnamese government can improve land transparency and mitigate potential land conflicts.

VIETNAM STUDIES PROGRAMME WEBINAR

Thursday, 13 January 2021 ­­– ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute hosted a webinar on “Land Conflicts in Suburban Areas in Vietnam: Causes and Effects” presented by Huyen Thanh Do, a policy analyst at the Vietnam office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Huyen Thanh Do presented data from two large sample surveys in Vietnam to analyse the causes and effects of land conflicts in Vietnam. Dr Le Hong Hiep moderated the webinar. (Credit: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute)

Huyen first laid out the context of contemporary land conflicts in Vietnam. She highlighted that the scope and scale of land disputes in suburban areas in the past decade have been increasing. In 2019, issues concerning land accounted for nearly 70% of the annual complaints and denunciations submitted to government authorities. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, migration to industrialised provinces or big cities was on the rise. As a result, there has been a sharp increase in housing demand, which may lead to more land seizures in the future.

Regarding land ownership, Vietnam’s 2013 Constitution states that land is “public property, owned by all the people, and represented and uniformly managed by the State.” There are various types of land disputes in Vietnam, but those related to land acquisition, compensation, support, and resettlement account for most complaints and petitions from land users. The most complex and hard-to-resolve disputes are those between land users and state agencies.

Huyen then presented data from two large sample surveys in Vietnam – the Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) and the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) – to analyse the causes and effects of land conflicts in Vietnam. Notably, the data indicate different state treatments towards private citizens and firms.

Between 2011 and 2019, while the percentage of citizens reporting residential land seizures decreased, the percentage of citizens reporting farmland expropriations increased. This reflects the trend of farmland being converted into new urban areas and industrial zones. Meanwhile, firms faced lower risks of land expropriation, indicating that they are much less likely to lose land than citizens. At the same time, while the mean number of days to wait for land use rights certificates (LURCs) for citizens was higher than for firms, the percentage of respondents saying that compensation for land was fair or close to market price declined for both citizens and firms.

Based on the data from PAPI and PCI, Huyen made eight observations regarding land management and land conflicts in Vietnam: (1) low compensation rates for land recovered by the state; (2) biases toward different land users caused by institutional arrangements; (3) government preferential treatments towards firms; (4) farmland increasingly being acquired; (5) bribery for LURCs being more prevalent among domestic firms and citizens than foreign-invested enterprises; (6) information asymmetry in terms of land planning and acquisition schemes; (7) reduced citizen access to land use plans and local price frames; and (8) fewer opportunities for citizens to comment on local land plans.

Referring to a 2016 study on land corruption issues conducted by UNDP and the National Economics University, Huyen listed four types of policy discretion carried out by public officials and firms: “bid collusion”, “policy corruption”, “village norms”, and “black markets”. These practices have led to, among other problems, violation of public trust, contradictions between government and public perceptions about what constitutes appropriate socioeconomic projects, and lack of consultation with the public.

Huyen also touched upon the recent land dispute in Thu Thiem New Urban Area in Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City. She suggested that Thu Thiem residents have been displeased over the low compensation rate, which is about VND18 million (USD797) per square meter. This amount is meagre compared to the January 2022 average market price of VND97 million (USD4,294) per square meter, the December 2021 auction base price of VND300 million (USD13,280) per square meter, and the buying offer of VND2.4 billion (USD106,242) per square meter by a real estate company in the same auction.

At the end of her presentation, Huyen outlined a sustained approach towards preventing land conflicts. She believed that the ideal model for land governance in Vietnam is one where the state treats society and the market equally through strong, sound and fair policies. Thus, the upcoming amendments to the 2013 Land Law should ensure equal access to land use rights as well as equal bargaining power for every stakeholder. Huyen also stressed the need for a lobbying law regarding land access.

Huyen’s other suggestions for land policy reform include enhanced transparency of land plans and compensation schemes, appropriate land pricing, and business responsibility and integrity. On the part of citizens, they should be more informed about land rights, land use plans, price and compensation.

Huyen also shared that in 2021, UNDP, along with other organisations in Vietnam, launched the website Công khai thông tin đất đai (Land plans transparency) (www.congkhaithongtindatdai.info) to promote land transparency in Vietnam. The website compiles land plans from 705 districts and assesses the level of land transparency of all provinces across the country.

In the Q&A session, Huyen discussed the latest developments of the December 2021 land auction in Thu Thiem and its implications for future land conflicts, the role of private real estate developers in land disputes, the impacts of COVID-19 on the land market, how land disputes and mismanagement affect the legitimacy of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and how citizens can protect their land rights.

About 100 participants attended the webinar. (Credit: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute)