At the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister requested leaders of ministries, sectors, and associations to focus on analyzing and discussing the urgent issues requiring amendments in the 2024 Land Law that are causing legal obstacles and hindering socio-economic development; and to address inadequacies in applying market-based land price tables, which have increased land use fees for households and individuals changing the purpose of land use (from agricultural land to residential land, transferring to their children), thereby creating difficulties for the people.
Speaking at the meeting, Acting Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang stated that the Draft Law focuses on three groups of issues.
Group 1 consists of issues already stated in the Conclusion of the Central Committee on amending and supplementing Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW on “Continuing to innovate and improve institutions and policies, enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of land management and use, creating momentum to make our country a developed nation with high income,” including: land use planning and plans; land recovery, compensation, support, and resettlement when the State recovers land; land allocation, land lease, and permission for land use conversion; land finance and land prices; and the improvement of the national land information system and land database.
Group 2 covers amendments and supplements aimed at further simplifying administrative procedures, reducing business investment conditions, harmonizing the legal system, and continuing to address difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of the Law.
Group 3 concerns amendments related to decentralization, delegation of powers, and delineation of authority to implement the two-tier local government system.
After considering the opinions of Government members and the feedback at the Government’s thematic session on lawmaking held on September 4, 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment revised major contents, including: commune-level land use plans; supplementing cases where the State recovers land for socio-economic development in the national or public interest, or where land is used to implement projects through agreements on acquiring land use rights; land allocation and land lease through auctions and bidding, the right to mortgage assets on land during the period of annual land rental payment; implementation of socio-economic development projects through agreements on acquiring land use rights or existing land use rights; calculation of infrastructure construction costs into land prices, the authority to decide land price tables and amendments and supplements to land price tables; and supplementing land use regimes for concentrated digital technology zones.
According to Prof. Hoang Van Cuong, former Vice President of the National Economics University, speaking at the meeting: proposal to narrow the scope of State land recovery, applying it only for public purposes, national defense, and security. For commercial and service projects, he suggested that enterprises and citizens should negotiate directly, and compulsory recovery should be carried out only in exceptional cases when the majority of households (75–80%) have agreed.
At the meeting, many opinions also emphasized the need to clearly distinguish between auctions and bidding in land allocation and land lease: auctions should apply only to land plots with existing infrastructure and stable planning, while bidding should be used to select investors with capacity and the best development plans, not solely based on price.
Regarding land price tables, the delegates agreed to maintain the five-year cycle, while adding a mechanism for annual adjustments through coefficients, or creating new price tables in cases of major fluctuations, in order to reflect reality more accurately, reduce overlaps, and save resources.
With respect to policies on exemption and reduction of land use fees, appropriate support mechanisms are needed, particularly for households that legally use land but have not yet been granted certificates, in order to avoid disadvantages when new land price tables are applied.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Finance Bui Van Khang stated that the Ministry is drafting a document to address obstacles regarding financial obligations when households and individuals convert land use purposes from agricultural to residential land. Accordingly, specific regulations will be provided for each case, both within and beyond land quota limits, as well as on the number of times preferential treatment may be applied.
In addition, the Ministry of Finance proposed supplementing clear regulations on exemption and reduction of land use fees and land rental fees for enterprises, or authorizing the Government to decide annually and report to the National Assembly, thereby ensuring transparency and stability for business operations.
Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha emphasized the need to finalize the Draft Land Law (amended) in a rigorous and transparent manner, while creating favorable conditions for management and practical implementation.
Regarding commune-level land use planning and plans, the Deputy Prime Minister agreed with the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment not to prepare commune-level land use planning, while commune-level land use plans must be closely linked with urban and rural planning to ensure spatial efficiency.
With respect to the additional provisions on cases where the State recovers land for socio-economic development in the national and public interest, the Deputy Prime Minister clarified: projects on national defense, security, free trade zones, and international financial centers fall under the authority of the Prime Minister and will be subject to State recovery; meanwhile, social infrastructure projects such as social housing, education, and healthcare require specific regulations. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment needs to study provisions assigning the Prime Minister to approve land recovery decisions in special cases.
In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister requested a clear distinction between land recovery for project implementation through agreements on acquiring land use rights under civil law and land recovery by the State under separate policies. For projects subject to State land recovery where the investor has already reached agreements with the majority of households (70–80%), consideration may be given to allowing continuation under the agreement mechanism between the investor and the people, instead of requiring compulsory State recovery, provided that it does not contravene Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW.
Noting that there are still no clear criteria for cases of auction and bidding, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that auctions should apply to public land that has been cleared, with detailed planning and infrastructure in place; while bidding is more suitable for areas without synchronized infrastructure that require major investment for development. “If the Law cannot provide detailed provisions, authority may be delegated to the Government for guidance”. Land use right auctions must be linked with detailed planning, not only subdivision planning, to ensure transparency and feasibility.
Regarding land use rights, the Deputy Prime Minister affirmed that enterprises may choose to pay land rental fees either in a lump sum or annually; if paying in a lump sum, the land lessee may mortgage assets attached to the land, while pilot provisions on mortgaging assets attached to land under annual rental payment “will only be included in the Law after a full review”.
Regarding land valuation, the Deputy Prime Minister agreed with the view that land price tables should be maintained every five years, accompanied by adjustment coefficients based on market fluctuations. These coefficients must have clearly defined methods of determination, specific legal grounds, and prescribed fluctuation thresholds for adjustment. In the long term, it is necessary to move toward a unified land price based on the land database, but in the immediate future, land price tables and coefficients must still be applied.
The Deputy Prime Minister also noted that regulations on new land categories must be selective, avoiding excessive listings that cause overlaps. Policies on exemption and reduction of land use fees should be supplemented for the fields of education, healthcare, and infrastructure; at the same time, an additional mechanism should be introduced allowing the Prime Minister to decide on special cases, with reporting to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.
For BT (Build–Transfer) projects, the Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to coordinate with the Ministry of Construction to review and design regulations ensuring consistency regarding the timing of land valuation when allocating land and signing contracts.
Finally, with regard to the collection of additional payments for late payment of land use fees, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the need for regulations covering force majeure cases such as natural disasters or epidemics, or where State adjustments to planning cause land users to delay payment of land use fees, so as to prevent unreasonable charges on enterprises and citizens; and to ensure fair policies for households and individuals who use land stably and legally but are slow in completing procedures for the issuance of Land Use Right Certificates.
The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and relevant agencies to incorporate, carefully analyze, defend their positions, and finalize the Draft Law, while stressing the need for flexible mechanisms to avoid rigidity and to facilitate implementation.
Within the Vietnamese legal system, the Land Law is among the most important laws, serving both as a legal instrument governing socio-economic relations associated with land and as an institutional foundation ensuring the rights and obligations of the State and land users.
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