New proposal to avoid project congestion just because of a few households
On August 20, at the Workshop "Improving land laws to create development momentum in the digital age" organized by VietTimes Electronic Magazine in coordination with the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Agriculture and Environment (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment), Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hiep, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Construction Contractors (VACC), Chairman of the Board of Directors of GP.Invest Global Petroleum Investment Joint Stock Company - said that the most concerned thing for the business community at present is the land acquisition and site clearance mechanism.
According to him, previously, the 2024 Land Law only stipulated 32 cases of land recovery by the State, mainly for security and defense purposes. This amendment to the draft Land Law has added projects at priority locations, mixed-use urban residential area projects, free trade zones, etc. These are very necessary types to promote urban and real estate development.
In addition, a new regulation that is highly appreciated by the business community is that if the project has cleared 75% of the area within the time limit prescribed by the Provincial People's Council, the State will take responsibility for reclaiming the remaining part.
"This helps businesses feel secure in implementing, avoiding congestion just because of a few households," Mr. Hiep analyzed.
However, Mr. Hiep pointed out that site clearance procedures are still cumbersome and formal. He cited a project in a locality that from the time of the policy decision to the implementation, the site clearance stage has taken 14 years but is still not completed. The process of requiring notification, posting, enforcement, counting... is repeated many times. Each stage requires the participation of all representatives of the Front, Women's Union, Youth Union... to attend. In fact, each rounds of procedures alone can last from 6 months to 1 year.
"Such overlapping regulations have caused businesses to lose opportunities, which have been buried for many years. We recommend simplifying and shortening site clearance procedures to make them more practical, said Mr. Hiep.
The second problem that Mr. Hiep called "survival" for businesses is land prices. He recounted the experience of a project in Hanoi that when deciding to allocate land for the first time with an area of over 7 hectares, the enterprise must pay the land use fee within 30 days. In the decision to allocate land for the second time (8.4 ha), the land price has increased by 20% compared to the first time. By the third decision (6.7 ha), the price continued to increase by 20%.
"Every time we allocate land, the price increases, causing business costs to increase unreasonably. This is the biggest problem, Mr. Hiep emphasized.
There needs to be a transparent and practical mechanism for determining land prices
At the workshop, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Tho said that in the process of amending the Land Law, the most important goal is to reduce procedures, increase flexibility, and ensure that people and businesses are more convenient in converting land use purposes.
Talking about land prices and compensation and site clearance, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tho said that land prices according to the price list often have a large difference compared to market prices, leading to inadequacies in compensation calculation and investment attraction. This is one of the reasons for prolonged disputes and complaints. The new Land Law needs to have a mechanism for determining land prices more transparently and realistically, while minimizing delays in compensation and site clearance.
According to Mr. Tho, the Ministry of Finance needs to determine a suitable coefficient to calculate the financial obligations of the people. This issue is of special significance, because in reality, there is a huge difference between market land prices and land prices within the State- regulated price framework.
The huge difference between land price and market price has directly affected people and businesses. In fact, in recent times, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, many households have had difficulty converting land use purposes, because financial obligations calculated according to the land price list are too high. This also puts pressure on production and business costs, affecting livelihoods and the investment environment.
Therefore, Mr. Tho emphasized that it is necessary to pay special attention to land finance policies, ensure that people's financial obligations are at a reasonable level, and have a mechanism to support businesses. One of the new points expected is the adjustment of tax debts, ensuring that they do not exceed payment capacity and are suitable for production and business conditions.
