The Land Law 2024, passed by the National Assembly and effective from August 1, 2024, marks an important step forward in the reform of land management and use in Vietnam. The Land Law, when promulgated and enforced, carries with it a lot of expectations of people and businesses about the State's management of one of the most valuable assets and has a special position in society. However, after only one year of implementation, the Government has proposed to amend and supplement a number of articles of this Law to submit to the National Assembly for approval at the next October session. The Draft Amendment to the Land Law 2024 (the "Draft Amendment")[1] is formulated to institutionalize the Party's guidelines, solve practical problems and be in line with the two-level local government organizational model.
Prime Minister chairs a conference to review Resolution 18 as a basis for amending the 2024 Land Law. Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
1. Basis for proposing amendments to the Land Law 2024
1.1 Requirements of the Party's new orientations on land management
The proposal to amend the Land Law 2024 not only comes from practical needs but also based on the orientation of renewing the activities of the Party organization and State agencies in the new period. This is very clearly shown from (1) Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW dated May 4, 2025 of the Politburo, emphasizing the improvement of the legal system, remove barriers to market access and create an open business environment. The Resolution requires at least 30% of the time to process administrative procedures, legal compliance costs and business conditions in 2025, and at the same time promote the application of artificial intelligence and big data in administrative management, especially in areas such as planning, investment, taxation and land. (2) Conclusion No. 155-KL/TW dated 17/05/2025 of the Politburo and the Secretariat requesting the organization of the apparatus and administrative units according to the two-level government model (provinces and communes), clearly delineating the authority between the People's Committee and relevant agencies. This requires legal provisions, including the Land Law, which must be adjusted to suit the new management model. (3) Resolution No. 190/2025/QH15 dated February 19, 2025 of the National Assembly stipulates the promulgation of legal documents in a simplified order to handle issues related to the organizational arrangement of the state apparatus, with a deadline for completion before March 1, 2027. This is an important legal basis for amending the Land Law according to the expedited process. (4) Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 dated 17/05/2025 and Resolution No. 206/2025/QH15 dated 24/06/2025 of the National Assembly focusing on private economic development and handling difficulties and obstacles in law enforcement. These resolutions emphasize the role of the Government and local authorities in creating favorable conditions for businesses, especially in accessing land and implementing investment projects until (5) Resolution No. 69-NQ/TW dated July 19, 2025 of the Central Executive Committee approving proposals to amend Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW dated June 16, 2022, determined that it is necessary to adjust a number of views, objectives and solutions on land management to remove institutional bottlenecks and promote socio-economic development.
These political and legal bases not only show consistency in the orientation of the Party and the State but also affirm the need to amend the Land Law 2024 to meet the new requirements of institutional reform, decentralization, decentralization and digital transformation.
1.2 Practical inadequacies of the Land Law 2024
After a year of implementation, the Land Law 2024 has brought many positive results, such as strong decentralization to local governments, reform of administrative procedures, and construction of a land database. However, the implementation process has revealed some serious inadequacies, requiring immediate adjustments:
a. Inadequate land use planning and plans
The system of land use planning and plans according to the Land Law 2024 is not synchronized with the two-level local government model. District-level land use planning and district-level annual land use plan are currently the basis for land recovery, land allocation and land use purpose change. However, in the two-level model (provinces and communes), district-level administrative units no longer exist, leading to inconsistencies in the application of these regulations.
In addition, the lack of synchronization between land planning and other sectoral planning, such as urban and rural planning, has caused overlap, slowing down the progress of investment projects. For example, the planned area of rice cultivation land is 3.5 million hectares, higher than the actual demand to ensure national food security (only about 1.3 million hectares). This makes it difficult for many localities to convert rice land to industrial, commercial or infrastructure development purposes.
b. Problems in land recovery, compensation and resettlement
Regulations requiring the completion of resettlement arrangements before land recovery cause difficulties for urgent projects, projects with on-site resettlement or projects along traffic routes. In addition, the valuation of compensation land is based on the specific land price, while the valuation methods have not ensured accuracy, leading to disputes and prolonging the site clearance time. People often demand compensation in land or higher prices, putting pressure on local authorities and investors.
In land use right transfer agreements, the situation of "suspended projects" occurs when investors cannot agree on a small part of the land area, leading to waste of land resources and delay in investment schedule.
c. Complicated procedures for land allocation, land lease and land use right auction
The procedures for auctioning land use rights and bidding to select investors currently take a long time, especially for projects that are not in the urban, commercial or service sectors. For example, renewable energy projects such as wind power or investment incentive projects face difficulties due to the requirement of detailed planning or zoning planning at a scale of 1:2000, reducing opportunities to attract investment.
In addition, the valuation of land for land allocation or land lease depends on the secondary market and the results of valuation consultancy, leading to unstable land prices, increasing investment costs and causing apprehension for officials performing valuation tasks.
d. Inadequate land finance and land valuation system
According to the Land Law 2024, the land price decided by the State in the primary market depends on the price of land in the secondary market and the results of valuation consultancy. However, determining specific land prices faces many difficulties due to the lack of input data, market fluctuations and professional qualifications of consultants. The surplus valuation method, which is often used for investment projects, relies on past market information, which does not properly reflect the added value of the land in the future.
This not only increases investment costs but also makes it difficult to control land prices, affecting the regulatory role of the State and the interests of investors.
e. Incomplete land information system
Although the Land Law 2024 has laid the foundation for the construction of a national land information system, the implementation progress is still slow. Completing the land database requires large financial and human resources, while the expected time to complete the data system in 2026 is a significant challenge for the competent authorities.
f. Not in line with the two-level local government model
The two-level government model (provincial and commune), implemented under Conclusion No. 137-KL/TW and Resolution No. 60-NQ/TW and officially approved by the National Assembly from 06/2025 and effective from 01/07/2025, requires adjustment of legal provisions to decentralize, appropriate decentralization. The 2024 Land Law is still based on a three-level model (provinces, districts, communes), leading to inconsistencies in land management, especially in tasks such as approving land use plans, recovering land and granting land use right certificates.
2. Purpose and significance of the amendment to the Land Law 2024
The amendment of the Land Law 2024 aims to achieve the important goals set by the Party and the State in managing one of the most important resources of the country.
First, institutionalize the Party's policy
The draft amendment will concretize the views, objectives and solutions of Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW and Resolution No. 69-NQ/TW, ensuring consistency and synchronization in the legal system.
Secondly, removing practical difficulties
The amendments focus on resolving issues of planning, land acquisition, land valuation and administrative procedures, facilitating investment projects and unlocking land resources.
Third, in line with the two-level government model
The draft will adjust regulations to decentralize and decentralize power to the provincial and commune levels, ensuring the efficiency of land management in the new context.
Fourth, promote administrative reform and digital transformation
The simplification of administrative procedures, the application of information technology and the construction of a land information system will improve the transparency and efficiency of management.
3. Main contents of the Draft Amendment
The Draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Land Law 2024 includes 02 articles with 68 amendments, focusing on three groups of contents:
3.1 Institutionalization of views, objectives and solutions of Resolution No. 69-NQ/TW
Land use planning and plans: Replace district-level planning with commune-level planning or exempt from making commune-level planning if there is already urban and rural planning. Supplementing the mechanism for adjusting planning in a simplified order for urgent projects.
Land recovery, compensation and resettlement: Supplementing cases of land recovery for specific and urgent projects or projects that cannot agree on the entire land area. Completing regulations on compensation according to the unit price of new and more flexible construction for crops and livestock.
Land allocation and land lease: Allow flexible selection of land lease forms, supplement bidding mechanisms for projects using public land funds.
Land finance and land price: Stipulate the coefficient of land price adjustment, land use levy collection rate and deduction of infrastructure costs to ensure transparency and stability.
Land information system: Set a goal to complete the national land information system before 2026, with a clear budget.
3.2. Removing practical difficulties and obstacles
Application of law: Priority is given to the application of the Land Law in case of differences with other laws.
Rights and obligations of land users: Simplify procedures for notarization, authentication and property registration.
Land registration and issuance of certificates: Supplementing the registration of changes for cases of transfer of mineral exploitation rights and purchase and sale of real estate assets.
Land use regime: To adjust regulations on agricultural, forestry, industrial park land and separation of plots to meet the needs of economic development.
3.3. In line with the two-level government model
The draft amendment with the hope that it will help synchronize with the activities of the two-level government that the State has implemented in practice. Accordingly, the Draft amendments will:
- Legalize regulations on decentralization and decentralization in Decree No. 151/2025/ND-CP, ensuring the competence of provinces and communes in land management.
- Strengthen the supervision of the National Assembly, the People's Council and the Fatherland Front to control power.
The amendment to the Land Law 2024 is expected to remove institutional bottlenecks. Solve problems of planning, land valuation and administrative procedures, create conditions for investment projects. At the same time, strengthen decentralization, decentralization, and improve the efficiency of land management in the locality. As well as supporting socio-economic development when helping to unleash land resources for fields such as renewable energy, logistics and tourism.
However, the implementation of the amendment also faces challenges such as securing financial resources, synchronizing with other legal documents and improving the management capacity of local governments.
The Government's proposal to adjust the Land Law 2024 is a necessary step to meet the requirements of institutional reform, remove practical difficulties and be in line with the two-level local government model. With amendments focusing on planning, land acquisition, land valuation and digital transformation, the draft not only addresses current inadequacies but also creates a foundation for effective, transparent and sustainable land management. The submission of the draft at the 10th session of the 15th National Assembly in October 2025 will be an opportunity for Vietnam to continue to optimize land resources, contributing to the realization of socio-economic development goals in the new period.
[1] https://vibonline.com.vn/du_thao/du-thao-luat-sua-doi-bo-sung-mot-dieu-cua-luat-dat-dai, accessed on 01/08/2025.
