Land use term; land acquisition

1. Land use term
(i) The term for land allocation or land lease to foreign-invested enterprises for the implementation of investment projects in Vietnam shall be considered and decided on the basis of investment projects or applications for land allocation or land lease but shall not exceed 50 years.
For projects with large investment capital but slow capital recovery, projects in areas with difficult socio-economic conditions or areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions which require a longer term, the term of land allocation or land lease shall not exceed 70 years.
For projects on construction of houses for sale or for a combination of sale and lease or for financial lease, the land use term shall be determined in accordance with the duration of the project. Those who buy houses associated with land use rights may use land for a long and stable term.
At the expiry of the term, if the land users still have land use needs, the State shall consider an extension which must not exceed the aforementioned time limit.
(ii) The land use term of foreign-invested enterprises implementing investment projects outside industrial parks, industrial clusters, export processing zones, high-tech parks, when the land use purposes are changed, shall be defined as for investment projects specified at item (i) above.

2. Land recovery
2.1 Land recovery for national defense or security purposes
The State may recover land for national defense or security purposes in the following cases:
(i) Land for military barracks or offices;
(ii) Land for construction of military bases;
(iii) Land for construction of national defense works, battle fields and special works of national defense or security;
(iv) Land for military railway stations and ports;
(v) Land for industrial, scientific and technological, cultural or sports facilities that directly serve national defense or security purpose;
(vi) Land for warehouses for the People’s Armed Forces;
(vii) Land for shooting grounds, training grounds, and weapon testing and destroying sites;
(viii) Land for training institutions and centers, hospitals and sanatoriums of the People's Armed Forces;
(ix) Land for construction of public-duty houses of the People's Armed Forces;
(i) Land for detention and re-education institutions managed by the Ministry of National Defense or the Ministry of Public Security.
2.2. Land recovery for socio-economic development in national or public interests
The State may recover land for socio-economic development in the national or public interest in the following cases:
(i) Implementation of national important projects for which the National Assembly approves the investment policies and the land must be recovered;
(ii) Implementation of projects approved and decided by the Prime Minister and the land must be recovered, including:
a) Projects on construction of industrial parks, export processing zones, hi-tech zones, economic zones, new urban centers; investment projects funded with official development assistance (ODA) capital;
b) Projects on construction of offices of state agencies, central political and socio-political organizations, offices of foreign organizations with diplomatic functions; ranked historical-cultural relics and scenic spots, parks, squares, statutes, monuments and national public non-business facilities;
c) Projects for construction of national technical infrastructure including transport, irrigation, water supply and drainage, electricity and communication facilities; oil and gasoline pipelines and depots; national reserve warehouses; facilities for waste collection and treatment;
(iii) Implementation of projects approved by Provincial People's Councils and the land must be recovered, including:
a) Projects on construction of offices of state agencies, political and socio-political organizations; ranked historical-cultural relics and scenic spots, parks, squares, statutes, monuments, and local public non-business facilities;
b) Projects on construction of local technical infrastructure including transport, irrigation, water supply and drainage, electricity, communication and urban lighting works; facilities for waste collection and treatment;
c) Projects on construction of common activities of the communities; projects on resettlement, dormitories for students, social houses, and public-duty houses; construction of religious institutions, public culture, sports and entertainment and recreation centers; markets; graveyards, cemeteries, funeral service centers and cremation centers;
d) Projects on construction of new urban centers and rural residential areas; on improvement of urban areas and rural residential areas; industrial clusters; concentrated zones for production and processing of agricultural, forestry, aquaculture and seafood products; and projects on development of protection forests or special-use forests;
dd) Mining projects licensed by competent agencies, except for the case of mining minerals for use as common construction materials, peat, and minerals in scattered and small mining areas, and salvage mining.
2.3. Land recovery due to violations of land law
Cases of land recovery due to violations of the land law include:
(i) Land is not used for the purposes for which land has been allocated, leased, or land use rights have been recognized by the State and the land users, after having been sanctioned administratively for using land for improper purposes, still continue committing the violation;
(ii) Land users intentionally damage land;
(iii) Land was allocated or leased to wrong subjects or ultra vires;
(iv) Land that is ineligible for transfer or donation;
(v) Land that is allocated by the State for management is encroached or occupied;
(vi) Land that is ineligible for transfer of land use rights is encroached or occupied due to the irresponsibility of land users;
(v) Land users who fail to fulfill obligations to the State and have been administratively sanctioned for such violations but do not obey the sanctions;
(vi) Land that is allocated or leased for implementing investment projects is not used within 12 consecutive months, or the land use schedule is 24 months late compared with the schedule stated in the project documents since the hand-over in the field. In case of not putting the land into use, the land use term may be extended 24 months and the investors shall pay a sum of money equivalent to the total land use levy or land rental for the delayed period. If the investors still fail to put the land into use when the extended time is over, the State shall recover the land without compensation for land and land-attached assets, except due to force majeure.
Land recovery due to violations of the land law must be based on documents and decisions issued by state agencies which are competent to determine violations of the land law.
2.4. Land recovery due to termination of land use under laws, voluntary return of land or risks of threatening human life
(i) Land users which lease land with annual rental payment are dissolved, go bankrupt, move to another place, or have lower or no land use demand;
(ii) Land users return the land voluntarily;
(iii) The land lease terms expire without extension;
(iv) The residential land is located in environmentally polluted areas which bears the risks of threatening human life;
(v) The residential land is at risk of being eroded or sunk or otherwise affected by other natural disasters threatening human life.
2.5. Land requisition
(i) The State may requisition land in case it is absolutely necessary to perform the tasks of national defense or security or in a state of war or emergency, or of natural disaster prevention and control.
(ii) The duration of land requisition must not exceed 30 days from the time the decision on land requisition takes effect. In a state of war or emergency, the duration of land requisition is counted from the date of issuance of the decision on land requisition, but must not exceed 30 days from the date the state of war or emergency is repealed.
In case the duration of land requisition expires but the objectives of the requisition have not been achieved, the land requisition duration may be extended for no more than 30 days. The decision to extend the land requisition must be made in writing and sent to the people whose land is requisitioned before the land acquisition duration expires.

3. Compensation for land acquisition
3.1. Principles and conditions for compensation
(i) The land user is eligible for the compensation (having a certificate or being eligible for getting a certificate of land use right, having the ownership of houses and properties attached to the land).
(ii) The compensation shall be made by allocating new land with the same land use purpose with the recovered land. If there is no land available for compensation, the land user shall receive compensation in money calculated according to the specific land price of the type of recovered land which is decided by the provincial-level People’s Committee at the time of the recovery decision.
(iii) The compensation upon land recovery by the State must be made in a democratic, impartial, equal, public, timely and lawful manner.
3.2. Cases that are not eligible for compensation for land but are eligible for compensation for the remaining investment costs on land when the land is recovered by the State
(i) Land which is allocated by the State without land use levy;
(ii) Land which is allocated with land use levy by the State but land use levy is exempted;
(iii) Land which is leased by the State with annual rental payment or leased land with full one- off rental payment for the entire lease period but the land rental is exempted;
3.3. Compensation and supports upon land recovery by the State
(i) Upon land recovery by the State, in addition to receiving compensation, land users shall also be considered for receiving supports from the State (production stabilization support and other supports);
(ii) A foreign invested enterprise using non-agricultural land which is leased by the State with full one-off rental payment for the entire lease period, if they are eligible for compensation when the State recovers the land, they shall be compensated for land according to the remaining land use term; If the non-agricultural land they use is leased by the State with annual rental payment, they shall be compensated for the remaining investment costs on land upon land recovery by the State;
(iii) If the land recovery by the State results in stoppage of production and business of and causes damages to a foreign-invested enterprise, the enterprise shall be compensated for such damages;
(iv) Upon land recovery by the State, people whose assets need to be moved shall be compensated for the cost of dismantlement, transportation and installation. In case of moving machinery or production lines, the damage caused during the process of dismantlement, transportation and installation shall also be compensated.
3.4. Cases in which compensation for land is not made upon land recovery by the State
The State shall recover land without compensation for land in the following cases:
(i) In one of the cases: Land which is allocated by the State without land use levy; land which is allocated with land use levy by the State but the land use levy is exempted; land which is leased by the State with annual rental payment or leased land with full one- off rental payment for the entire lease period but the land rental is exempted;
(ii) Land which is allocated by the State for management;
(iii) Land which is recovered in cases of violation of land law, termination of land use under laws, voluntary return of land, threatening human life (specified at Point (i), (ii), (iii) section 2.4).