MONITORING OF LAND LAW IMPLEMENTATION INTEGRATION OF M&E SYSTEM IN LAND SECTOR AND PROVINCIAL LGAF IN VIETNAM

BACKGROUND (1)  : World Bank has supplied soft-loan for Vietnam to implement the Vietnam Land Administration Project (VLAP), aiming at modernization of land administration in 9 provinces of Vietnam (cadastral mapping, land registration, Land Use Right Certificate issuance, cadastral recording, and land information system forming) USD 100 Mill.  : World Bank and MoNRE have cooperated to implement LGAF in Vietnam

BACKGROUND (2)  2013: The Land Law 2013 was adopted by Vietnam National Assembly, in which there are several reformed regulations formulated based on the policy dialogues from the LGAF implementation (transparency, people’s participation, accountability, monitoring & evaluation in land management and use).  : World Bank and MoNRE have discussed the new WB- funded project on land (PILGRIM) and the implementation of provincial LGAF.

BACKGROUND (3)  PILGRIM Project: 1.Objective: Improvement of efficiency and transparency in land management in selected provinces of Vietnam; 2.Components: (i) Strengthening policy and institutional environment; (ii) Establishment & Operation of Unified Multipurpose LIS; (iii) Monitoring the Implementation of the Land Law and Land Resources; 3.Time of implementation: 2015 –  Piloting PLGAF in 2015: 1.Support of the development of a regular land governance monitoring system; 2.Piloting Provincial Land Governance Monitoring System; 3.Land resource utilization monitoring; 4.Integrating the experiences and lessons into the design of PILGRIM.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE LGAF IMPLEMENTATION (1): LAND POLICIES & LAWS 1.Informal land transactions are popular; legislative framework regarding to rights and issuance of LURC in residential areas, to the poor in urban areas is weak, resulting in low quality services and endless disputes. 2.Land for disadvantaged groups have been concerned but there have been many shortcomings (land and forestry land for ethnic minority, renewal of LURCs with name of women). LAND USE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT 1.Actual urban development is not in line with the urban plans which does not control urbanization. 2.Public consultation is considered during law formulation but this remains formalistic. There are shortcomings in public of plans; plans implementation is not in line with the plan. 3.The relation among types of plan is not clear; land use plan has not based on cost-benefit analysis and spatial analysis; environmental, social and economic analysis has not based on various information sources; good governance has not been identified in land used planning.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE LGAF IMPLEMENTATION (2): LAND VALUATION & TAXATION 1.There is a big enough deference between the State’s price of land and market land price; land valuation service quality is low and does not meet the practical needs. 2.The land taxation system, exemptions to the payment of land/property taxes are assessed as ineffective; inequitable and not transparent; assessment of land/property for tax purposes is based on market prices, but there are significant differences; land taxes is quite low to ensure increments in land values are captured by the public, needed infrastructure and services can be provided; main revenue from land use for the State is unsustainable. MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC LAND 1.There is no official definition of public land in Vietnam legal system; public land is created mostly by land acquisition. 2.Public management has not been applied with good governance, especial chains of plan, land acquisition, compensation, support, resettlement, allocation/lease for individual purpose.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE LGAF IMPLEMENTATION (3): PUBLIC PROVISION OF LAND INFORMATION 1.Vietnam implements well cadastral surveys and mapping, 70-90% of land parcels privately held and registered in the registry. 2.There are some shortcomings in public provision of land information: (i) issuance of LURCs are still lagging behind; lack of information in record, information is not updated; (ii) land information is largely not spatially referenced yet; (iii) the timeliness of response to a request for access to records in the registry; (iv) The State investment and the total fees collected by the registry cover 50% of its need only. DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT 1.Land-related disputes are widespread, but there is no systematic monitoring or feedback to policy. 2.All land disputes and complaints have to be resolved through the general dispute resolution system; dispute resolution is long-lasting, long- standing land conflicts account for high percentage (10-20%). 3.Disputes are resolved in administration system first, then in the court (with high fee).

GENERAL ASSESSMENT AND COMPARATIVE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF VIETNAM’S LAND GOVERNANCE 1.Except for three factors including recognition of public land, customary land practice and compulsory land acquisition for economic purposes, Vietnam was among the top three countries to rank highest in land policies and regulations. 2.Vietnam’s weakest rankings were in the areas concerned with the accountability of the concerned land sector agencies, specifically: completeness of land registry information; information on registration are updated and sufficient; land services provision is cost-effective; responsibility for conflict management. 3.Vietnam is ranked as average and these areas include: recognition of a continuum of land use rights; clarity of institutional functions and activities; transparency of land use restrictions; transparency of valuations; identification of public land and clear management; transparency and fairness of expropriation procedures; transparent process and economic benefit; low level of pending conflict.

DESIGNED INDICATORS AND DIMENSIONS IN THE PLGAF (1) NoIndicatorsData sources 1.1Initial Land Registration (15 dimensions) - Reporting System of Land Administration; - Land Statistic Data; - Land Information System 1.2 Transaction Land Registration (16 dimensions) 1.3Land survey and mapping (6 dimensions) 1.4 Land has been granted with LURC (13 dimensions) 1.5 Transparency and people’s participation (6 dimensions) 1.6Quality of service delivery (29 dimensions)

DESIGNED INDICATORS AND DIMENSIONS IN THE PLGAF (2) NoIndicatorsData sources 2.1 Preparation and implementation of land use planning (9 dimensions) - Analysis of land use planning and all related reports - Comparison between land planning map and current land use in satellite images 2.2 Transparency and people’s participation (9 dimensions) Reporting system of land administration 3.1 Land acquisition and compensation, support, resettlement (14 dimensions) - Reporting system of land administration - Reporting system of investment management 3.2 Land allocation/lease to investors (11 dimensions) 3.3 Transparency and people’s participation (6 dimensions)

DESIGNED INDICATORS AND DIMENSIONS IN THE PLGAF (3) NoIndicatorsData sources 4.1Land pricing by the State (12 dimensions) - Reporting system of land administration - Reports of land valuation service providers 4.2 Revenue from land taxes, land use fee and land rental (11 dimension) Reporting system of tax offices 4.3 Transparency in collection of land revenue (3 dimensions) 4.4 Quality of land/property valuation service (3 dimensions) People’s opinion survey

DESIGNED INDICATORS AND DIMENSIONS IN THE PLGAF (4) NoIndicatorsData sources 5.1Civil disputes on land (7 dimensions) Reporting system of Administrative Agencies and Civil Courts 5.2 Administrative complaints on land (14 dimension) Reporting system of Governmental Inspectorates and Administrative Courts 5.3 Denouncement related to land (6 dimensions) Reporting system of Administrative Agencies and Administrative Courts 5.4 Capacity of State’s authorities in land conflicts management (2 dimensions) People’s opinion survey

CONCLUSIONS 1.Opportunity for Implementation of the PLGAF in Vietnam: a.There is a good opportunity for PLGAF implementation because it is regulated in the Land Law b.Good supports will be received from the PILGRIM project. 2.Challenges that the PLGAF implementation could be faced: a.Monitoring data sources are improperly archived. b.The concept of monitoring & evaluation is not well understood by State’s officials. c.Some local governments do not yet want to support the PLGAF implementation. d.It is a lack of budget for implementation.