Expectations for early passage of the amended Land Law.

To reach this session, the draft Law on Land (amended) has been meticulously developed, starting from the review of its implementation and mobilizing the participation of the entire political system, voters, and the people.

Listening and being open to feedback are essential for improving the Land Law.

The process of amending the 2013 Land Law officially began three years ago, when in August 2020, the Prime Minister established a Steering Committee to review the implementation of the Land Law and develop a draft amended Land Law, and assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as the lead agency to develop the draft law.

To implement this task, the Ministry developed a draft outline for summarizing the implementation of the Land Law and sent a document requesting ministries, sectors, and localities to organize the summary. The summary process was conducted in parallel with the summary of Resolution 19-NQ/TW. In addition, the Ministry established a drafting committee and an editorial team for the revised Land Law project; issued a plan for developing the revised Land Law project; and researched and developed the contents of the revised Land Law project.

In particular, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment has issued a plan for the development of the revised Land Law project, which includes the establishment of groups (with key responsibilities) to assist the Minister in organizing the implementation throughout the process of developing the revised Land Law project. Experts, scientists , and managers have been proactively invited to participate in the drafting process…

To implement this Plan, the Ministry organized numerous workshops, seminars, and working sessions on the draft Law with relevant agencies, organizations, experts, and scientists both domestically and internationally; and sent copies to ministries, central agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities.

In particular, immediately after Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW dated June 16, 2022 was issued, the Ministry promptly mobilized the participation of experts, scientists, and managers, and consulted international experience to institutionalize new viewpoints and policies into the draft Law; solicited opinions from localities and ministries to unify the major amendments to the draft Law, and then reported to the Government to submit it to the National Assembly at the 4th Session.

Throughout the working sessions with ministries, departments, and localities, the guiding principle has been to listen, be receptive, and draw conclusions from practical experience to accurately reflect the voices, thoughts, and aspirations of people in each region, with their distinct cultural characteristics, economic conditions, and natural environment. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has reviewed and resolved overlapping and conflicting laws in practice, with the sole aim of creating a draft law that addresses these issues, leverages resources, and has long-term viability.

Following the 4th session (October 2022), and in accordance with the directives of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Government, after incorporating the opinions of National Assembly deputies at the session, finalized the draft Law and solicited public opinion for two and a half months, from January 3, 2023 to March 15, 2023. Perhaps after the public consultation on the 2013 Constitution, this consultation on amending the Land Law was the most extensive and mobilized the most heartfelt opinions, as this law directly affects the lives of every individual.

In the two months from mid-February 2023 to mid-April 2023, nearly 90 conferences, seminars, sessions, and working meetings were held at all levels, from central to local, regarding the amendment of the Land Law. Never before have land policies been discussed so extensively and openly.

Following extensive consultations with citizens both domestically and internationally through various direct and online methods, voters once again had the opportunity to contribute their opinions to the Draft Law on Land (amended), turning it into a widespread political activity nationwide. From March 16th, the Drafting Committee – the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other government agencies – worked responsibly to finalize the draft and submit the official document to the National Assembly on May 29th. During this period, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Drafting Team for the Draft Law on Land (amended) worked diligently and continuously for many days to incorporate and address public opinions and refine the draft law.

At the 5th session of the 15th National Assembly, National Assembly deputies once again contributed their opinions to improve the draft law. Evaluating the draft law after soliciting public opinion, the Economic Committee assessed it as having "significant progress in quality".

For example, the issue of land expropriation, which has attracted particular public attention, has undergone significant changes in this draft. According to the Economic Committee, compared to the draft law submitted to the National Assembly at the 4th session and the draft law for public consultation, the draft submitted to the National Assembly at the 5th session has made major changes towards greater specificity, listing 31 cases of land expropriation in 3 groups: Land expropriation for the construction of public works; Land expropriation for the construction of state agency headquarters and public service facilities; and Land expropriation for socio-economic development for national and public benefit.

The National Assembly's Economic Committee highly appreciates the Government's direction to the drafting agency and relevant ministries and agencies to promptly research and incorporate numerous opinions from the people, National Assembly deputies, and National Assembly agencies to revise the draft law, making significant progress in quality; the documents submitted to the National Assembly at the 5th session were prepared seriously and meticulously, with many contents incorporated and explained.

Focus on coordinated explanation and feedback.

Following the 5th session, the National Assembly's Economic Committee, the lead agency responsible for reviewing and clarifying the draft law, received and finalized the draft law. At this time, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, as the drafting agency, reported, explained, and provided information clarifying the contents of the draft law, supplementing arguments, perspectives, and practical examples to help the National Assembly's agencies consider and decide on amendments and additions to the draft law, in accordance with the authority and role of the reviewing agency as stipulated in the Law on the Promulgation of Legal Documents.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh has instructed the Drafting Team for the amended Land Law project to coordinate regularly and closely with the National Assembly's Economic Committee in receiving and explaining the draft law. In particular, Minister Dang Quoc Khanh has held several working sessions with the Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee, Vu Hong Khanh, on several issues related to explaining, receiving feedback, and refining the draft law. Furthermore, during this coordination process, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has submitted numerous reports to the Economic Committee outlining its views on explaining and incorporating the opinions of National Assembly deputies after seeking the Government's input.

On the government side, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha organized several meetings, inviting agencies of the National Assembly and a number of ministries and sectors, especially the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, to provide guidance.

In its role as the lead body in finalizing the draft Law, the Economic Committee organized numerous conferences and workshops to gather opinions from localities, experts, and scientists on major issues such as land policies for ethnic minorities, land prices, planning, and land use plans. In particular, it organized a conference of specialized National Assembly delegates and held two sessions (August and September 2023) to provide feedback on the draft Law.

At the 26th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee in late September 2023, discussing the draft Law on Land (amended), National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue stated that this is a law of special importance, with a broad scope, complex content, and a significant impact on socio-economic development, security, defense, domestic and foreign affairs, directly affecting the rights and interests of citizens and businesses. The Government and the National Assembly's agencies have made great efforts in the process of drafting this law. The current draft law is ready to be submitted to the National Assembly at its 6th session. Currently, some important contents of the draft law are still under consideration to select the optimal option. The Chairman of the National Assembly requested that, for major issues where there are differing opinions, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment should advise the Government, based on the preliminary review report of the Economic Committee, to provide opinions and viewpoints, coordinate explanations, and fully incorporate feedback.

The Chairman of the National Assembly requested the Economic Committee to continue to coordinate closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other relevant agencies to review and clarify the views and opinions on issues where there are differing opinions. The Economic Committee should promptly compile the remaining points of disagreement and proposed solutions to finalize the report, seek the opinion of the National Assembly Party Caucus, and submit it to the Politburo before the session.

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