Ho Chi Minh City proposes 45 projects involving the conversion of land use from rice cultivation.

According to a proposal from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, 45 projects involve the conversion of land use from rice cultivation, covering an area of over 357 hectares.

Among the proposed projects, there are 5 newly registered projects with an area of 28.26 hectares; 1 project that was approved in 2021 regarding the list of land acquisition projects, now being submitted for approval to convert rice land use with an area of 0.6 hectares; 2 projects that had been approved by resolution on land acquisition and conversion of rice land use but have not been implemented for more than 3 years with an area of 4.3 hectares…

According to regulations, for the two projects that have received resolutions from the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council and have been included in the annual land use plan at the district level (but have now exceeded three years without a land acquisition decision or permission to change land use purposes), the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee must adjust or cancel them. Simultaneously, it must publicly announce the adjustment or cancellation of land acquisition or change of land use purposes for the land area listed in the annual land use plan at the district level.

Ho Chi Minh City proposes a series of projects with land use purposes specifically for rice cultivation (Figure 1). — Ho Chi Minh City still has a lot of rice paddy land that is permitted to be converted to other uses.

However, these projects are public works projects, serving the essential needs of the locality in the process of socio -economic development and urban beautification. Upon review, it was found that the above projects have full legal basis for implementation in 2023. For this reason, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment proposes to continue registering the land use change for the implementation of these two projects.

According to the report from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the target for converting rice-growing land in Ho Chi Minh City approved for the entire planning period of 2011-2020 was 14,773 hectares, of which 1,512 hectares were for the 2011-2015 period and 13,261 hectares for the 2016-2020 period. Of this, 3,508 hectares of land had been approved for conversion by the Prime Minister and the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council but remained unimplemented after three years.

Assessing the results of implementing land use planning targets up to December 31, 2020, according to Government Resolution No. 80/NQ-CP of 2018, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment stated that the remaining rice cultivation land for conversion to other uses is 13,077 hectares.

Earlier, at the end of 2022, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment also submitted a proposal to the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to present to the City People's Council for approval of the list of projects requiring the conversion of rice cultivation land for various projects in the area. This included 18 projects involving the conversion of rice cultivation land under 10 hectares (total area 31.74 hectares) and 3 projects involving the conversion of rice cultivation land over 10 hectares (total area 170.11 hectares). The demand for converting rice cultivation land for housing projects is approximately 30 hectares.

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