Forest licencing gives root to security fears

Forestry projects have come into vogue for foreign investors

“The government should ban localities from licensing forest plantation projects because localities have massively licensed foreign investors’ projects, which have raised public concern and made big headlines in the local media over national defense and security,” said Le Quang Binh, chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for National Defense and Security.

Minister of Planning and Investment (MPI) Vo Hong Phuc said investment decentralisation had caused trouble related to foreign investors’ forest plantation projects in sensitive locations, which covered more than 380,000 hectares. “Investment decentralisation in forest plantations must be reconsidered,” Phuc said.

At a National Assembly’s interpellation with Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Cao Duc Phat, Binh reported that at present, in Vietnam 18 provinces had 19 foreign-invested forest plantation projects covering more than 398,300ha, of which more than 305,300ha had been handed over to foreign investors.

“Most of the projects are located in areas very sensitive to national defense and security and many of them belong to primary forests,” Binh said. However, a government report said that only 10 provinces had licensed foreign investors to cultivate over 305,300ha of forests, of which over 33,000ha had been leased.

Phat said by late 2009, 10 provinces had already agreed in principle to allow foreign investors to cultivate over 305,300ha of forest. “However, this was agreement in principle only. In fact, only over 15,600ha have been handed over to foreign investors.

The information that the government has licensed foreign investors to cultivate over 305,300ha is quite wrong. Even, these 305,300ha are for planting production forests and do not belong to natural or protective forests,” Phat said.

Phat said according to the country’s current investment decentralisation policy, localities were entitled to license these projects, which had already considered carefully in terms of socio-economic benefit and national security.

However, Quang Tri province deputy Le Nhu Tien looked into the dark side of investment decentralisation: “Localities said they obeyed the Investment Law, but is what they are doing [leasing forest land to foreign investors] suitable to Vietnam’s laws on national security, border protection, environmental protection and forest resources?”

The MPI said decentralisation had prompted some provinces to lease more land than they could properly manage. “All forestry projects, including those being implemented, will be paused temporarily for inspection. Small projects will be allowed for continuation, but any project located on areas sensitive to national defense and security will have their licences revoked,” Phuc said.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said: “Now, decentralisation remains problematic. But the difficult thing here is that both localities and enterprises have abided by the law. We will have to take great caution in reconsidering projects, but projects located in sensitive areas must be stopped and relocated to other areas.

We will have to revise out laws and regulations in a way to ensure foreign investors’ interest and ensure Vietnam’s prestige in foreign investors’ eyes.”