Workshop offers insights on setting up agricultural land market

The workshop on developing supportive institutions to promote agricultural land market in Vietnam

The workshop attracted the participation of representatives from different departments under Ministries of Agricultural and Rural Development and Planning and Investment.

Addressing the workshop, Hoang Vu Quang, deputy director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Development, said that land is the most important element form of capital for agricultural enterprises, but in Vietnam land for agricultural activities is limited and fragmented. “63 per cent of farming households own less than 0.5 hectares of land while 26 per cent own between 0.5 and 2ha. Besides these, many households own small areas, scattered in different places, discouraging investors from pouring money into agriculture, particularly modern agriculture,” Quang said.

According to him, although the state has issued a policy to accumulate land on a large scale to bring about positive changes, the competitiveness of Vietnamese agriculture can only be enhanced if we can clarify the phrase “accumulating land”.

Evaluating the factors affecting the process of agricultural land concentration in Vietnam, Nguyen Van Ton from the Department of Agriculture, Central Economic Committee under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said that general awareness of the policy was low. There have been a number of projects on accumulating land to develop large-scale agriculture but then the land use purpose was changed to the construction of urban areas or industrial clusters illegally.

Meanwhile, discussing the difficulties of agribusinesses in accessing land, Dau Anh Tuan, general director of the Legal Department under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “31 per cent of interviewed enterprises said the administrative procedures caused difficulties for businesses. This is higher than those citing taxes, social insurance, environment, or market management as their main difficulties. In addition, the current state price of land is only 20-30 per cent of the market price. Similarly, the prices issued by the provinces are only 30-60 per cent of the local market rates.

Nguyen Trung Kien, head of the Market and Commodity Research Department under the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Development, said that in Vietnam, the agricultural land market is at an early stage of development. “It is necessary to induce farmers to think about market dynamics and respond to them. Besides, it is necessary to reduce overlaps between different laws."

Kien added that the land registration system must be completed and updated. “We should build an integrated and unified national land information system and database, as well as develop mechanisms and organisations to handle disputes on agricultural land transactions and agricultural contracts to ensure the benefits of both enterprises and farmers."