New guidance on issuance of Land use right certificate

On 30 June 2021, MONRE issued Circular 09/2021, amending some regulations on issuance of land use right certificate (LURC). Key takeaways from Circular 09/2021 are as follows:

· Circular 09/2021 provides a new case where the land user will be issued with a brand new LURC. In particular, if a master LURC covers multiple land parcels, then when the land user conducts the registration of changes to land due to land division, the divided land will be issued with a separate LURC (Article 1.2 of Circular 09/2021). Previously, Circular 23/2014 only contemplates the case that the divided land is issued with separate LURC when there is division of single land parcel into several separate land parcels; and

Uncertainty for Vietnamese real estate companies doing business in an industrial zone

There is inconsistency between the Land Law 2013 and the Law on Real Estate 2014 regarding the ability of a local real estate company, who sub-leases land from an industrial zone developer (IZ Developer), to sell building or other construction works built on such land. In particular,

  • According to Article 149.3 of the Land Law 2013, a local real estate company, who sub-leases land from an IZ Developer to conduct business in an industrial park is entitled to, among others, transfer building or construction works attached to such land to others; and

  • However, under Article 11.1 of the Law on Real Estate Business 2014, the scope of real estate business of a local enterprise does not include the scenario where the real estate company sub-leases land from an IZ Developer. The most relevant scenario is the scenario where a real estate company leases from another organisation for leasing business. But that scenario does not include sale of building and construction works.

Re-execution of a Government Land Lease Agreement in case of assigning of land use rights in Vietnam

In Vietnam, leasing land directly from the State is a common option to acquire land use right (LUR). That means one, as master “land user” (người sử dụng đất), needs to sign a land lease agreement (LLA) with State, by which it is obligated to pay land rental. Depending on the choice of the land user, the land rental could be paid in lump sum for the whole term or annual basis. Regarding the former case, the land law allows the land user (Assignor) to assign its LUR to another entity (Assignee) via, among others, sale of or capital contribution in form of LUR (generally, assignment). Meanwhile, the law does not make it clear on whether the Assignee should sign a new LLA with State as a result of the LUR assignment. In particular,

New Amendments to Vietnam Construction Law

The National Assembly has passed the Law Amending and Supplementing some Articles of the Construction Law 2014 (Construction Law 2020). The Construction Law 2020 will take effect from 1 January 2021 and contain some notable points as below.

1. Pre-feasibility study

Construction Law 2020 promulgates new projects that are subject to preparing a pre-feasibility study (Pre-FS). In particular, the projects that must prepare a Pre-FS include:

  • Projects of national importance. This requirement is the same under Construction Law 2014. Criteria to determine whether a project is of national importance is regulated under the Law on Public Investment 2019;

  • Group A projects financed by public investment capital (vốn đầu tư công). Construction Law 2014 requires all Group A projects to prepare the Pre-FS. Criteria to determine whether a project falls within the scope of Group A projects is regulated under the Law on Public Investment 2019;

  • PPP projects under regulations governing PPP projects. Construction Law 2014 does not specify the requirement of preparing the Pre-FS of a PPP project; and

  • Projects that are subject to obtaining in-principle approval from the National Assembly or the Prime Minister. Construction Law 2014 does not require these projects to prepare the Pre-FS. Under the Investment Law 2020, the Pre-FS can serve as the proposal for implementing a project.