Question: Are foreign-invested economic organizations permitted to acquire land use rights?
As of August 1, 2024, the 2024 Land Law officially takes effect. Accordingly, Clause 1, Article 28 of the 2024 Land Law provides regulations regarding the acquisition of land use rights by foreign-invested economic organizations as follows:
The recipients of land use rights are defined as follows:
- a) Individuals are allowed to convert land use rights as prescribed at Point b, Clause 1, Article 37 of this Law;
- b) Economic organizations and individuals are entitled to receive the transfer of land use rights;
- c) Foreign-invested economic organizations and overseas Vietnamese permitted to enter Vietnam may acquire land use rights in industrial parks, industrial clusters, and high-tech zones;
- d) Foreign-invested economic organizations may acquire investment capital in the form of land use rights value, as regulated by the Government;
- e) Economic organizations and foreign-invested economic organizations may receive capital contributions in the form of land use rights;
…
- i) Domestic organizations, individuals, residential communities, religious organizations, subordinate religious organizations, and overseas Vietnamese permitted to enter Vietnam may be allocated land by the State; foreign-invested economic organizations may be allocated land by the State to implement housing construction projects for sale or for sale combined with lease;
- k) Economic organizations, public service units, religious organizations, subordinate religious organizations, individuals, overseas Vietnamese permitted to enter Vietnam, foreign-invested economic organizations, and foreign diplomatic organizations may lease land from the State;
…
- m) Domestic organizations, individuals, overseas Vietnamese permitted to enter Vietnam, and foreign-invested economic organizations may acquire land use rights according to the outcomes of land dispute mediation recognized by competent People’s Committees; agreements in mortgage contracts for debt settlement; decisions of competent state agencies on land dispute resolution, land-related complaints, and denunciations; judgments and decisions of courts, enforcement decisions of enforcement agencies that have been implemented; decisions or awards of Vietnamese commercial arbitration; documents recognizing land use rights auction results in accordance with the law; documents on the division or separation of land use rights in accordance with the law for groups of land users with shared land use rights; …
Accordingly, foreign-invested economic organizations may acquire land use rights in the following forms:
- Receiving the transfer of land use rights in industrial parks, industrial clusters, and high-tech zones;
- Receiving the transfer of investment capital in the form of land use rights value, as prescribed by the Government;
- Receiving capital contributions in the form of land use rights;
- Being allocated land by the State to implement housing construction projects for sale or for sale combined with lease;
- Leasing land from the State;
- Acquiring land use rights through:
- Land dispute mediation results recognized by competent People’s Committees;
- Agreements in mortgage contracts for debt settlement;
- Decisions of competent state agencies on land dispute resolution, land-related complaints, and denunciations; judgments and decisions of courts, enforcement decisions of enforcement agencies that have been implemented;
- Decisions or awards of Vietnamese commercial arbitration;
- Documents recognizing land use rights auction results in accordance with the law;
- Documents on the division or separation of land use rights in accordance with the law for groups of land users with shared land use rights.
