New land incentive policies in special economic zones still scratched at different thresholds

By Minh Anh - Jan 17, 2018 | 07:04 AM GMT+7

TheLEADERThere are many updates related to land incentive policies in the latest report of the National Assembly Law Committee on revising the draft law of Special Administrative-Economic Units (SEUs).

New land incentive policies in special economic zones still scratched at different thresholds
A corner of Phu Quoc island

Allow maximum 99-year land use duration

Regarding the duration of land use for production and business at SEUs, the National Assembly Law Committee considers that the permitted maximum duration of land use of 99 years as stipulated in the draft law is to prove the superiority of land policies in SEUs compared to other economic zones in the country as well as in the region and the world.

Moreover, according to the draft law, the maximum duration of land use of up to 99 years is limited to only a few projects in prioritized fields, which shall be approved by the Prime Minister.

Therefore, the Committee on Laws endorses this article as in the draft law that the Government submitted to the National Assembly.

Besides, for investment projects entitled to the land use duration of up to 70 years, the Committee on Laws and the drafting agency suggest that the Head of the SEU or the Chairman of the SEU Committee should negotiate with the investors based on the scale, the characteristics and the demand of the project.

Add more conditions for asset mortgage at foreign credit institutions

Regarding the mortgage of land-attached assets at a foreign credit institution having the commercial presence in Vietnam, the Committee on Laws said that the authorization of mortgaging the land-attached assets (not including land use rights) at foreign credit institutions having the commercial presence in Vietnam should not affect Vietnam's jurisdiction over such assets.

According to international practice, the settlement of disputes involving real estate falls under the jurisdiction of the national court where the property is situated. Under the Civil Procedure Code, civil cases related to the rights to the property located in the territory of Vietnam fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of Vietnamese courts.

However, the Committee on Laws also proposed to supplement some provisions for the transferee of the land-attached assets in this case.

Exemption of land rental in SEUs

Regarding the policy of land rental exemption in SEUs, the Committee on Laws recognizes that it is one of the investment-attracting policies stipulated in the current legal documents. Therefore, to create the superiority for SEUs, it is necessary to include this policy in the draft law.

However, the Committee on Laws recommends more stringent and detailed regulations on this policy, such as narrowing the number of fully rental-exempt projects. For projects of strategic investors, the maximum exemption period is 30 years. For projects of the prioritized fields, the maximum exemption period is 15 years. The rental-exempt period shall not be more than half of the land use term of the projects.

For some other issues, such as allowing foreigners to acquire, lease or purchase resort property, the Standing Committee on Laws asks for further review, study, report and consult the Standing Committee of the National Assembly in the future.

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