Land management looks to int’l standards

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment held a symposium in Hanoi Friday to listen to foreign land managers in an effort to catch up with developed economies in the region by 2020 as planned.

Experts from Sweden, Holland, South Korea, China and the World Bank shared experiences in land registry, land pricing, land information systems, digital land management, land fund development and land compensation.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen emphasised three key points in the orientation on land management modernisation, based on a modern organisational mechanism, advanced technology and efficiency of land management.

“All this is necessary to contribute to poverty alleviation, democracy and social parity,” said the minister, revealing that the nation’s final goal was to reach international standards by 2030.

Acting Head of the Land Management Department Phung Van Nghe said land managers should no longer simply do an administrative job but should manage the business of national properties.

He explained that land management was geared towards providing administrative and legal procedures for land users and the community.

The Law of Land, promulgated in 2003, has opened up a new era where the Government has shifted land ownership or auctioned small parcels of land to enrich State coffers.

In 2009 alone, land auctions fetched VND40 trillion (US$2.04 billion), representing a 10-fold increase over five years ago.

 

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Land management looks to int’l standards

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment held a symposium in Hanoi Friday to listen to foreign land managers in an effort to catch up with developed economies in the region by 2020 as planned.

Experts from Sweden, Holland, South Korea, China and the World Bank shared experiences in land registry, land pricing, land information systems, digital land management, land fund development and land compensation.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen emphasised three key points in the orientation on land management modernisation, based on a modern organisational mechanism, advanced technology and efficiency of land management.

“All this is necessary to contribute to poverty alleviation, democracy and social parity,” said the minister, revealing that the nation’s final goal was to reach international standards by 2030.

Acting Head of the Land Management Department Phung Van Nghe said land managers should no longer simply do an administrative job but should manage the business of national properties.

He explained that land management was geared towards providing administrative and legal procedures for land users and the community.

The Law of Land, promulgated in 2003, has opened up a new era where the Government has shifted land ownership or auctioned small parcels of land to enrich State coffers.

In 2009 alone, land auctions fetched VND40 trillion (US$2.04 billion), representing a 10-fold increase over five years ago.

 

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• Vietnam metro trims land, housing procedures
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• ASEAN role sought to resolve temple conflict

Climate change seen eating into Vietnam GDP

HCMC – Negative impacts of climate change will likely take away 25% of Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the coming years if the country fails to take prompt coping measures, said a Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment official.

Tran Hong Ha, deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment, told the Daily on Monday that if the worst happened with sea levels rising by a maximum of three meters, 25% of the nation’s population would be directly affected.

At the same time, he added, climate change will lead to a 25% loss of the country’s GDP. In a more optimistic scenario where sea levels swell by only one meter, the country will also lose around 10% of GDP while 40,000 square kilometers of coastal land will become flood-prone, he said as he is attending a two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) forum on climate change that opened in the northern province of Quang Ninh on Monday.

“Based on the latest studies, climate change will mostly affect the livelihood of the poor and the farmer in coastal areas in the central provinces and the Mekong Delta if we don’t take measures right now,” he said.

He said his ministry had just envisaged a scenario for the country to adapt to negative impacts of climate change by 2015 in combination with other master social and economic development plans. The ministry is also doing more research on how to adapt to climate change by 2100.

Delegates to the forum are discussing ways for international cooperation to cope with the issue.

According to the environment ministry, Asian and European nations should take rapid action or they lose at least 40% of cereal output by 2040 as climate change bites.

In December 2008, the Government of Vietnam, which is trying to become a low-carbon country, approved a national program for mitigating the consequences of climate change. International organizations have promised to support Vietnam to get more financial sources to carry out the program in the coming years.

In recent years, several European countries have been sharing experience with and providing support for Vietnam in the climate change coping effort.

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