On September 16, Deputy Director of the Department of Land Administration under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Mai Van Phan, provided an update on the nationwide cleanup of land data and the ministry's proposal to introduce electronic land-use right certificates, commonly known as “red books.”
The Department of Land Administration has completed a draft electronic template for certificates of land-use rights and ownership of assets attached to land. The certificates will be integrated into VNeID, with a view to eventually replacing paper certificates.
However, according to Mr. Mai Van Phan, the Land Law needs to be amended before electronic certificates can be put into operation to establish their legal validity. It is also necessary to ensure consistent legal status between paper and electronic certificates.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is continuing to provide guidance, direction, and supervision to localities to complete the national land database. The database will serve as the foundation for fully electronic administrative procedures and provide the basis for issuing land-use right certificates.
Regarding progress in building the national land database, Mai Van Phan said that more than 68 million land parcels nationwide have so far been incorporated into the database. Of these, 47.7 million parcels, or about 70 percent, have met the “accurate, complete, clean, and up-to-date” requirements.
For areas where data is already available, the target of having at least 80 percent of land records meet the “accurate, complete, clean, and up-to-date” standard by the end of 2026 is considered feasible, with the potential to meet or exceed the target.
