Breaking policy on land for Ho Chi Minh City: Some implications from the draft of adjustment of law on land

Abstract

For the important role of a major economic and urban center, Ho Chi Minh City needs a distinguished legal, administrative, and economic institution. The advantage of a breakthrough mechanism for specific urban administrations not only creates resilience for HCMC but also brings positive externalities, pulling socio-economic activities of the region and the whole country, quickly approaching the national development goals, and then contributing to the budget. The efficiency after more than five years of implementing Resolution 54/2017/QH14 is a testament to the choice of policy model. However, the rapid growth of economic activities in Ho Chi Minh City once again poses new requirements as well as the need for a new and more breakthrough in this unique optional policy. More importantly, the drafting of a new draft resolution on a new particular sandbox mechanism for HCMC should aim to effectively solve the administrative bottlenecks that are currently arising. Urban governments especially HCMC need to be empowered to be more proactive, more flexible, and more creative. In most of the content that exists a great need for a breakthrough mechanism, the state management of land plays an important role and therefore should be enlisted to find possible solutions while drafting the revised Law on land, which is also being finalized for submission to the National Assembly. The discussion of the article thus proposes resolutions from the content of the draft Resolution on the specific mechanism for Ho Chi Minh City and the relevant provisions in the mentioned draft of the Law on land adjustment.