Vinh City: Exploiting resources from land funds.

(Baonghean) - Given the limited budget of Vinh City, generating revenue from land plays a crucial role in providing capital for infrastructure development and socio-economic growth. In 2014, the city's target for revenue from land exploitation was over 298 billion VND. Achieving this target requires significant effort from the Land Development Center and the 25 wards and communes…

Over the years, Vinh Tan ward in Vinh City has had a relatively large land reserve, attracting businesses to invest in its development. Large-scale projects have provided the ward with a significant budget for infrastructure development, contributing to the transformation of this central city ward. Currently, large-scale land in Vinh Tan ward is scarce, leaving only scattered, fragmented, and small plots that are difficult to plan for subdivision and auction. Therefore, in 2014, Vinh Tan had the lowest revenue target for land exploitation among the 25 wards and communes in the city, with revenue amounting to nearly 5 billion VND.

However, achieving this revenue target is not easy because the remaining land consists only of small, abandoned agricultural plots that are unproductive or ponds and lakes. Sharing his thoughts on this issue, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Manh – Vice Chairman of the Vinh Tan Ward People's Committee – said: "Investing in infrastructure to develop the land requires significant initial costs, thus facing many difficulties. Currently, we are focusing on developing interspersed land areas within residential zones, paying particular attention to legalizing land adjacent to existing households to attract potential buyers."

The Trang An ecological park project is located in Vinh Tan ward.

Nghi Phu is the locality assigned the highest land exploitation target among the 25 wards and communes in Vinh City, with revenue reaching nearly 28.5 billion VND in 2014. Currently, the land in Nghi Phu is divided into 13 planning zones, of which 8 zones are managed by the Commune People's Committee and 5 zones are managed by the Vinh City Land Development Center. The land managed by Nghi Phu Commune mainly consists of small, scattered plots of land that were previously used for rice cultivation, but have been abandoned for a long time due to inadequate irrigation and inefficient production. The larger land areas (10 plots or more) managed by the Land Development Center are currently agricultural land managed by cooperatives.

To facilitate efficient land use, the People's Committee of Nghi Phu commune submitted document No. 141 to the Nghe An Department of Construction requesting a site survey and the creation of a land subdivision plan for residential land in Nghi Phu commune for auction. However, after review and comparison, the Department of Construction issued Official Letter No. 2140 disagreeing with the Nghi Phu commune People's Committee's proposal to subdivide land for auction, stating that the land should be reserved for resettlement. Thus, with the land use plan not approved, and despite having the highest allocation in the city, Nghi Phu commune is facing numerous difficulties.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Chi, Chairman of the Nghi Phu Commune People's Committee, said: "When implementing the plan, we encountered some difficulties. For example, when the city issued a policy on planning, land subdivision, and land auction, the city certainly worked with the Provincial People's Committee, and especially the Department of Construction advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue directives. The Vinh City People's Committee implemented based on the directives of the Provincial People's Committee. Our commune, however, implemented based on the documents of the Vinh City People's Committee. But when we submitted the documents to the province, the province stopped the process, leaving our locality unsure which document to rely on. Besides that, securing the necessary capital for the plan is not easy, especially investing in canals, roads, and infrastructure to ensure compliance with the State's plan."

In 2014, Vinh City assigned targets to 25 wards and communes to exploit land resources totaling 8.28 hectares, divided into 436 plots, with a total revenue of over 298 billion VND. The Land Development Center was tasked with organizing the exploitation of four areas in Xuan Dong Hamlet (Hung Dung District), Trung Thanh Hamlet (Hung Dong District), Kim Dong Hamlet (Nghi An District), and Mau Don Hamlet (Hung Loc District), totaling 4 hectares divided into 147 land plots, with an expected revenue of 113 billion VND. Achieving these targets required significant effort from the Land Development Center and the 25 wards and communes.

Initially, wards and communes need to focus on developing low-cost but high-yield land plots, while also concentrating on planning small plots to serve low-income individuals and those with land use needs. In addition, it is necessary to create plans for diverse land plot sizes and review small, scattered plots for auction. Furthermore, the Land Fund Development Center should develop a process for investing in and developing land funds, emphasizing timelines, implementation steps, and administrative procedures for wards and communes; prioritizing the quick resolution of administrative procedures related to land fund development such as planning, plan approval, investment policies, design documents, land clearance, and land valuation, reducing processing time compared to before.

Sharing his views on this matter, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Minh – Director of the Land Development Center – stated: Currently, land in inner-city wards is scarce, therefore the city is focusing on exploiting land in communes and wards such as Hung Loc, Nghi Phu, Nghi Kim, Trung Do... These are areas where capital recovery is efficient. In addition, for newly merged areas, although land is still abundant such as Nghi An, Nghi Duc, Nghi Lien, Hung Chinh… the investment potential for land exploitation there is not yet high. Therefore, in the future, when investment capital becomes available, the city will invest in the comprehensive development of infrastructure in these communes to effectively exploit land resources and build resettlement areas.

To achieve the assigned targets for land exploitation, in addition to the efforts of local authorities, the city also needs to address obstacles faced by wards and communes. Simultaneously, it is necessary to create favorable conditions in terms of mechanisms, policies, and administrative procedures to enable localities to quickly and conveniently develop land use plans, subdivide plots, and auction land. Only then can a sufficiently strong resource be created to serve infrastructure development and socio-economic development in the area.

Text and photos:Vo Huyen