The Land Law 2024 and Decree 103 were introduced with hopes of paving the way for businesses to develop, particularly by streamlining administrative procedures related to land rent exemptions and reductions. 

However, this seemingly “unleashing” policy has left a group of subjects stuck. These are businesses that were previously eligible for exemption and reduction but could not complete the procedures due to many objective reasons.

While the new regulations allow automatic land rent exemptions and reductions for cases currently within the preferential period, the changes were applied from 2024 onward. 

Without retroactive provisions, numerous businesses, especially in remote areas with limited administrative access, remain “left behind” in debt and legal deadlock.

Specifically, point c, clause 5, Article 51 of the Decree limits the policy’s scope, applying only from 2024 onward, with no retroactive effect for earlier periods—even for cases that met conditions but couldn’t complete procedures for justifiable reasons.

This has caused a number of agricultural and forestry enterprises, especially in the Central Highlands provinces such as Dak Lak, to continue to be "suspended" in debt because of arrears in land rent for the 2006 - 2016 period.

In Dak Lak, statistics show that 17 businesses in this category face over VND54 billion in land rent arrears—a significant burden post-pandemic, when most businesses are struggling to recover amid lack of capital, labor shortages, and rising input costs.

Many of these businesses are neither passive nor non-compliant. They are deeply engaged with forest land, creating livelihoods for local communities, especially ethnic minorities, and contributing to on-site forest preservation - a role with both economic and environmental significance.

However, because the policy of land-rent exemption and reduction is not applied retroactively, these enterprises are in a bind: they cannot borrow capital, do not have enough conditions to develop land use plans, and have no resources to maintain production or pay workers. 

Meanwhile, thousands of hectares of forest land are at risk of being abandoned, leading to long-term environmental and development consequences.

A point of concern is that while public institutions are exempt from retroactive collections even if procedures are incomplete, private businesses, the key contributors to wealth creation and state budgets, are denied similar treatment. This inconsistency raises questions about fairness and the prioritization of support systems.

Some localities, such as Hanoi, and businesses have formally petitioned the Ministry of Finance to consider retroactively applying exemptions and reductions for cases that met the conditions but missed procedural deadlines. However, the proposal has not been included in draft amendments to the Decree.

Flexible policy needed

Many experts argue that limiting the “automatic land rent exemption and reduction” policy to 2024 onward is not really reasonable. The pre-2024 period was the time when both citizens and businesses faced significant barriers: limited access to legal information, opaque administrative procedures, and incomplete and inconsistent guidance.

In such circumstances, failure to complete procedures was often not the fault of the businesses. Yet, instead of acknowledging this and adjusting accordingly, the current policy forces businesses to bear the consequences through retroactive collections, thus prolonging their difficulties.

To illustrate, it’s akin to remote areas with limited educational resources: one cannot expect children to access education on par with urban areas if their parents are illiterate. Fair policy doesn’t mean applying a uniform standard to all; it means creating conditions suited to specific circumstances.

A humane policy must not only be timely but also grounded in reality—where different groups have varying access and implementation capacities. Fairness is achieved only when policies understand the context, adjust flexibly, and don’t overlook the disadvantaged.

To address this gap, point c, clause 5, Article 51 of Decree 103/2024/ND-CP should be revised to extend retroactive application for the entire preferential period for cases that have met conditions. Additionally, a tailored support mechanism should be designed for specific localities like Dak Lak where, without flexible policies, businesses may collapse, and forestland risks being wasted and degraded over time.

Resolving one bottleneck is necessary, but it cannot come at the cost of turning away from those who pioneered in preserving land and forests, building livelihoods for communities in challenging regions.

Hanh Nguyen