Experts suggest separating functions between the provincial and local levels to ensure convenience and efficient management.

The Institute of Natural Resources and Environment Economy HCMC has proposed that the provincial Land Registration Office (LRO) be the sole point of contact for receiving and processing all matters related to natural resources and land, including the initial issuance of Land Use Right Certificates (red books). This means that the communal level would not handle land-related tasks, except for related duties like site clearance, leasing land according to decentralization, or changing land use purposes within the commune or inter-commune area.

There are also opinions suggesting that the LRO should be moved to the communal level to be more convenient for the people.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Realtors, said the policy of merging two administrative levels aims to bring the government apparatus closer to the people for better service. Therefore, transferring land procedures, including issuing land use right certificates, to the ward/commune level is reasonable.

“The closer the document-receiving and processing unit is to people, the more convenient it is. The Government decentralizes to ministries and provinces; provinces continue transferring authority to wards/communes, which is really reasonable. If procedures are instead pushed upward, or centralized, it contradicts the spirit of administrative reform. Tasks that districts could handle earlier can absolutely be managed by communes/wards when further authorized,” Thanh said.

Meanwhile, economist Nguyen Minh Phong believes that to serve people most effectively, moving the LRO to the local level is an appropriate option. However, the data system and the mechanism for decentralization and devolution of power to the local level are not yet fully complete, and part of the authority still belongs to the provincial level.

According to Phong, in the initial stage, the provincial LRO is necessary to ensure safety. But in the future, the specific characteristics of each locality should be considered. If the provincial LRO requires people to travel hundreds of kilometers to complete procedures, it will be very inconvenient.

“Provincial land registration offices may set up branches or document-receiving points in communes or clusters of communes to improve convenience for people. This approach balances state management goals with the public’s need for accessible procedures,” Phong said.

Functions between provincial and communal levels 

Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said that previously, first-time land use right certificates were issued by two levels: provinces issued certificates for organizations and religious institutions, and districts issued for households, individuals, and residential communities.

Vo explained that transactions such as transfers, gifting, and inheritance, meaning re-issuing certificates after the first issuance, can be fully handled by the land registration office.

“However, the biggest bottleneck has long been in the preparation of data for issuing first-time certificates. Both provincial and communal levels need an agency to prepare data to determine whether the application is eligible. When the land registration office (under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, now the Department of Agriculture and Environment) was assigned this task, districts hesitated to sign off because the office was not directly under their jurisdiction, creating a legal deadlock that remains unresolved,” Vo said.

He noted that communes also need a unit to prepare documentation for first-time certificate issuance. However, if the entire land registration office system is transferred to the communal level, communes will not be able to handle it, because land dossiers related to businesses and organizations belong to provincial and district management, requiring high professional expertise.

According to Vo, functions between the provincial and communal levels must be clearly separated. Both levels should have their own teams under the land registration office to prepare documents for first-time certificate issuance. Issuing certificates for households, individuals, and residential communities should be done at the communal level.

He explained that under the current administrative model, a commune is about one-fourth the size of a former district, so land tasks previously handled by districts can be transferred to communes.

Procedures for adjustments and re-issuance of certificates after the first issuance should continue to be handled centrally at the provincial land registration office.

Nguyen Le