Provincial land governance monitoring – The first step in the pilot project Dang Hung Vo Nguyen Van Thang Vu Cuong (presenter) March

Background: Why Land Governance Monitoring is important in Vietnam? Land governance has been a burning issue in Vietnam (70-80% administrative disputes are related to land) Land is increasingly becomes a valuable assets and poor land governance has caused serious corruptions A series of land-related regulations has been issued, but their enforcement remains weak New Land Law (2013) asks for establishment of the National Monitoring & Evaluation System on Land Management There is a call for better land governance, for which LGM is an effective tool. 2

Background for PLGM project  The LGAF (completed in early 2014) in Vietnam has highlighted that effective implementation of the regulations and monitoring are a key area for land governance improvement  Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) has also recognized that monitoring at the local level is critical for enhancing land governance  WB has funded Vietnam Land Administration Project (VLAP) in 9 provinces. Key land governance data are being collected and put on databases in these VLAP provinces  The pilot Provincial Land Governance Monitoring (PLGM) project:  is a logical follow-up on LGAF study  just started with the first round of data collection in Vietnam 3

The objectives of PLGM in Vietnam Gather information on core set of global indicators on land governance in a sample of geographic areas Suggest effective ways to collect data for monitoring purpose, and the cost/benefit of doing so Collect data on key indicators concerning some burning land governance issues in VN such as transparency and people participation 4

Indicators Global: –Area mapped with owners identified (under different types of tenure) –Share of land registered in women’s name –No. of registered transactions of different types for sales transactions –No. of expropriations/privatizations and amount of compensation paid or payments received –Tax assessments and amount of land taxes collected by local Governments –No. of disputes of different types between private parties and the state Additional (recommended by Vietnamese experts): –People's participation in preparation of land use planning and plan for compensation, support, resettlement –Publicity and transparency of land information 5

Approach First round of data collection: –Purpose: To examine the extent that administrative data can provide information for the set of global indicators in reliable and effective manner (cost/time). –Approach: Collect from the LROs in the grassroots level (commune level) Focus on VLAP beneficiary communes: select 07 districts in 5 provinces, and in that district select 01 commune, totaling 7 communes. Collect information for 2013 at both parcel and the-whole-commune levels –Procedure: Data collection template, including detailed instructions, on 6 global indicators, is developed with consultation with WB and General Department of Land Administration (GDLA) in MONRE A training section was held with provincial VLAP staff on how to fill the template. All agreed to collect at parcel level for Provincial VLAP staff collect data on chosen communes, and send to the research team The research team make preliminary review of data qualification 6

Approach (cont.) Second round of data collection: –Purpose: To validate information provided by the LRO officials. To collect information which is not available from LRO data –Approach: Conduct field visits to some selected sites for validation and collect further information. Test different approaches for non-administrative data collection –Procedure: Develop different approaches to collect non-administrative data Go to the field to test cost and time effectiveness of different approaches and validate administrative data Make final report to recommend the most effective approach to collect monitoring data. 7

What is VLAP and why? What is VLAP ( )? –Objective: increase access to land information services by all stakeholders through development of an improved land administration system in selected provinces in Vietnam –Coverage: Selected districts in 8 provinces and one city Why VLAP? –Administrative data is most accurate and reliable –Data is already digitized => time and cost effective –Political will of local authorities 8

Illustration of the result One commune (1/7) has sent data at parcel level by March 15 th –Song Ve Town, Tu Nghia District, Quang Ngai province. –Total area: 2.6 million m 2, of which 20% is residential land –Commercial “hub” of a rural area. Data on indicators of this commune serves only an illustrative purpose. 9

Reflection of global indicators I1: Land parcel mapped or identified with owner –Total: 5,313 parcels mapped: 5,295 (99.7%) of which –99 parcels of residential land in urbanized area fail to identify clearly owners. unmapped: 18 (0.3%) I2: Share of land registered in woman names Number of parcels% 1. Women only Joint titling3, Men only No info on gender (owner)

I3: Registered transactions (1000 VND) FrequencyAverage price*Cost/transaction 1.Change purpose -1 time -2 times 80 (1.5%) 23 (.4%) Transfer (1 time) Rent0 4. Inheritance0 5. Gift18 (.3%) Collateral (1 time)124 (2.4%) Capital contribution0 Recorded prices are preset by the state for tax purpose, not actual transaction cost: VND 840,000 for urban land VND /m 2 for over-quota rural land 11

Reflection of global indicators (cont.) I4. Expropriation: –No expropriation occurred in 2013 I5: Taxation: –By parcel: Number of tax-free parcels: 3,309 (62.5%) Number of taxed parcels: 2,004 (37.5%) –Tax revenue (2013): VND 52 million (equivalent to USD 2,400) I6. Land conflicts/disputes: No.StartEndAgency 1.Private dispute Court 2. Administrative dispute0 3. Denunciation0 12

Comments on data collection from the case of VLAP commune Parcel-based data could be retrieved from VLAP databases Parcel-based data is ideal for monitoring: –VLAP provinces should have database that allow retrieving parcel data from each commune –Already digitized: Easy to update and More reliable –Easy to verify and access => cost and time effective 13

Shortcomings in data collection Parcel-based land administrative data can be retrieved only in the areas where land registration and data digitization have been completed (9 provinces in VLAP). Administrative data in other areas can provide information for all 6 global indicators, but with different extent of accuracy and completeness. –Lack of information on informal transaction –Data on market prices are not available => state determined prices for taxation purpose are used instead Data for the last 3 indicators should be cross-checked with another sources of administrative agencies (Taxation department, Inspectorate, Court…) 14

Summary Indicator Potential source(s) of data Admin. from LROs Admin from othersNon- admin I1. Area mapped with owners identified Yes, reliable I2. Share of land registered in women’s name Yes, reliable I3. TransactionsOnly formalinformal I4. ExpropriationsYes, may be incomplete Supplement by Committee for Compensation & Resettlement I5. TaxationYes, may be incomplete Supplement by Tax Department I6. Disputes/conflictsYes, may be incomplete Supplement by Inspectorate and Court I7. People’s participationNA Yes I8. Publicity/transparencyNA Yes 15

What’s next? Within the PLGM: –Conduct remaining steps as proposed –Complete the analytical report on LGM Beyond the PLGM: –Strengthen inter-sector coordination to suffice provision of parcel-based administrative data (cadastral, tax and dispute database) –Link with other data sources on governance at provincial level (VHLSS, PAPI, PCI) to deepen analysis of local governance to demonstrate critical role of land governance indicators –Finalize the most effective approach of data collection for land governance indicators –Consider possibility of constructing a provincial land governance index (PLGI) to increase competition among provinces in improving local governance. –Link LGM data with the National M&E System on Land Management and National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) 16