Recognizing and Reducing Corruption Risks in Land Management in Vietnam

Since Doi moi, Vietnam has been in a process of rapid and continuous economic growth and social transformation, in which land issues have come to the fore in a variety of ways. Vietnam’s early land reforms, including de-collectivization, were, by all standards, clean, efficient and egalitarian. However, Vietnam is now facing even greater challenges in land management. During the period 2001-2010, nearly one million ha of agricultural land was converted to land for non-agricultural purposes, and more than 5 million ha of unused land (62% of total unused land in the year 2000) were converted into land for various useful purposes. The nature of land rights, including the extent to which these are perceived as predictable, secure and accessible, plays a key role in shaping economic options and livelihood strategies across all sectors of society. Land use policies and practices greatly influence the availability of and access to land, as well as the prospects for sustainable management of natural resources. The ongoing comprehensive land-use transformation poses challenges for integrity, as the rents at stake are enormous, as is the specter of corruption. Yet, “corruption” is a term that is too broad to be actionable. Accordingly, this the report sets out to illuminate why there is corruption and of what form, and what can be done about it. More specifically, the report will unbundle corruption by type, identify major risks and forms of corruption in land management, and, based on this analysis, issue some recommendations aimed at strengthening integrity in land management.