He also allocated land in Hanoi for urban planning to 2020, including agricultural land of 174,429 ha, non-agricultural land of 159,716 ha, and urban land of 63,468 ha.

Ho Chi Minh City, meanwhile, was allocated agricultural land of 88,005 ha, non-agricultural land of 117,810 ha, and urban land of 59,834 ha.

The Prime Minister also asked the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, and the People’s Committees of central cities and provinces to adjust their land use planning to 2020 and plan for the second period of land use for 2016-2020.

The government will then approve these in accordance with the Law on Land and ensure they meet the national land use rights plans. Ministries and agencies are to coordinate with localities to review and adjust updated land use into local land use plans.

Mr. Phuc also requested that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to determine different zoning in each city and province and report back to him during the fourth quarter about plans to allocate more than 1 million ha of low-quality forest land to land for industrial production.

The government previously implemented land use planning to 2020 and plans for land use in the first period (2011-2015). The agricultural land area under planning from 2011 to 2015 was 26,550 ha and non-agricultural land 4,448 ha, according to the Ministry of Justice.

The Prime Minister has recently approved a scheme to “Strengthen the Handling of Violations in Land Management and Use to 2020”.

The objective of the scheme is to implement solutions to overcome difficulties and improve the detection and resolution of violations in land management and use, bolstering the effectiveness of land laws and preventing violations nationwide.

The scheme is to focus on legal observance in land management by people’s committees in certain districts and communes and the inspection of administrative procedures for land use at all levels.

It also focuses on the inspection of land management and use at industrial zones and economic zones in 2018, the inspection of land management and use outside of industrial zones, and the inspection and legal observance of land laws in land management and use for cultivation.