
A representative of the Department of Land under the Ministry ofNatural Resources and Environment, said that while the business of agri-tourismis a developing economic model, there are not yet adequate provisions in theland law to push forward efficiently.
The improvement of legal documents and policies will create acorridor to develop this business model in accordance with the law, said therepresentative, adding that policymakers must continue to study landclassification and how to mix land use purposes for agriculture and tourismsimultaneously.
Dr. Nguyen Quang Tuyen of the Faculty of Economic Law at the HanoiLaw University said the 2013 Land Law still lacks an overall strategy forsustainable management and use of agri-tourism land.
Agri-tourism land was not officially identified in the 2013 LandLaw. This provisions have no explanation for agri-tourism and no designation ofwhat this land can be used for.
Existing regulations also have not specified the registration andissuance of land right certificates for agri-tourism purpose, or allowed authoritiesto change the officially stated use of land for the development of thisbusiness model.
Tuyen said that the 2013 Land Law only mentions traditional usesof agricultural land, including crop production, forestry, aquaculture, andsalt production. They exclude the possibility of linking the land with tourismdevelopment.
Article 142 on land for agriculture appears at first to allude totourism development on farmland, but it fails to go into specific detail on howthis can be achieved in accordance with the law.
Nguyen Van Chung, a senior specialist from the Department ofCooperatives and Rural Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, said that farms have reportedly faced difficulties partly due tothis lack of specific regulations.
Policies supporting the development of the farm economy arescattered in many documents, so it's difficult to implement them efficiently.Many outdated policies or inadequacy of documents related to land andconstruction have hindered the expansion of the farm's production scale, hesaid.
Besides that, there are no specific regulations for non-agriculturalactivities such as preliminary processing, preservation and crafting products,or indeed for tourism development. There have also been no specific regulationsto allow farms to convert agricultural land, leading to some farms illegallydeveloping tourism activities.
Tuyen said the State needs to quickly review and complete thelegal framework relating to the real estate market in general and theagri-tourism real estate market segment in particular to ensure uniformity inlegal documents. This will create a legal basis for the agri-tourism realestate market to operate and develop sustainably and synchronously.
In addition, it should supplement regulations on granting land useright certificates for land lots used for agri-tourism purposes, and specificrights and obligations of organisations and individuals investing inagri-tourism real estate development.
At the same time, it should consider supplementing regulations onincentives for organisations, households and individuals using agriculturalland for tourism services, he said./.
VNA