80 years of land management: Journey toward modernization

From paper records to digital databases

Over 80 years of formation and development, the land management sector has continuously innovated, from the early days of the resistance war to the Doi Moi and digital transformation periods. Since its inception, land management has been closely associated with the nation's revolutionary cause. During wartime, cadastral records were primarily paper-based, scattered across multiple levels, and lacked uniformity. After national reunification, land management continued to face numerous challenges, such as documents from different periods, overlapping data, and slow updates.

Bài liên quan

80 years of land management: Policy reforms for three agricultural areas

During the Doi Moi period, the demand of socio-economic development created an urgent need to modernize land management. The Party and the State have issued many key policies and directives, from the Land Laws of various periods to Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW (2022) on land policy and law reform. Most recently, Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW (2024) on the development of science-technology and innovation and Directive No. 07/CT-TTg (2025) on the development of population data and electronic identification for national digital transformation have been enacted.

These directives demonstrate determination and breakthrough decisions for building and operating a centralized, unified, and synchronized land information and database system, connected in a modern, transparent, and open direction to serve multiple purposes, and gradually transitioning land transactions to electronic platforms.

The 2024 Land Law affirmed that the land database is one of the foundational national databases, playing a central role in the country's digital governance. This represents an important shift, marking the determination for comprehensive digitalization in the land sector.

Accordingly, the legal framework and technical regulations for the basic land information system have been largely completed. They cover organizational models, technical requirements for application software, information security protocols, and the responsibilities of ministries, sectors, and local authorities. This framework ensures the construction and operation of a nationwide, synchronized, unified, and interconnected land database.

Serving management, facilitating the people and businesses

Implementing the Government's directives, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment), together with localities, has concentrated resources to deploy the construction of a national land database.

Bài liên quan

80 years of land management: Consolidating the registration system to serve the people

To date, four important data sets, including current land use status at regional and national levels, national land use planning and plans, the land price framework, and basic land surveys, have been completed at the central level.

At the local level, as of July 1, 2025, 495 out of 696 districts have completed cadastral databases, managing nearly 50 million land parcels. All 696 districts have established land statistics and inventory data. More than 300 districts have finalized land use planning, land use plans, and land price data. Thus, about 70% of district-level administrative units now possess digital data, providing a solid foundation for transformation to electronic land management.

Significant progress has been made in data connectivity and sharing. All 63 provinces and cities have connected their land databases with the national population database, enabling the implementation of online public services under Project 06/CP. 49 provinces and cities have linked data between land registration offices and tax authorities to automatically determine financial obligations. 39 provinces and cities have connected land data to handle online residence procedures, bringing convenience to the people.

These achievements not only improve the efficiency of state management but also affirm the service-oriented role of the land database for the people and businesses. Instead of spending time searching paper records, the people can now access information quickly, transparently, and at lower costs. Businesses gain an additional tool to minimize legal risks and enhance investment and business efficiency.

Challenges and solutions for completion

Alongside the positive outcomes, the development of the land database still faces many difficulties. Some localities have not given sufficient attention to investment; information technology infrastructure remains limited; data and IT specialists have yet to meet requirements; and land records accumulated across different periods lack consistency, creating challenges for digitalization.

A set of synchronous solutions must be implemented to ensure the basic completion of the national land database. These include finalizing the legal corridor for the land information and database system under the 2024 Land Law and issuing decrees and circulars aligned with the new two-tier administrative model.

At the same time, stronger guidance, supervision, and support must be provided to local governments to complete their databases and integrate the data into management and operations to serve state administration and handle procedures for the people and businesses. A focus is on putting into operation all land databases already completed in 495 districts, following the principle of being "Accurate—Complete—Clean—Live."

In parallel, urgent steps are required to connect and share the land database with other national databases, thereby advancing administrative reform and digital transformation in land management and public service delivery. Efforts must also continue to build and update data in the remaining localities and develop regional and national land data and centrally managed data. Local databases need to be integrated into the central system to ensure interconnection, consistency, and effective data management and utilization.

The establishment and completion of the national land database mark a historic milestone, continuing the 80-year development journey of the land management sector. This is not only a technological advancement but also a demonstration of political determination to build a modern and transparent governance system that serves the interests of the people.

The land database is one of six national databases prioritized for implementation by the Government and plays a foundational role in the national digital transformation process, aiming toward the development of a digital government, digital economy, and digital society in Vietnam. It will provide the basis for developing e-government, enabling interconnection with databases of ministries and sectors to reduce and simplify administrative procedures, deliver online public services related to land, and innovate national governance methods in general and land management in particular.