Ensuring efficiency and transparency in use and management of houses and land at State enterprises

	Management and use of public property achieves positive results
	Approving new plan on re-arranging and handling 1,402 houses and land in 2021
	Public property management creates a source of revenue for State Budget

It is necessary to improve the efficiency of using and handling houses and land at state-owned enterprises. Illustrative photo: Collected

Many problems have arisen, slowing down the equitization process of enterprises

The Ministry of Finance is seeking opinions on the draft report to the Prime Minister to issue a Directive on strengthening management and improving the efficiency of using and handling houses and land at state-owned enterprises.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the rearrangement and handling of houses and land at state-owned enterprises in accordance with the provisions of the law on state assets (now the law on public assets) nationwide has been applied since 2007.

According to regulations, the rearrangement and handling of houses and land of enterprises is the act of collecting data and understanding the quantity and current status of houses and land use of state-owned enterprises. Accordingly, houses and land used for the right purposes will be retained for continued use; and houses and land used for improper purposes will be terminated or recovered; in case of houses and land that are no longer needed, they must be sold, transferred, or recovered; in case of houses and land meeting the requirements of the land law, the land use purpose can be changed....

The Ministry of Finance said that the process of rearranging and handling houses and land has achieved certain results. State-owned enterprises have declared, reported, proposed plans, submitted them to competent agencies and persons to approve the plans for implementation.

However, the rearrangement and handling of houses and land has also caused many difficulties and inadequacies, affecting the equitization progress and raising administrative procedures.

The reason is that enterprises and owners' representative agencies have not paid due attention to the work of rearranging and handling houses and land; legal documents, the process of land use is complicated, the origin of houses and land is formed through many stages, the record archive is ineffective, causing lost and affecting the progress of house and land arrangement,... in which, there is a cause that the management, use and handling of houses and land at enterprises are governed by various legal regulations.

Accordingly, enterprises must both manage, use and handle houses and land according to the provisions of the law on land, the law on management and use of state capital invested in production and business at enterprises, the law on property auctions and rearrange and handle houses and land according to the law on public property... while some provisions in these laws have differences, raising procedures that enterprises, representative agencies of owners, local authorities, and the Ministry of Finance must implement.

Clarifying the tasks and responsibilities of entities

Recently, the 15th National Assembly passed the Law amending and supplementing 9 Laws in the financial sector, which stipulates that the arrangement of houses and land of enterprises must not be carried out according to the provisions of the law on management and use of public property.

The Ministry of Finance said that through reviewing the 2024 Land Law and documents guiding the implementation of the law on management and use of state capital invested in production and business at enterprises and other laws, it shows that there is a sufficient legal basis to manage, use and handle houses and land of state-owned enterprises.

Thus, the problem in land management and use of enterprises (if any) is due to the fact that enterprises, the representative agencies of the owners and the state management agencies have not fully performed their obligations and powers as prescribed by law.

To implement the unification in the management, use and handling of houses and land of State – owned enterprises according to the provisions of law, the Ministry of Finance drafts an official dispatch reporting to the Prime Minister to issue a Directive on strengthening management, improving the efficiency of use and handling of houses and land at State-owned enterprises.

The Directive will include the Prime Minister's instructions to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, local authorities at all levels, the representative agencies of state capital owners at enterprises, and State-owned enterprises which are assigned to manage and use houses and land in: perfecting institutions; organizing the management, use and handling of houses and land; inspection, supervision, examination and handling of violations in the management, use and handling of houses and land at enterprises.

At the same time, assign specific tasks to the Government Inspectorate and agencies with inspection and examination functions to strengthen inspection and examination work in this field.

Ministries, central agencies, provincial People's Committees coordinate with agencies of the National Assembly, National Assembly delegations, People's Councils of provinces and centrally run cities, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations, mass organizations to supervise the implementation of the law on management and use of houses and land at State –owned enterprises to ensure compliance with the provisions of law.

Regarding the Ministry of Finance, according to the draft, the Government assigns the Ministry of Finance to work with agencies of the National Assembly to complete the draft Law on Management and Investment of State Capital at Enterprises. In which, clearly stipulating the responsibilities of the agency representing the ownership of state capital at enterprises, enterprises with state capital in the management, use, and handling of assets of enterprises with state capital (including houses and land).

In addition, amending and supplementing according to authority or submitting to competent authority to amend and supplement the provisions of the law on enterprise equitization to ensure consistency with the provisions of the law on land and other relevant laws...

State-owned enterprises which are assigned to manage and use houses carry out land registration declaration, fulfill financial obligations on land in accordance with the provisions of law, fully implement procedures when exercising the rights of land users, implement measures to protect land, hand over the land when the State reclaims land and implement other obligations of land users in accordance with the provisions of law. The legal representative of a State-owned enterprise is responsible to the State for the use of land by his/her enterprise.