Investing in farms and high-tech agriculture in Vietnam: a land law handbook — from land access to operation

Investing in farms and high-tech agriculture in Vietnam: a land law handbook

Accumulating agricultural land for large-scale farms and investing in greenhouses and high-tech livestock farming is attracting domestic and foreign investors alike. But land is Vietnam's most "sensitive" legal area: all land belongs to the entire people, and investors hold only land use rights; each access form, land type and investor category carries a different legal regime. One land mistake can sink an entire farm project. This handbook systematises the land-law framework that farm and high-tech agriculture investors must master, under the Land Law 2024.

Contents

• 1. Overview and legal framework
• 2. Foundational land principles investors must remember
• 3. Land access forms for farm projects
• 4. Foreign investors: what they may and may not do with agricultural land
• 5. Agricultural land quotas
• 6. Land-use purpose conversion
• 7. Land-use zoning and planning
• 8. Building on agricultural land
• 9. High-tech agriculture: criteria and incentives
• 10. Financial obligations for land
• 11. Environment and related permits
• 12. Common risks and prevention
• 13. Financing: mortgages over land use rights
• 14. FAQs
• Related articles in this industry handbook
• Need farm / high-tech agriculture investment advice?
• Language versions
• References

1. Overview and legal framework

The Land Law 2024 (No. 31/2024/QH15, effective 01/08/2024 per Law No. 43/2024/QH15) is the central framework for all land aspects of farm and high-tech agriculture projects. Directly related instruments:

• Investment Law 143/2025/QH15 (effective 01/03/2026): investment approval/registration procedures and incentives for high-tech agriculture.
• Environmental Protection Law 2020: environmental impact assessment and environmental permits for large livestock farms.
• Construction Law 2025 (No. 135/2025/QH15, effective 01/07/2026): construction of agricultural production facilities.
• High Technology Law 2025 (133/2025/QH15, effective 01/07/2026) and guidance: the framework for high-tech-applied agriculture.
• Regulators: Departments of Agriculture and Environment, local land authorities, high-tech agricultural park managements (where applicable).

2. Foundational land principles investors must remember

1. Land belongs to the entire people, with the State as the representative owner and unified manager. Investors (even domestic ones) do not own land — they hold land use rights for defined terms and purposes.
2. Correct purpose: agricultural land may be used only for its designated purpose; misuse is sanctioned and may lead to land recovery.
3. Correct zoning: every project must conform to approved land-use zoning and planning.
4. A certificate means security: land use rights are fully protected only once certificated ("red book"); transacting uncertificated land carries very high dispute risk.

3. Land access forms for farm projects

Depending on investor status, agricultural land may be accessed through:

• State allocation with or without land-use fees: for prescribed subjects (e.g. individuals directly engaged in agricultural production within quotas).
• State lease with one-off or annual rental payment: the common form for economic organisations implementing investment projects, including foreign-invested ones.
• Receiving transfers of land use rights: individuals and domestic economic organisations may receive agricultural land transfers within quotas; foreign-invested economic organisations may not receive transfers (see section 4).
• Leasing / subleasing land use rights: leasing from domestic individuals or organisations; subleasing in industrial parks, industrial clusters and high-tech agricultural parks.
• Capital contribution with land use rights: domestic individuals and organisations contributing land use rights to enterprises for project implementation.

Practical recommendation: for large farm projects, a combined approach is often optimal — part of the land on long-term State lease (legal stability), part via transfers/subleases from households (expansion flexibility). All transactions must be notarised/certified and registered for changes as prescribed.

Registration of changes is not a formality: unregistered transfers and leases are vulnerable in disputes and may be disregarded by authorities in compensation or recovery proceedings. Diarise certificate issuance and verify the updated certificate actually records the transaction before releasing final payments.

4. Foreign investors: what they may and may not do with agricultural land

This must be clarified upfront to avoid misplaced expectations:

• May NOT receive transfers of land use rights (including agricultural land) — a principled limit of the Land Law for foreign-invested economic organisations. Article 28 of the Land Law 2024 lists the forms in which a foreign-invested economic organisation may obtain land use rights: receiving transfers within industrial parks/clusters/high-tech zones, receiving transfers of investment capital being land-use-right value, receiving land-use-right capital contributions, being allocated land by the State for housing projects, and being leased land by the State — and does not include receiving agricultural land-use rights transferred from individuals or households. Official guidance from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (Government News, 31/8/2026) likewise confirms that foreign-invested enterprises lack a basis to lease land use rights directly from individuals.
• May lease land from the State for investment projects (one-off or annual rental).
• May sublease land in industrial parks, industrial clusters, high-tech parks and high-tech-applied agricultural parks.
• May receive capital contributions with land use rights from domestic organisations and individuals in prescribed cases.

The detailed conditions of each form should be checked directly against the provisions of the Land Law 2024 before implementation.

The common practice for foreign high-tech agriculture investors: leasing land inside a high-tech-applied agricultural park or State land under an approved investment project — securing legal standing plus park infrastructure and incentives.

5. Agricultural land quotas

The Land Law 2024 significantly widened quotas versus the 2013 Law — the legal basis for large-scale agricultural land accumulation:

• Allocation quotas (Article 176): e.g. annual-crop land, aquaculture and salt land — up to 3 ha per land type in the Southeast and Mekong Delta, 2 ha elsewhere; perennial-crop land — up to 10 ha in plains, 30 ha in midlands/mountains; protection and planted production forest land — up to 30 ha per type.
• Individual quotas for receiving agricultural land use rights (Article 177): no more than 15 times the allocation quotas above per land type (previously 10 times under the 2013 Law). Provincial People's Committees set specific local levels.
• Key new point: individuals not directly engaged in agricultural production may receive transfers and gifts of paddy land use rights (within quotas) — opening the door for urban investors to accumulate paddy land. Transfers exceeding the Article 176 quotas require establishing an economic organisation with a district-level People's Committee-approved agricultural land use plan (Clause 7, Article 45 of the Land Law 2024).

Note: these quotas apply to individuals; economic organisations access land via allocation/lease tied to approved project scale — not the individual quotas above.

6. Land-use purpose conversion

Farm and high-tech agriculture projects often need to convert part of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses (management houses, cold storage, preliminary processing workshops, internal roads…):

• Principle: conversion requires permission from the competent state authority (except certain conversions within the agricultural land group).
• Conditions: conformity with land-use zoning and planning; an approved investment project (for economic organisations).
• Financial obligations: conversion to non-agricultural land triggers land-use fees / land rentals as prescribed — a material cost to budget into total investment from the start.
• Risk: building non-agricultural structures on agricultural land without permitted conversion is a violation — sanctioned, subject to restoration orders, even land recovery.

7. Land-use zoning and planning

• Projects must conform to provincial and district land-use zoning and approved annual district land-use plans.
• Land in "suspended" zoning (zoned but without an annual land-use plan) complicates conversion and construction permitting — investors must check carefully before committing.
• Zoning information is available from local land authorities and planning portals; for large areas, obtain the competent authority's written reply rather than relying on maps alone.

For projects spanning commune or district boundaries, confirm zoning with each competent authority — inconsistent records between localities are not uncommon. Where the annual land-use plan has not yet been published for the current year, request written confirmation of whether the project area is listed for conversion.

8. Building on agricultural land

• Structures directly serving agricultural production (greenhouses, net houses, barns, produce storage, irrigation systems) may be permitted on agricultural land as prescribed — specific conditions and procedures need checking against current instruments.
• Structures not serving agricultural production (dwellings, management offices, large processing plants…) must in principle sit on land converted to non-agricultural purposes.
• All construction must comply with construction law (building permits or permit-exempt cases under the Construction Law 2025), fire protection and environmental protection.

9. High-tech agriculture: criteria and incentives

High-tech-applied agriculture is a specially encouraged sector:

• Criteria: projects applying high technology in agricultural production (breeds, greenhouses, precision irrigation, IoT, automation, biotechnology…) per criteria set by competent authorities; may be recognised as high-tech-applied agriculture projects or operate inside high-tech agricultural parks.
• Investment incentives: on the encouraged investment list under investment law — CIT incentives, land-rental exemption/reduction, training and research support as prescribed.
• Procedures: investment approval/registration under the Investment Law; foreign investors must meet market-access conditions (if any) in agriculture.

10. Financial obligations for land

• Land-use fees / land rentals: payable on allocation with fees, leases and purpose conversions — computed from provincial land price tables / specific land prices.
• Agricultural land-use tax: applies to agricultural land under tax law.
• Fees and charges: registration fees for land use rights, appraisal and surveying fees…
• Exemptions and reductions: high-tech agriculture projects and projects in difficult areas may receive time-limited rental exemptions/reductions — requiring application procedures, not automatic.

Land price determination deserves early attention: one-off rentals and conversion fees are computed from land price tables or specific land prices decided by provincial authorities, and specific-price appraisals can take months. Start the pricing procedure in parallel with investment approval so it does not become the critical path.

Start the pricing procedure in parallel with investment approval so it does not become the critical path.

Don't overlook agricultural land-use tax: agricultural land remains subject to land-use tax under tax law, computed from land areas and statutory rates with exemptions for qualifying subjects (e.g. individuals directly engaged in agricultural production within quotas). For corporate farm projects the amounts are modest but the filing obligations are real — factor them into annual compliance calendars.

11. Environment and related permits

• Large livestock farms: subject to environmental impact assessment or environmental permits under the Environmental Protection Law 2020 — livestock waste treatment is a key inspection focus.
• Water extraction: large-scale groundwater/surface water use needs water resource permits.
• Food safety: farm produce placed on the market must meet food-safety rules; farms supplying F&B chains/supermarkets typically need standards (VietGAP, GlobalG.A.P…) per buyer requirements.

12. Common risks and prevention

13. Financing: mortgages over land use rights

Farm and high-tech agriculture projects are capital-intensive — greenhouses, irrigation, cold chains — and land use rights are often the primary collateral. The financing mechanics deserve early planning.

What can be mortgaged. Land use rights may be mortgaged where they are certificated, dispute-free and not already encumbered, together with assets attached to the land. Banks will verify the certificate, the land-use purpose and term, and any existing mortgages or seizure records at the land registration office before disbursing.

Foreign-invested borrowers. Foreign-invested enterprises routinely mortgage land use rights and project assets to both onshore and offshore lenders. Structures with offshore security need careful coordination: Vietnamese law governs the mortgage of Vietnam-situated land use rights regardless of where the loan agreement sits, and registration with the competent Vietnamese authority is what perfects the security against third parties.

Agricultural land specifics. Agricultural land collateral presents valuation challenges — banks discount for use-purpose restrictions, conversion uncertainty and thinner resale markets compared with urban land. Projects should prepare independent valuations early and expect lower loan-to-value ratios than industrial or urban commercial projects.

State-leased land with annual rental. Where land is leased from the State with annual (not one-off) rental payment, the lessee's mortgage rights are narrower — typically limited to assets attached to the land rather than the land use rights themselves. The precise scope needs verification against current land instruments for each case; assuming annual-rental land can be mortgaged like allocated land is a costly error.

Practical safeguards. Keep certificates unencumbered until financing closes; never hand originals to informal lenders; check for double-mortgage fraud through the registration office; and align the mortgage's duration with the land-use term — a mortgage outliving the land-use rights creates enforcement complications nobody wants. a mortgage outliving the land-use rights creates enforcement complications nobody wants. Where the project company is newly established with thin capital, lenders may additionally require the investors' completion guarantee — committing to fund cost overruns until the farm reaches stable operation — which should be negotiated alongside, not after, the land mortgage.

14. FAQs

Can foreign investors buy agricultural land for farming in Vietnam? No. Foreign-invested economic organisations may not receive transfers of agricultural land use rights; they may access land by leasing from the State, subleasing land and other forms under the Land Law 2024 — details need counsel's confirmation.

What is the individual quota for receiving agricultural land use rights? Under Article 177 of the Land Law 2024, no more than 15 times the individual's agricultural land allocation quota for each land type (Article 176); provincial People's Committees set specific local levels.

May warehouses or workshops be built on agricultural land? Construction on agricultural land must suit the land-use purpose and the law; structures directly serving agricultural production may be permitted — other construction requires land-use conversion procedures.

What incentives do high-tech agriculture projects receive? High-tech-applied agriculture is on the encouraged investment list; qualifying projects receive tax, land-rental and other incentives under investment law.

Related articles in this industry handbook

• Labour law handbook for logistics companies
• 2026 update: foreign homeownership quotas

Need farm / high-tech agriculture investment advice?

From land legal due diligence and land-access deal structuring to investment — conversion — certification procedures and compliant operation on environment and labour, FLAT Law Firm accompanies investors through the full project lifecycle. Call our hotline 0988424851.

Language versions

References

• Land Law 2024 (No. 31/2024/QH15).
• Investment Law 143/2025/QH15 (No. 143/2025/QH15).
• Environmental Protection Law 2020 (No. 72/2020/QH14).
• Construction Law 2025 (No. 135/2025/QH15).