Vietnam’s national land database has been identified as one of the key pillars of the country’s digital transformation agenda. Beyond supporting State administration, the database is designed to provide “accurate, complete, clean, live, standardized, and shared” data, with the broader goals of streamlining administrative procedures, improving transparency, and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of citizens and businesses.
Building the foundation
The Department of Land Management at the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE) said the Ministry has been working with the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) to implement a nationwide campaign under Plan No. 515 to enrich and cleanse land data. The initiative aims to establish a foundation for e-government and strengthen land administration by providing transparent, efficient, and accountable tools for policy implementation and decision-making at all levels of government.
It is also intended to improve the delivery of public land services and facilitate the handling of land-related administrative procedures for individuals and businesses through digital platforms.
The national land database is being integrated, synchronized, and shared with other national and sectoral databases to enable seamless data exchange across government agencies and maximize the value of digital resources.
Authorities have emphasized that the database must meet the standards of being “accurate, complete, clean, live, standardized, and shared,” while remaining fully aligned with Vietnam’s new two-tier local government structure.
Under Politburo Resolution No. 79-NQ/TW, issued on January 6, 2026, on developing the State economy, Vietnam aims to complete nationwide land surveying, statistics collection, digitization, and data cleansing by the end of this year, while ensuring interoperability with other national databases.
To support this objective, the Department has advised the MAE on issuing or proposing for issuance a series of key legal documents. Among the most significant is Prime Ministerial Directive No. 05/CT-TTg, dated February 13, 2026, which calls for mobilizing resources to accelerate cadastral mapping, land registration, cadastral record preparation, and the development of the national land database.
In response, the MAE and the MPS jointly issued Plan No. 2959/KH-BNNMT-BCA to accelerate cadastral surveys, mapping, cadastral record preparation, and land database development nationwide. The plan aims to ensure that every land parcel in Vietnam is assigned a digital record.
To address implementation challenges, the MAE also issued Circular No. 19/2026/TT-BNNMT on March 30, 2026, providing technical guidance on integrating cadastral surveying, land registration, cadastral record preparation, and national land database development.
At the same time, the Department has standardized five technical processes nationwide, covering database governance and operation in accordance with the “accurate, complete, clean, live” standard, data enrichment and cleansing, database development in areas without existing records, creation of digital data where cadastral maps are unavailable, and restructuring local administrative processes to maximize the reuse of digitized information while reducing paperwork.
Digital progress
The national land database has advanced rapidly in recent years. Speaking at an MAE conference reviewing the first half of 2026, Director of the Department of Land Management Dao Trung Chinh outlined the latest progress.
As of June 29, 2026, digital records had been created for more than 68.2 million of Vietnam’s 100.68 million land parcels, equivalent to approximately 68 per cent of the total. Among them, nearly 33.9 million parcels have met the “accurate, complete, clean, live” standard, representing more than 48 per cent of all digitized parcels. These records are now ready for real-time operation to support both land administration and broader socio-economic development.
On data integration, authorities have conducted approximately 87.4 million verification and matching transactions with the National Population Database across 67.5 million land parcels and associated assets. Ownership and asset information has been successfully verified for more than 38.2 million parcels.
A total of 67.5 million land parcels have been synchronized with the national land database, including 32.66 million Group 1 parcels and 34.85 million Group 2 parcels. In addition, more than 1.06 million parcel records have been synchronized with the National Data Center.
Authorities have also assigned unique identification codes to approximately 69.7 million land parcels, reducing duplicate records and creating a foundation for integration with Vietnam’s National Digital Address Platform.
Administrative reform has also gained momentum. Twenty of Vietnam’s 34 provinces and centrally-governed cities have restructured their land administrative procedures by fully utilizing the land database alongside the National Population Database.
Nearly 47 per cent of land-related administrative procedures have now been restructured. Authorities have received more than 2.85 million applications through digital platforms, with approximately 2.69 million, or 94.4 per cent, processed entirely online.
The Department of Land Management said the national land database is now one of four critical national databases operating under real-time integration and synchronization with the National Data Center, in line with the roadmap established by the Central Steering Committee.
Land for growth
Despite significant progress, approximately 34.3 million land parcels already included in the database still do not meet the “accurate, complete, clean, live” standard. Many of these records were created years ago under older technical standards and have not been fully updated. Common issues include missing ownership information, unrecorded changes in land use rights, duplicate records, and overlapping data following the consolidation of commune-level administrative units.
For parcels that have yet to be digitized, many areas still lack official cadastral surveys and maps. In other locations, cadastral maps exist but have not been updated following land consolidation or land acquisition.
Land data is increasingly viewed as the foundation for restructuring administrative procedures by reducing paper-based documentation and maximizing the use of information already available across national databases.
The continued development of the national land database is expected to fundamentally modernize land administration by improving transparency, efficiency, and governance. It also provides the foundation for broader data sharing across government agencies, supports administrative reform, enhances public services for citizens and businesses, and advances the development of Vietnam’s digital government.
Speaking at a June conference reviewing implementation of Prime Ministerial Directive No. 05 and Joint Plan No. 2959 on cadastral mapping and national land database development, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung emphasized that the database is central to shifting public administration toward a development-oriented governance model.
He said it would underpin reforms in national governance, accelerate digital government, the digital economy and digital society, streamline administrative procedures, and unlock land resources to support socio-economic development.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, a national land database that is “accurate, complete, clean, live,” standardized, and shared nationwide will significantly improve the efficient use of land resources and contribute to the country’s long-term development. He described the initiative as one of the government’s highest priorities in recent years.
He also stressed three guiding principles for implementation: maintaining the completion target without delay, preserving data quality without compromise, and ensuring that all completed data is immediately usable rather than left idle. “The database should be put into operation as soon as each component is completed, serving citizens, businesses, and government administration,” he said.
Looking ahead, the Deputy Prime Minister said every land parcel should ultimately have a complete, up-to-date, standardized, verified, synchronized, and connected digital record that can be used in practice; a core requirement for ensuring the database delivers its intended benefits for governance and national development.
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