Vietnam has become an increasingly fascinating investment destination for foreign investors for the recent years. However, since the term of private ownership over land is not set forth in the laws of Vietnam, in which ways foreign investors could legally obtain the certificate over land use right (the “LURC”) and the land use right recorded therein in order to implement projects attached to land using in Vietnam, especially, real estate projects? Some basic methods to be named are as follows:

1. Establish an enterprise whose project is attached to land using (the “Foreign invested enterprise” or the “FIE”) to implement such project under the Law on Investment. In this case, methods to legally using land and be granted the LURC are:

    a) Sub-leasing the land industrial zones, economic zones to construct manufacturing plants and implement the manufacturing project in          accordance with the function of such investing area;

    b) Purchasing manufacturing plants attached to the land whose land using purpose is in conformity with the project;

    c) Leasing land from the State (with land rental paid under lump-sum basis or annually) to implement investment projects in agricultural production, forestry, aquaculture or salt production; non-agricultural business and production; and

   d) Leasing land from the State to implement investment projects for infrastructure development of industrial zones, economic zones, processing zones.

Methods to be applied to projects of real estate business are as follows:

    e) Receiving land allocation with land use fee to implement projects of constructing residential housing for sale or sale in association with leasing out;

     f) Leasing land from the State to implement projects of constructing residential housing for leasing out;

     g) Sub-leasing the land in industrial zones, processing zones, high-tech zones, and economic zones in association with the construction of housings, civil constructions for business in conformity with the land use purpose;

2. Besides the aforementioned methods, the foreign investors could own land using through indirect investment as follows:

    a) Accepting contribution being the value of LUR (which is granted under the land allocation with land use fee or land lease under lump-sum basis) capitalized in an enterprise’s equity, from a Vietnamese partner; and

    b) Purchasing equity or share of an enterprise owning a LUR to continue the implementation of such investment project.

The above illustrates some methods for foreign investors to approach the legal land using in Vietnam. However, it should be significantly noted that the Certificate over the land use right granted to the FIE are only valid up to 50 years (or 70 years, for some special circumstances), corresponding to the feature of such specific investment project.