With the majority of the Vietnamese population having always resided in rural areas,
agriculture, and particularly farming by individual growers,1
has been a central theme of
socio-economic development policies in the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (hereinafter
referred to as Vietnam) ever since its independence from France in 1945. In an attempt to
establish equality in terms of land distribution and land-use efficiency appropriate to its
socialist ideology, the government gradually abolished private ownership of land, and all land
in Vietnam was nationalized under the 1980 Constitution. The current Constitution, which is
similar to the 1980 Constitution, essentially states that all the land in Vietnam is publicly
owned and managed by the state. Private individuals, corporations, and other organizations
are allowed to enjoy certain rights to land under the law; these are referred to collectively as
land-use rights and are granted in respect of all categories of land, including agricultural land.