In what cases are foreign-invested enterprises entitled to use land?

According to current land law regulations, foreign-invested enterprises are identified as land users when they fall under one of the following categories: Enterprises with 100% foreign investment; joint ventures; Vietnamese enterprises in which foreign investors purchase shares, merge, or acquire according to the provisions of the law on investment.

1. Cases where foreign-invested enterprises are entitled to use land.

Based on the provisions of the 2013 Land Law and its implementing regulations, foreign-invested enterprises are entitled to use land in the following cases:

Case 1: According to Clause 3, Article 153 of the 2013 Land Law

Foreign-invested enterprises may utilize commercial, service, and non-agricultural production land through the following forms:

The State leases land; leases and subleases land from economic organizations; leases and subleases land from Vietnamese people residing abroad; and subleases land associated with infrastructure from foreign-invested enterprises.

Case 2: According to point b, clause 1, Article 169 of the 2013 Land Law

According to this regulation:

Economic organizations, households, and individuals may receive land use rights through the transfer of land use rights, except for the cases stipulated in Article 191 of the Land Law; Vietnamese people residing abroad may receive the transfer of land use rights in industrial parks, industrial clusters, export processing zones, high-tech zones, and economic zones.

Foreign-invested enterprises are allowed to receive the transfer of investment capital in the form of land use rights as stipulated by the Government.

2. Receiving the transfer of investment capital is the value of the land use rights.

Specifically, according to Article 39 of Decree 43/2014/ND-CP, supplemented by Clause 25, Article 2 of Decree 01/2017/ND-CP, the transfer of investment capital in the form of land use rights is carried out as follows:

Foreign-invested enterprises may transfer investment capital in the form of land use rights that the enterprise is currently using, originating from:
land allocated by the State with payment of land use fees; or land leased by the State in the form of a one-time payment for the entire lease period; in which the value of land use rights has been included in the enterprise's capital. This regulation does not apply to the transfer of investment capital in the agricultural and forestry production sectors. When transferring investment capital, the enterprise and its owners must:
Clearly identify the portion of capital that is the value of land use rights in the total value of the transferred capital; and fully fulfill all tax, fee, and levy obligations as prescribed by law. Foreign-invested enterprises using land through the transfer of investment capital in the form of land use rights must comply with the regulations on rights and obligations under point b, clause 1, Article 169 and clause 3, Article 183 of the 2013 Land Law.

3. Summary of cases where foreign-invested enterprises are entitled to use land.

Therefore, foreign-invested enterprises are entitled to use land when they fall under one of the following cases:

Land allocated by the State for the implementation of investment projects to build housing for sale or sale combined with leasing; Land leased by the State; Land leased or subleased from economic organizations or Vietnamese residing abroad; Subleased land with infrastructure from foreign-invested enterprises for commercial, service, and non-agricultural production land; Received the transfer of investment capital which is the value of land use rights of enterprises currently using land originating from land allocated by the State with payment of land use fees or leased land with a one-time payment for the entire lease period, in cases where the value of land use rights has been capitalized into the enterprise's capital according to the regulations mentioned above.

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(Author: Nguyen Hong Anh; Translator: Nguyen Phuong Anh; Date: December 22, 2025)

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