The government will confiscate land from investors if they fail to develop the land in accordance with the agreed concession timeframe.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment made the statement at the 5th Lao-Japan Public Private Joint Dialogue held in Vientiane last month, in response to Japanese investors who asked the government to explain land concession procedures.
According to the statement, the ministry has informed provincial authorities nationwide to conduct a survey on land use to determine whether investors have proceeded with development after receiving a land concession from the government.
If the government finds out that an investor has failed to develop the land in line with the timeframe stated in the concession agreement, they will receive three warnings before the authorities can take the land back.
The government will give any confiscated land to another investor who has sufficient funding, resources and technical expertise to develop the land, in accordance with the government's policy to convert land into capital to hasten the development of the country.
According to a report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the government has approved 430,000 hectares of land for domestic and foreign investors to establish plantations of eucalyptus, rubber, sugarcane, cassava, jatropha, maize and coffee.
Thousands of hectares of state land have also been given to investors for tourism and real estate development.
Officials said some investors have not developed land in accordance with the concession timeframe as they were unable to source funding for their proposed project. Many investors have used the concession agreement simply as a guarantee to source funding.
Some investors merely want to occupy the land so they can sell the concession later on, which is leading to development delays.
The government has acknowledged the problem and is addressing the issue by warning it will confiscate land from those investors who fail to abide by the project agreement.
The National Assembly has approved a revised mining law, which enables the government to cancel a development project when an investor fails to proceed with a project in accordance with the agreed timeframe.
The government has also increased the land tax on land that stays empty, in another attempt to force landowners to develop the land and add more value to natural resources.
Many Lao people want to buy land for sale rather than to develop it, because land prices are rising sharply due to increasing demand. The relaxation of immigration controls is also making people realise that foreign investors need land so it is a lucrative proposition to own land with the intention of selling it.
