DLI in Vietnamese joint venture

THE Department of Land Information (DLI) was recently awarded an $11.3 million contract with a Swedish joint venture partner to provide land administration and environmental services in Vietnam.

The five-year project, funded by the Swedish Government, aims to implement a new land administration and titling system in Vietnam, with the ultimate goal of leaving behind trained staff and infrastructure to implement the new system.

DLI executive director of information access, Ian Hide, said the Vietnamese Government was pursuing economic development but also has concerns about the environment.

“They want a program to combine and link development and admini-stration while looking at pollution and environmental aspects,” Mr Hide said. “Together with our Swedish partner Ramboll Natura AB, we have the relevant land administration and environmental experience.

“We are trying to create an efficient and effective land administration system, which gives locals the capacity to address, control and rehabilitate their land.”

Under the first phase of the contract, DLI will provide technical assistance and back-up services to enable land titling offices to start up in three provinces in northern, central and south-ern Vietnam.

DLI started their international program in 1993, and have subsequently been involved in countries including China, the Philippines and Bangladesh.

Mr Hide said the Vietnam project was DLI’s biggest so far.

“We have predominately done feasibility studies in the past, and we are looking at more export opportunities,” he said.

“Western Australia’s system is regarded as among the best in Australia, and we beat six other international consortia for the job, so really, it is world class.

“We are always cross matching with proposals from other countries – it enables us to work with other organisations and bid for work more easily.

“We will not directly export the WA system, but recognise it in the context of Vietnamese law.

“The State is essentially taking its knowledge and exporting it in partnership with industry.

“We are creating new opportunities for WA and building bridges, which then leads to further opportunities in the broader business sense.”

Perth-based consultant and former DLI director, Terry Wilson, who will be involved in the project in Vietnam, said the essence of the project was to advise the Vietnamese and leave behind infrastructure and people with the knowledge to run a land information system.

“Combining environmental issues and titling won’t be easy, but the concept is right,” Mr Wilson said.

“The first step will be to gather data and avoid the duplication that goes on in government agencies, integrate it and make it available from a computer system.”