Document of The World Bank FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Report No: ICR00006432 IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION AND RESULTS REPORT IDA-58870 ON A CREDIT IN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 107 MILLION (US$ 150 MILLION EQUIVALENT) TO THE Socialist Republic of Viet Nam FOR THE Viet Nam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) March 30, 2024 Urban, Resilience And Land Global Practice East Asia And Pacific Region This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (Exchange Rate Effective June 30, 2023) Currency Unit = Vietnamese Dong (VND) US$ 1.00 = 23,578 VND SDR 1.00 = US$ 1.33 FISCAL YEAR July 1 – June 30 Regional Vice President: Manuela V. Ferro Country Director: Carolyn Turk Regional Director: Anna Wellenstein Practice Manager: Yoonhee Kim Task Team Leader(s): Kathrine M. Kelm ICR Main Contributor: Jennifer Beth Lisher ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS COVID Coronavirus Disease CPMU Central Project Management Unit DONRE (Provincial) Department of Natural Resources and Environment EMDP Ethnic Minority Development Plan FM Financial Management GDLA General Department of Land Administration GoV Government of Viet Nam GRM Grievance Redress Mechanism IDA International Development Association ISR Implementation Status and Results Report LRO Land Registration Office LURC Land Use Rights Certificate M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MoF Ministry of Finance MONRE Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment MPI Ministry of Planning and Investment MPLIS Multi-Purpose Land Information System MTIP Mid-Term Investment Plan PAD Project Appraisal Document PPMU Provincial Project Management Unit PDO Project Development Objective PPC Provincial People’s Committee RF Results Framework TOC Theory of Change VLAP Viet Nam Land Administration Project TABLE OF CONTENTS DATA SHEET .......................................................................................................................... 1 I. PROJECT CONTEXT AND DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES ....................................................... 5 A. CONTEXT AT APPRAISAL .........................................................................................................5 B. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES DURING IMPLEMENTATION .............................................................. 10 II. OUTCOME .................................................................................................................... 15 A. RELEVANCE OF PDOs ............................................................................................................ 15 B. ACHIEVEMENT OF PDOs (EFFICACY) ...................................................................................... 16 C. EFFICIENCY ........................................................................................................................... 20 D. JUSTIFICATION OF OVERALL OUTCOME RATING ....................................................................23 E. OTHER OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS ......................................................................................... 24 III. KEY FACTORS THAT AFFECTED IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTCOME ................................ 25 A. KEY FACTORS DURING PREPARATION ................................................................................... 25 B. KEY FACTORS DURING IMPLEMENTATION ............................................................................. 26 IV. BANK PERFORMANCE, COMPLIANCE ISSUES, AND RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME ... 27 A. QUALITY OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION (M&E) ............................................................ 27 B. ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND FIDUCIARY COMPLIANCE ..................................................... 29 C. BANK PERFORMANCE ........................................................................................................... 31 Quality at Entry ........................................................................................................................ 31 D. RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME ....................................................................................... 32 V. LESSONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................. 33 ANNEX 1. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND KEY OUTPUTS ........................................................... 35 ANNEX 2. BANK LENDING AND IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT/SUPERVISION ......................... 55 ANNEX 3. PROJECT COST BY COMPONENT ........................................................................... 58 ANNEX 4. EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS ........................................................................................... 59 ANNEX 5. BORROWER, CO-FINANCIER AND OTHER PARTNER/STAKEHOLDER COMMENTS .... 60 ANNEX 6. PROJECT PROVINCES/DISTRICTS AND MPLIS COVERAGE ....................................... 62 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) DATA SHEET BASIC INFORMATION Product Information Project ID Project Name Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and P154387 Databases (VILG) Country Financing Instrument Viet Nam Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Revised EA Category Partial Assessment (B) Partial Assessment (B) Organizations Borrower Implementing Agency Department of Registration and Land Information Database of MONRE, General Department of Land Socialist Republic of Vietnam Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to improve the efficiency and transparency of land administration services in the Project Provinces, through the development and implementation of the national Multipurpose Land Information System (MPLIS). Page 1 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) FINANCING Original Amount (US$) Revised Amount (US$) Actual Disbursed (US$) World Bank Financing 150,000,000 60,410,319 48,722,833 IDA-58870 Total 150,000,000 60,410,319 48,722,833 Non-World Bank Financing 0 0 0 Borrower/Recipient 30,000,000 0 0 Total 30,000,000 0 0 Total Project Cost 180,000,000 60,410,319 48,722,833 KEY DATES Approval Effectiveness MTR Review Original Closing Actual Closing 05-Jul-2016 23-Mar-2017 06-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2021 30-Jun-2023 RESTRUCTURING AND/OR ADDITIONAL FINANCING Date(s) Amount Disbursed (US$M) Key Revisions 31-Dec-2021 30.69 Change in Components and Cost Change in Loan Closing Date(s) Cancellation of Financing Reallocation between Disbursement Categories 30-May-2023 42.70 Change in Results Framework Change in Components and Cost Cancellation of Financing Reallocation between Disbursement Categories Change in Institutional Arrangements 21-Jun-2023 42.70 Change in Components and Cost KEY RATINGS Outcome Bank Performance M&E Quality Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Modest Page 2 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) RATINGS OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE IN ISRs Actual No. Date ISR Archived DO Rating IP Rating Disbursements (US$M) 01 23-Nov-2016 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 0 02 19-Mar-2017 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 0 Moderately 03 18-Jul-2017 Moderately Unsatisfactory 0 Unsatisfactory Moderately 04 07-Dec-2017 Moderately Unsatisfactory 0 Unsatisfactory 05 27-Jun-2018 Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory 0 06 04-Jan-2019 Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory 0 07 05-Jun-2019 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory .11 08 20-Jun-2019 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory .11 09 30-Dec-2019 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 2.64 10 26-Jun-2020 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 5.05 11 05-Jan-2021 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory 16.79 12 08-Jul-2021 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory 22.20 13 04-Feb-2022 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 37.21 14 13-Dec-2022 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 38.87 15 29-Jun-2023 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 42.76 SECTORS AND THEMES Sectors Major Sector/Sector (%) Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry 67 Public Administration - Agriculture, Fishing & Forestry 34 Other Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry 33 Page 3 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Information and Communications Technologies 33 ICT Services 33 Themes Major Theme/ Theme (Level 2)/ Theme (Level 3) (%) Private Sector Development 97 Business Enabling Environment 7 Investment and Business Climate 7 ICT 97 ICT Solutions 97 Human Development and Gender 5 Gender 5 Urban and Rural Development 100 Rural Development 100 Land Administration and Management 100 Geospatial Services 85 Land Policy and Tenure 100 ADM STAFF Role At Approval At ICR Regional Vice President: Victoria Kwakwa Manuela V. Ferro Country Director: Achim Fock Carolyn Turk Director: Ede Jorge Ijjasz-Vasquez Anna Wellenstein Practice Manager: Jorge A. Munoz Yoonhee Kim Task Team Leader(s): Hoa Thi Mong Pham, Vael Zakout Kathrine M. Kelm ICR Contributing Author: Jennifer Beth Lisher Page 4 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) I. PROJECT CONTEXT AND DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES A. CONTEXT AT APPRAISAL Context 1. In 2016 when the Viet Nam Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases Project (VILG) was appraised, land administration modernization was —and remains—a key element of Viet Nam’s national strategy. Both the Viet Nam-World Bank Group Country Partnership Strategy 2012-2016 and the Government of Viet Nam’s (GoV) Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP) 2016-2020 emphasized government-wide reforms to ensure macroeconomic stability for economic growth and highlighted the importance of effective and sustainable land management and improved governance. The GoV’s overall SEDP goals and policy commitments echoed the importance of land reforms in Viet Nam. Better land administration and management was understood to help reduce transaction costs and disputes, while improving tenure security and knowledge of existing land uses and resources would facilitate in the longer-term efficient land and mortgage markets, enabling land-based investments and increases in land productivity. 2. Land reforms were seen as a centerpiece of the government’s Doi Moi process1 and were widely recognized as one of the most important drivers of Viet Nam’s rapid growth and poverty reduction. The promulgation of the 2003 Land Law and the adoption of the revised 2013 Land Law represented landmark developments that further enhanced land users’ rights, and a comprehensive legal framework for developing a modern land administration and management system. Viet Nam’s 2013 Land Law included reforms such as extending agricultural land tenure, requiring greater transparency, participation, and accountability in land administration and management. Under its overall Land Management Strategy, the government sought to improve public awareness, further improve the land policy and legal framework, increase land registration, foster land institutional reform, improve land use planning and land valuation mechanisms, establish regular implementation monitoring of the Land Law 2013, and develop a national Land Information System. 3. The GoV undertook numerous initiatives prior to VILG to develop land records and databases with investments since 2008 amounting to at least US$380 million.2 Of particular significance was the World Bank- financed Viet Nam Land Administration Project (VLAP) with a total investment of about US$75 million, which aimed to improve tenure security and land information services in nine provinces. VLAP set the stage for VILG and an interest in expanding reforms to a more comprehensive national program to effectively manage and coordinate land administration, land information services, and the associated land governance framework. 4. A series of studies highlighted the importance of improving land agency accountability and in particular improvements needed for the completeness and reliability of land registry information and the cost effectiveness of land administration services. Overall, land administration services were flagged as being inefficient as they were largely still paper based and working within a weak regulatory environment, insufficient office and IT infrastructure, and uncertain funding arrangements. The 2013 Viet Nam Land Governance Assessment Framework, 2014 Land Transparency Study, and associated stakeholder consultations identified the need to improve the efficiency and transparency of land management and satisfy stakeholders’ 1 Doi Moi was introduced in the late 1980’s and among other initiatives introduced free -market incentives such as improved land rights for citizens and market-based principles such as the ability to transfer and inherit land use rights, as well as setting up land administration systems and offices. 2 Initiatives included issuance of Land Use Rights Certificates (LURCs) to close to 42 million land users (20 million women) out of the 50 million of Viet Nam’s 75-80 million land parcels that were eligible for the issuance of LURCs. Page 5 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) increasingly diverse demands for land information and better access to land administration services. 5. These fundamental bottlenecks in land administration stemmed primarily from inconsistencies in implementation of the Land Law by provinces and lack of a unified national land information system. This made it difficult for the General Department of Land Administration (GDLA) and the Ministry of Nature Resources and the Environment (MoNRE)3, which oversaw land management, to understand the state and management of critical land resources and support the provincial Departments of Natural Resources (DoNREs) to deliver land administrations services at Land Registration Offices (LROs). Some provinces were operating existing electronic land information systems, while others were dependent on paper records. There were several different land information systems developed and in use by various provinces, contributing to the wide variation in procedures and performance of LROs across provinces and districts. The central government could not monitor across the various systems and faced difficulties in sharing land data with other national databases. Furthermore, core land information such as land use plans, land values and land inventory data were not available in digital format and were not fully integrated with the land registration systems, which added to the complexity of offering standard services and implementing the eGovernment Strategy under which all land information was supposed to be integrated with other government systems and services. There was a need for further investments in hardware and software, as well as standardization and integration, to allow Viet Nam to provide effective land administration services and manage national land-based resources. 6. In response to these challenges and in support of the Prime Minister’s Decision 714/QD -TTG dated May 22, 2015, on development of priority databases, including a land database, the project was designed to implement MoNRE/GDLA’s roadmap entitled: Comprehensive Program for the Development of Viet Nam’s Multi-Purpose Land Information System (February 2016). This document represented the MoNRE/GDLA vision on geospatial information management and the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Decision concerning the development of public databases. The roadmap recommended the development of a Multi-Purpose Land Information System (MPLIS)4 and a National Land Database and associated capacity building for better land administration and management. These components along with the standardization of LROs, formed the core of VILG activities. 7. Ultimately, VILG sought to support Viet Nam to modernize its land administration services by providing a unified and centralized electronic platform at the national level for exchanging land information with stakeholders, as well as standardized and streamlined land administration procedures across its district and provincial LROs. With aims to provide a foundation for effective land management and land use planning that was seen as constraining the country’s broader strategic objective to improve natural resource management and investment, the design focused on integrating the various electronic and paper systems and land administration procedures and office structures in the LROs to develop one unified and standardized system and structure. This approach was based on lessons learned from VLAP pilots. 3 GDLA was responsible for land administration until 2022. The Department of Registration and Land Information Database in 2023 became responsible for land registration and the national land information system. 4 The Multi-Purpose Land Information System (MPLIS) is Viet Nam’s National Land Information System (NLIS), including data centers, transmission lines and software to perform land transactions and provide land services. VBDLIS is the name of the software which MPLIS used. The MPLIS portal is a tool for monitoring, statistics, and summarizing transactions and services performed by the MPLIS. Page 6 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Theory of Change (Results Chain) 8. Theory of Change (TOC): The TOC depicted, below, was constructed retroactively from the Project Appraisal Document (PAD). Figure 1: Reconstructed Theory of Change at Appraisal Assumptions: The project assumed i) provincial offices had the financial capacity and willingness to accept on-lending from the national government; ii) land records were largely accurate and would not require additional mapping and data collection; iii) the provinces had the capacity to sustain the system; iv) the regulatory environment allowed for sharing land data with various stakeholders; and v) land markets and natural resource management were constrained due to land administration transparency and efficiencies. Page 7 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Project Development Objectives (PDOs) 9. The PDO at appraisal and throughout the project per the financing agreement and the PAD was “to improve the efficiency and transparency of land administration services in the project provinces, through the development and implementation of the national Multipurpose Land Information System (MPLIS).” Key Expected Outcomes and Outcome Indicators 10. The key expected VILG outcomes remained constant from appraisal to project end: (i) Improved efficiency of land administration services in the project provinces and (ii) Improved transparency of land administration services in the project provinces. The part, “Through the development and implementation of the national Multipurpose Land Information System (MPLIS)” is a means to these outcomes and is therefore not considered a PDO outcome. 11. These outcomes were measured through three PDO-level indicators with related targets as shown below. Table 1: Project Outcomes and PDO indicators at Appraisal Project Outcomes PDO-level indicators End targets Improved transparency of Indicator 1: Number of entities accessing the Multi-Purpose Land TBD5 land administration services in Information System (MPLIS) the project provinces a. Land users TBD b. Business and professionals (Commercial banks, land valuation TBD agents, property agents, and investors) c. Government and public institutions (such as department of TBD taxation, notaries, and judiciary and others) Improved efficiency of land Indicator 2: Average time to register a simple land transfer 10 days administration services in the project provinces Improved efficiency and Indicator 3: Customer satisfaction with land services in project areas transparency of land per category below: administration services in the a. Land users 65% project provinces b. Business and professionals 70% (e.g., commercial banks, land valuation agents, property agents, and investors) c. Government and public institutions (such as department of 70% taxation, notaries, and judiciary and others) Indicator 4: Percentage of LURCs with the name of women, single or TBD6 co-land users against total number of LURCs recorded 5 Targets were set in May 2023 in the Project’s second restructuring. 6 A target was never set for this indicator as it was dropped. Page 8 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Components 12. Component 1: Strengthening the Quality of Land Service Delivery (Estimated cost: US$6.84 million of which IDA financing of US$4.05 million. Actual cost US$ 1.52 million of which IDA financing of US$1.52 million). i. Sub-component 1.1 – Modernization and Strengthening of Land Registration Offices (LROs): a) Simplifying and streamlining business processes, operating procedures, guidelines, and standards for LROs: (i) produce land service delivery manual with standardized and streamlined procedures; and (ii) establish and rollout universal LRO structure b) Equipment provision: provide office equipment and furniture for district and provincial LROs c) Training and Capacity Building : provide technical assistance and training to the LROs to adopt new procedures and establish standard LRO structure. ii. Sub-component 1.2 – Trainings and Support for Public Awareness Raising and Communication: (i) conduct awareness raising campaigns and communication programs for government officials and land users; and (ii) provision of information, trainings, and services to ethnic minorities, with a focus of production and implementation of ethnic minority development plans (EMDPs7); and iii. Sub-component 1.3 – Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) for Land Use Management: technical assistance to pilot and establish a monitoring and evaluation system for land use management and implementation of the land law. 13. Component 2: Establishment and Development of MPLIS and Land Database (Estimated cost: US$160.39 million of which IDA financing US$139.15 million. Actual cost US$73.39 million of which IDA financing of US$55.08 million). iv. Sub-component 2.1 – Development and Implementation of a Multi-Purpose Land Information System (MPLIS)8: (i) MPLIS design, technical assistance and provision of equipment (ii) MPLIS training to staff, software development, procuring digital infrastructure, migration of any existing land electronic systems/databases into MPLIS, module development to integrate four key land layers (land inventory, cadastral, land values, and land use plans); and (iii) establish virtual data centers, which host MPLIS, National Land Database and Land Portal; v. Sub-component 2.2 – Development and Implementation of a National Land Database (33 provinces): (i) compiling verifying and digitizing maps and land records into a national land database that provides the base land data for MPLIS; and (ii) integration of available land data (cadastral, land values, land use plans, land inventories) using MPLIS. vi. Sub-component 2.3 – Strengthening Multi-Stakeholder Participation and Public Engagement: developing a Land Portal with different interfaces to enable government agencies and the public to access land information. 14. Component 3: Project Management and M&E (Estimated cost: US$12.77 million of which IDA financing US$6.80 million. Actual cost US$8.1 million of which IDA financing of US$4.05 million): (i) project management activities; and (ii) robust M&E systems. 15. Provincial Selection and Implementation Structure: VILG activities were planned to be implemented nationwide but with investments mainly in the 33 of Viet Nam’s 63 provinces that were more resource constrained. Each 7 Ethnic minority development plans were required to be prepared for 20 provinces to promote social inclusion of ethnic minorities in awareness raising and communication efforts with the objective to encourage land rights registration, ensure access to land information and improve customer satisfaction with land administration services. 8 MPLIS acts as the platform for the National Land Database. Page 9 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) province was an implementing entity each managing their own procurements and contracts financed through on-lending arrangements with the national government. B. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES DURING IMPLEMENTATION Revised PDOs and Outcome Targets 16. The project underwent three Level II restructurings: in December 2021, May 2023 and June 2023. Although the PDOs remained constant throughout the restructurings, the targets of two PDO indicators (PDO 1 and PDO 3) were revised. During appraisal, it was noted that outcome targets would need to be established (or updated) through a baseline survey9. The baseline report was delayed until mid-2020 but informed target setting for the May 2023 restructuring of the results framework 10. 1) PDO 1 Target Changed from TBD to two million: The baseline was kept at zero and end target set to two million accesses annually to reflect only accesses made via the project-supported National Land Database and MPLIS/interim-MPLIS.11 This included setting the sub-indicator targets for a) land users to one million b) business and professionals to zero, and c) government and public institutions at one million. These sub-indicator targets were all undefined in the PAD. “Businesses and professionals” was set to zero as sub-component 2.3 was cancelled in the restructuring and it was unclear at the time of restructuring if the portal would be completed by the government that would allow access by others, as well as a lack of regulations guiding sharing of land data to other organizations. 2) PDO 2 Target Remained: the baseline survey found transfer time was already at 9.6 days;12 however, in this case the target was kept at 10 days as although some LROs with good digital services could complete a land transfer within nine days, the more rural and less developed LROs took up to 20 days. It was unclear if a lower target could be reached. 3) PDO 3 Sub-Indicator Targets Increased from 65-70% to 75%: the survey findings showed that customer service satisfaction was already at 70%.13 The PDO 3 sub-indicators (land users, businesses, and government officials) targets were subsequently increased to 75% for all sub-indicators. 9 The baseline survey was planned for 2017 but due to project implementation and financing delays, it was produced in 2020. A little over 3% had been disbursed by mid-year 2020. By this time the World Bank had supported a unified LRO structure that was rolling out and the government had funded certain activities outside of project funding such as the study of systems and software available for MPLIS. Land records digitization had not been started by the project nor the standardization of procedures for LROs though some LROs prior to the project had existing digital data and systems. 10 Baselines were not revised from the baseline surveys —only targets were officially revised. Instead of revising baselines, the project in the Implementation Status and Results Report (ISR) and Results Framework (RF) just reported the data under progress for June 2020 with a data source as baseline survey. 11 Following the baseline report, the target was noted in the December 2020 ISR as 2,953,000 with a baseline listed in 2016 of 348,022 and June 2020 progress of 1,339,338 accesses, but neither the baseline nor target was officially changed in a restructuring. Moreover, these figures were based on the existing electronic system requests in some of the older IT systems in use in some provinces and not MPLIS, which had not yet been established. 12 The baseline in the PAD was based on the World Bank VLAP end of project data at 35 days with a target of 10 days. 13 The baseline in the PAD was 50% based on World Bank VLAP end of project data with an aim to increase customer service satisfaction by 40% (20 percentage points) to 70%. The PAD noted, the baseline and targets would be updated when the VILG- Baseline Study is completed (planned Q1 of 2017). Page 10 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Revised PDO Indicators 17. The four PDO-level indicators had two revisions: there was a slight language modification to PDO 1 and PDO 4 was removed for lack of relevance. 1) PDO 1 “Number of entities accessing MPLIS” changed to “Number of accesses to MPLIS”. The slight revision in language to PDO 1 was made to reflect that the project was tracking the number of land information requests rather than the number of entities who were making requests on the system14. This change also better measures the utility and accessibility of the MPLIS. 2) PDO 4 “Percentage of LURCs with the name of women, single or co -land users against total number of LURCs recorded” was dropped due to an inability to attribute benefits to VILG 15: The indicator was created to measure changes in women’s land rights; however, the digitization of land records only transfers the existing legal land right to a digital record and integrated land information system. Although the PDO 4 target was exceeded, it was not due to the project activities. The lack of VILG contribution or influence of VILG on PDO 4 had been noted since year 1 of the project; however, all changes to the results framework were solidified during a restructuring in May 2023 in the last month of the project. Nevertheless, having real time information on sex- disaggregated data through the MPLIS provides benefits for gender related monitoring and reporting. Table 2: Revised PDO indicators (Revisions in italics) PDO-level indicators End targets Indicator 1: Number of accesses to MPLIS 2 million (originally TBD) a) Land users 1 million (originally TBD) b) Business and professionals 0 (Originally TBD) c) Government and public institutions (such as department of 1 million (originally TBD) taxation, notaries, etc.) Indicator 2: Average time to register a simple land transfer 10 days Indicator 3: Customer satisfaction with land services in project areas per category below: d. Land users 75 % (originally 65%) e. Business and professionals 75% (originally 70%) (e.g., commercial banks, land valuation agents, property agents, and investors) f. Government and public institutions (such as department of taxation, 75% (originally 70%) notaries, and judiciary and others) 14 MPLIS allowed tracking the number of requests and progress in processing each request. The number of hits includes requests from a user who makes multiple requests but does not track requests made on the same transaction. 15 The baseline was erroneous in the PAD at 0%; the baseline was 58% when reviewed household surveys. A target was never set. Page 11 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) 18. In addition to the above changes to PDO level indicators, there were also changes to intermediate outcome indicators to better measure project results. Specifically Intermediate Results Indicator 1.2 (Number of provinces with the Land Law Monitoring system established and operational) was dropped to reflect the lack of project contribution and cancellation of funds for component 1.3. Six Intermediate Results Indicators were added to have a more comprehensive measurement of project results, particularly focusing on the importance of training, EMDP implementation and interagency data exchange output: i. Indicator 1.3: Number of provinces that established a centralized provincial LRO with a uniform structure ii. Indicator 1.4: % Managers and officers of LROs and branches, and cadastral officers of Commune People's Committees, trained on land administration service delivery in the digital environment iii. Indicator 1.5: Number of EMDPs implemented in project areas iv. Indicator 1.6: % Ethnic minority communities in the project areas engaged in EMDP implementation v. Indicator 2.7: % End users trained on MPLIS vi. Indicator 2.8: Number of provinces with an established connection and regular data exchange between LROs/branches and at least one other public service provider Revised Components 19. Via the three restructurings, several activities were dropped from the VILG financing agreement; however, the government financed and implemented these activities without World Bank funds and the overall government vision remained. The revision of components under the financing agreement stemmed from i) new government regulation following project approval that non-investment activities such as training and public awareness were not eligible for financing by official development assistance like IDA; and ii) GoV’s decision to go against World Bank’s procurement guidelines and directly contract a state-owned enterprise (Viettel) to provide the MPLIS software and IT system infrastructure. Therefore, both the land administration public awareness raising and M&E of land use management, as well as the establishment of the MPLIS IT system (software development, hardware, upgrading and maintenance of MPLIS training, and capacity building for MPLIS operations and the MPLIS portal) were removed from the financing agreement and implemented using GoV funding. 20. World Bank funds focused on the remaining activities in Component 1 (unified land service delivery through developing and operationalizing a Land Services Manual, providing equipment to the LROs, and implementing the EMDPs) and Component 2 (design of the MPLIS, provision of equipment for system operation, land records digitization, and the National Land Database that provides the inputs for MPLIS). Other Changes 21. Other changes under the restructurings included: Page 12 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) a) December 31, 2021: i) processed 18-month extension through June 30, 2023, and ii) cancelled US$49.15 million equivalent of IDA16 to account for MoNRE’s decision to finance MPLIS17 through other government sources and reduction of project provinces from 33 to 30. 18 Proje b) May 30, 2023: (i) cancelled an additional US$40.619 million equivalent of IDA due to unspent contract funds for the national land database contract as some paper land records were incomplete and not digitized 19 and two more provinces were able to use other sources of funding at the provincial level; ii) reflected changes to the institutional arrangements, iii) revised the results framework to improve results measurement and formalize the targets that were agreed upon earlier based on the baseline survey findings; iv) made related changes to components; and v) reallocated proceeds between disbursement categories. c) June 21, 2023: made changes to the project description arising from cancellation of IDA credit proceeds in the first two restructurings and government changes to the eligibility of financing of taxes and other fees. This restructuring was the basis for amendments to the financing agreement to ensure that the project description focused only on project-financed activities. Table 3: Component Financing and Disbursements Components/ Subcomponents Financing at After *Italicized activities were removed in restructuring and implemented with GoV Appraisal (US$ Restructuring funds outside of the VILG project million) (Disbursed) (US$ million) Component 1: Strengthening the Quality of Land Service Delivery 6.84 1.52 (1.77) 1.1 Modernization and Strengthening of LROs • Simplifying and streamlining business processes, operating procedures, guidelines, and standards for LROs (land service delivery manual and universal LRO structure) • Equipment provision • Training and capacity building 1.2 Trainings and Support for Public Awareness Raising and Communication • Awareness raising campaigns and communication programs for government officials and land users • Provision of information, trainings, and services to ethnic minorities (ethnic minority development plans) 1.3 M&E for Land Use Management: Technical Assistance to pilot and establish an M&E system 16 The first restructuring did not have changes to project scope. 17 US$28 million allocated to MPLIS cancelled but per the ISR was not expected to change the scope of the project since the World Bank was still financing the data for the system (National Land Database). In addition, the restructuring cancelled US$9 million allocated to three provinces withdrawing from VILG (Tuyen Quang, Quang Binh, and Lam Dong). 18 VILG mainly supported provinces which did not have the resources to digitize land records and provide related services with their own budgets. 19 The land record information will be updated and included in the digital system by provincial offices as and when a request for a transaction on a land parcel takes place. Page 13 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Component 2: Establishment and Development of MPLIS and Land Database 160.39 73.39 (55.08) 2.1 Development and Implementation of MPLIS • MPLIS design technical assistance and provision of equipment • Training, software development, digital infrastructure, migration of existing electronic systems, module development for land layers • Virtual data centers (hosting MPLIS, NLD, and portal) 2.2 Development and Implementation of a National Land Database • Compiling, verifying, and digitizing maps and land records; and • Integration of available land data using MPLIS 2.3 Strengthening Multi-Stakeholder Participation and Public Engagement Development of MPLIS Land Portal and interfaces Component 3: Project Management 12.77 8.10 (4.05) 3.1 Project Management 3.2 M&E Total 180 83.01 (60.89)20 Rationale for Changes and Their Implication on the Original Theory of Change 22. Changes are explained as follows: (a) Implementation Arrangements: Revision to implementing entities did not affect the project TOC but rather embedded the project within the new institutional framework of GoV/MoNRE to ensure its continued operation.21 (b) Results Framework: Minor adjustment to PDO 1, revisions to PDO 1 and PDO 3 targets, and the dropping of PDO 4 better reflected the relationship between activities and expected outcomes within the TOC based on an improved understanding of the existing land governance environment. The PDO was maintained, an irrelevant PDO indicator was removed even though targets were exceeded and the PDO indicators’ targets were either set (PDO 1) or increased (PDO 3), maintaining the original scope of project activities and ties to project outcomes. The revision to PDO 1 helped better reflect the volume of land requests, particularly public stakeholder requests, e.g., tax authority, provincial level one-stop-shops, the public service portal, and the national citizen ID registry. (c) Cancellations: The approximately US$90 million cancelled reflected mainly cost savings from (i) the government self-financing certain components following significant delays in project effectiveness and a 20 Small differences with the datasheet are due to differences in exchange rates applied between World Bank and client reporting systems. 21 See footnote 3. The Department of Registration and Land Information Database took over responsibility for the land system from GDLA as part of the internal MONRE restructuring. The project staff remained the same. Page 14 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) regulatory change which led to GoV prohibiting IDA funds to be used for VILG technical assistance 22; and (ii) five of the 33 provinces chose not to participate in VILG and instead planned to use other funding sources. However, the broader initiative of VILG still moved forward. IDA funds were used to complete digitization of records and creation of a national land database in 28 remaining VILG provinces, while seven non-VILG provinces in addition to the 28 VILG project provinces connected to the MPLIS. The national government also operationalized the land portal by 2023. This was because VILG activities were GoV priorities. Although GoV wanted World Bank expertise and used IDA funds to support the technical foundations for an integrated modern digital land system (streamlining and standardization of LROs and land administration, digitization, development of the National Land Database and MPLIS design), the GoV chose to use government funds and resources for MPLIS infrastructure and software deployment, as well as establishing the land portal. Viet Nam used GoV funding 23 to move the vision into action without the full WB IDA funds envisioned at appraisal. However, the World Bank technical assistance and guidance was instrumental in these achievements. (d) Extensions of the Closing Date: On December 31, 2021, the World Bank authorized an 18-month extension through June 30, 2023. This extended the actual project implementation period to five years following close to two-year delay in project start-up due to delays in declaring project effectiveness (March 23, 2017 - nine months after the signing of the Financing Agreement) and the complex government procedures to include VILG in the country’s Mid-Term Investment Plan (MTIP) and subsequent budget allocations to align with the PAD. Without this, implementation could not move forward, including on-lending to the implementing provinces. The project extension allowed the project to complete the bulk of restructured activities by December 2022. 23. The TOC following restructurings largely remained the same. The financing changed from IDA funds to GoV financing for i) Awareness Raising and M&E in Component 1, and ii) the MPLIS digital infrastructure, data integration, national portals, and virtual data centers in Component 2. However, this did not affect the planned outputs, objectives or scope of the project. II. OUTCOME A. RELEVANCE OF PDOs Assessment of Relevance of PDOs and Rating Rating: High 24. The objectives remained fully aligned during implementation and following its closure with Viet Nam’s 22 In May 2020, the GoV introduced a new policy (Decree 56/2020/ND-CP) which required that certain project expenditures (taxes, front-end fees, commitment fees, interest as well as ‘soft’ activities such as training/capacity building, technical assistance, policy/research, surveys etc.) which were to have been funded from the IDA credit use counterpart funding instead. Although the Decree was issued almost 3 years after project approval, the MOF interpreted it as covering VILG. As a result, a significant number of project activities were eventually deemed ineligible for IDA financing. With the resulting confusion over the applicability of the Decree and the complex on-lending structure, counterpart funding outside of the official restructured project components was not tracked upon cancellation and included both provincial level and national financing. 23 Using more of their own resources, the Government of Viet Nam completed the originally planned project activities outside of the official financing agreement with the World Bank while still coordinating activities under VILG. Page 15 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Country Partnership Framework 2018-2022 and SEDP 2021-2030. The Country Partnership Strategy covering the period from 2023 – 2027 is still under finalization, therefore, is not referenced in this report. CPF 2018-2022, particularly Focus Area 3 on strengthening natural resource management and water security, highlighted the critical role land plays, flagging the lack of transparency in land transactions and the need for higher efficiency land markets. The CPF noted the World Bank would support i) land at the subnational level with attention paid to “broader land governance issues” and ii) land productivity by bringing in “cutting -edge information technology and systems to assist Viet Nam to better monitor land and natural resources and improve their governance, to ensure their more efficient and sustainable use”. The project objectives of increasing efficiency and transparency of land administration in project provinces, hence, remain fully aligned with the CPF and of high relevance. Specifically, investments in streamlining and standardizing land administration procedures (Component 1) and operationalization of a national digital land database and MPLIS (Component 2), as well as follow-on investments to integrate land information (rights, land use plans, land values) in the Provincial one- stop shops, public service portal and tax authority directly contributed to the CPF’s priority of strengthening natural resource management at the subnational and central levels. VILG’s contribution to transparency, quality, and efficiency of land administration, most notably the provision of easily accessible digital integrated land records with rights and boundary data to various stakeholders provides the key foundation for effective land markets and management of land resources, enabling their more efficient and sustainable use. 25. The project also remained fully aligned with the government’s development priorities set out in the SEDP for 2021 – 2030, in which the government identified development of e-government as a priority. The project directly contributed to the government’s SEDP goals around e-governance which focused on centralizing infrastructure for improvement of administration and governance services, unified and integrated databases, particularly a national land database and related legislation for transparency and efficient use and management of land and other land-based resources. The massive data digitization process funded by the project provided the basis for MoNRE to meet the strong demand by the government for digital transformation to improve governance and administration as illustrated in the Land Policy Resolution passed in 2022 for a National Land Database. 26. Although the relevance of the PDO was clearly aligned to the CPF, SEDP and overall government priorities, one of the four PDO-level indicators was removed for irrelevance in the last month of the project. PDO 4 was used in the PAD to note potential gender benefits, erroneously claiming the improvement of women’s land rights recognition through the project by including both spouse’s names in the digital system. However, this indicator cannot be attributed to the project as the digitization of records only inputs existing land rights noted in paper records and does not change existing legal tenure rights. This attribution issue was flagged early on and noted for removal in the revision of the results framework (RF). The remaining three PDO indicators well measured the PDO objective, so this was not counted against the PDO relevance rating. 27. Based on the above, PDO Relevance is rated as High. B. ACHIEVEMENT OF PDOs (EFFICACY) Rating: Substantial 28. The assessment of PDO achievement was drawn from the following: GoV’s Completion Report (January 2024), Final Evaluation Report (January 2024), project documentation (Implementation Status and Results Page 16 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Reports [ISRs], Aide Memoires, Restructuring Papers), World Bank communications, and Land Administrative Data. The evidence of PDO achievement is presented for each outcome, with causal links shown in the TOC. Unless otherwise noted, where there were discrepancies in reporting, indicator achievement data are from the GoV’s Completion Report, which incorporated findings from the evaluation report. 29. The PDO was expected to be achieved by developing and implementing (a) MPLIS and National Land Database; (b) simplified procedures and business processes for LROs and higher quality land services; and (c) increased public and stakeholder awareness and engagement in access to land information and land services. Assessment of Achievement of Each Objective/Outcome Table 4: Summary of achievement of PDOs (see Annex 1B for summary of all outcomes, including intermediate outcomes which have all achieved or exceeded their targets.) Project Outcomes PDO-level indicators End targets Actuals Improved transparency of Indicator 1: Number of accesses to the Multi-Purpose 2,000,000 2,434,557 land administration Land Information System (MPLIS) services in the project a. Land users 1,000,000 1,782,345 provinces b. Business and professionals (Commercial banks, 0 Not land valuation agents, property agents, and Measured 24 investors) c. Government and public institutions (such as 1,000,000 652,212 department of taxation, notaries, and judiciary and others) Improved efficiency of land Indicator 2: Average time to register a simple land 10 days 8.5 days administration services in transfer the project provinces Improved efficiency and Indicator 3: Customer satisfaction with land services transparency of land in project areas per category below: administration services in a. Land users 75% (original 79% the project provinces 65%) b. Business and professionals (e.g., commercial 75% (original Not banks, land valuation agents, property agents, 70%) measured and investors) c. Government and public institutions (such as 75% (original 82.7% department of taxation, notaries, judiciary) 70%) Outcome 1: Improved efficiency of land administration services in the project provinces 30. Efficiency of land administration services in the project provinces was expected from: (a) strengthened quality of land administration and capacity of LROs; (b) uniform and more accessible land services; and (c) 24Land users and businesses are not distinguished from one another in MPLIS so 1.78 million reported in land users includes both land users and businesses. However, businesses do not have access to the whole database —only the properties they own. Page 17 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) increased public awareness and participation. These were supposed to be driven largely by Component 1 rolling out a standardized LRO structure, drafting of a land service delivery manual with streamlined and unified LRO procedures, M&E of land use management, training to LRO staff, public awareness raising, and equipment provision to the land offices, as well as the National Land Database from Component 2,25 which would provide for digital access to records. PDO Indicator 2: Average time to register a simple land transfer (Target 10 days; Actual 8.5 days; Exceeded). 31. Average land transaction time as measured by a land transfer reduced from 35 days to 8.5 days; however only approximately one day time savings is attributable to VILG. Due to project start-up delays, most activities were just starting when the 2020 baseline report found land transaction time decreased to 9.6 days. Some digitization activities had started in 2019 using existing software but the decrease in time from baseline to 2020 was likely due largely to efforts and activities during the same period by the government and local authorities in administrative procedure reform, digital transformation, and improving the quality of public services. Although the decrease in average transaction time from the baseline of 35 days 26 to 9.6 days cannot be wholly attributed to the project, the average decrease of approximately 1 day transaction time to 8.5 days is a direct effect of VILG. 32. The decrease in transaction time for land services has been ensured through technical support for LROs, including the digitizing of land records that were incorporated into the National Land Database and hosted on the MPLIS, a rollout of the unified LRO structure nationwide (adopted by 61 of 63 provinces), and VILG LROs adopting the newly established land service delivery manual with streamlined procedures and guidelines. The LRO manual was shared with all 63 provinces supporting nationwide adoption of new standard streamlined procedures and LRO structure. Importantly, VILG through the digitization and integration of over 60 million land records and establishment of streamlined LRO procedures decreased the transaction time to under 10 days even in the rural areas where land transactions had taken up to 20 days due to a dependency on paper records. Out of the 231 VILG districts across the 28 provinces, 146 districts were paper based at the start of the project, while 85 had some sort of digitized cadastral database. Even those who began with digital records were not integrated with other land data layers like land price data. VILG digitized and integrated land records to build a National Land Database across the 231 targeted districts. 33. The endline evaluation also found the implementation of a one-stop administrative system has significantly contributed to accelerating the local digital transformation process. It has progressively shifted land registration services from direct to online, reducing administrative procedures and shortening resolution times to better meet the needs of businesses and citizens. Based on both online and direct surveys conducted in all 28 participating project provinces, 96% of the provinces believe that the digital transformation has significantly altered workflow efficiency. In a survey conducted in seven provinces with 155 registration office personnel, 53% stated that the system helped reduce processing times, 74% noted that the system ensured the accuracy of documents, and 49% found that procedural documents were simplified. Transaction time is expected to further decrease as the remaining land records are updated and incorporated into the system. PDO Indicator 3: Customer satisfaction with land services in project areas (Target 75 %; Actual 79-82.7 %; Exceeded) 25 Only 20 of the 28 offices as of May 2023 were able to procure the equipment to support the National Land Database. 26 Based on data from earlier World Bank VLAP. Page 18 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) 34. In line with improvements in land registry services and standardization of LRO structures, customer satisfaction moved from a 50% baseline to 79% for land users and to 82.7% for government organizations. This is below the government requirement of 85% but still exceeds project targets. Unfortunately, the evaluation did not measure businesses like banks since the system does not yet allow access to land data beyond properties that the bank owns. Survey results showed that up to 90% of individual land users were satisfied with the service attitude of the staff receiving documents compared to 83% of government organizational land users and indicated that the majority of registration office personnel believe that the project has assisted in processing land registration transactions more accurately and comprehensively. Beyond the changes in transaction time from the rural land offices, this is driven by the project’s integration of the various electronic land services into one integrated unified electronic system that is accessible via the land portal. The EMDPs were effectively implemented in the 20 targeted provinces across 117 districts, which was reflected in the increases in satisfaction by ethnic minorities, though it is still lower than other land users overall. Outcome 2: Improve transparency of land administration services in project provinces 35. Transparency of land administration services was expected from (a) utilization of a unified digital land information system with aggregated land information reporting and monitoring, and complete and accurate land data; (b) increased access to and sharing of land information; and (c) strengthened public and interagency exchange. PDO Indicator 1: Number of accesses to the Multi-Purpose Land Information System (Target 2,000,000; Actual 2,434,557 27accesses; Exceeded) 36. The project has helped transform Viet Nam’s land administration environment and the accessibility and accuracy of land information through the establishment of a national digital land database using the MPLIS and integration of land information into the provincial one-stop-shops, the Public Service Portal and the tax authority. By project closing, VILG had supported establishment of a National Land Database covering 231 districts across 28 of Viet Nam’s 63 provinces, with a reduction of 19 districts from the initial design due to district duplication with another ongoing provincial government project and inadequate quality of input documents for data digitization. Although IDA funds no longer supported the originally targeted 33 provinces, IDA funds combined with funding from the national and provincial governments still deployed MPLIS deployment and related land data integration in 35 provinces. Searching for land records, cadastral maps, and planning can now be done online in all 28 VILG provinces and their respective districts and provincial LROs as well as 40 other non-VILG districts within these provinces and seven additional non VILG provinces 28 (51 additional districts) with over 11,000 National Land Database/MPLIS users across 35 provinces and 322 districts. Although IDA funds did not fund the MPLIS infrastructure, project funds financed the design of MPLIS and provided technical assistance which was vital for the establishment of the MPLIS. IDA funds also supported the digitization and unification of records, integrating land records into the MPLIS and National Land Database for 231 districts in 28 provinces, which was fundamental for the establishment and functioning of these national systems and related Land portal that facilitated access to this data. 272,331,468 by June 2023. The above is via the evaluation. 28The 33 original provinces were selected based on funding and support needs with the expectation that other provinces would be able to join the MPLIS once established to allow one national system. 7 have already connected to the system. These include 6 non-selected VILG provinces plus 1 province that was originally a VILG province but opted to use alternative funding (left VILG) to connect to the MPLIS. Page 19 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) 37. Within a year after the establishment of the MPLIS in 2023 and related digitized and integrated land records from the National Land Database, the number of accesses (or hits) to the MPLIS exceeded its target; however, this was driven by individual land users-government users have not yet met their target and business users had a target of zero set as they do not have access to land records except for properties they own. The lack of the enabling regulatory framework to share land data with other agencies and businesses has constrained the ability to meet the targets for government officials and those trying to search records beyond their own land parcels (individual users). Nevertheless, all users can request information via the one-stop-shop, as an interim step to the eventual direct access to land data. 38. Although PDO 1a (land users) exceeded it’s one million annual transaction target, PDO 1c on accesses for government agencies was not achieved as it is largely dependent on the volume of requests from the tax office. While the 28 participating provinces in the VILG project achieved connectivity with the tax agency (meeting its target of 100% LROs connected with other sectors and data access), the transaction volume of land files and related request by the tax authority was insufficient to meet the target. However, there are many external influences on the volume of tax transactions beyond connection with land data and the MPLIS was only functional for a limited time with the tax authority. In the future MPLIS is expected to meet PDO1c target, especially as land data is shared with other non-land agencies to improve land planning and land resource management. Already land officials at provincial, district and commune levels have the right to access land information. Justification of Overall Efficacy Rating 39. Efficacy rating: Efficacy is rated Substantial. PDO 1, PDO 2 and PDO 3, as well as intermediary indicators largely met or exceeded their overall targets despite the initial delay and operating through COVID lockdowns; noting that PDO 2 outcome is only partially attributable to VILG and one sub-indicator under PDO 1 was not met while another sub-indicator was not able to be measured and a zero target set. With MPLIS only operational in 2023 (one year) yet already exceeding the overall target and with 35 provinces connected, connections to the tax authority and one stop shop platform, and the land portal in place just at the end of 2023, following project closure, it is expected that the PDO1 sub-indicators will be shortly met or exceeded, especially if the government is able to establish regulations guiding the additional sharing of land data. C. EFFICIENCY Assessment of Efficiency 40. Overall, the project was able to meet its development objective through providing catalyzing investments that were fundamental to the success of the project while using substantially less IDA funds than planned due to the GoV directly funding many follow-on activities. Disbursements were US$43.25 million (28.8%) of the estimated US$150 million in IDA funds (US$180 million total with US$30 million equivalent counterpart funding) at appraisal. Ultimately, the project leveraged the Bank’s technical assistance strengths in MPLIS design and developing standardized streamlined procedures, as well as digitization and integration of a mix of paper and electronic record systems This set the foundation for the land portal and MPLIS , which together with World Bank investments achieved the digital transformation of land sector information in the majority of Viet Nam’s Page 20 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) provinces, especially in the poorer provinces which would not have been able to finance data digitization or had the capacity to implement this work on their own. 41. However, there was significant time spent in restructurings and an 18-month project extension due to almost a two-year delay in project start-up. The significant delays in project start-up and related restructurings stemmed from multiple regulatory and fiscal issues: i) a change in government regulation after project signing that no longer allowed IDA funding to be used for non-investment activities like public awareness raising and training; ii) constraints in getting VILG in Viet Nam’s MTIP and related delays in the financing agreement; and iii) complex procedures and an insufficient understanding at design of provincial financing requirements (on- lending arrangements) for provincial entities to obtain World Bank funds from the national government to finance the VILG work. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) had to confirm that each of the respective provincial debts did not exceed their debt limits and ensure their capacity to repay the subsidiary loans between MoF and each province. In addition, project procurements were further delayed by the COVID pandemic and related lockdown policy. Although the contribution of government funded activities and involvement of provincial governments should be seen positively and attests to the substantial government ownership of the reforms, significant time and resources were spent revising the workplan, procurement plans, financial agreements, and the results framework. Yet, amid all the obstacles, the project was able to come back in the last two years of implementation and deliver the majority of its objectives. 42. Component 1 achieved planned output and outcome targets while spending under half of IDA funds allocated (US$1.53 million out of US$4.05 million). As subcomponent 1.3 and part of subcomponent 1.2 were largely removed from the financing agreement, the bulk of these funds went to subcomponent 1.1 (Improvement of land service delivery), which was originally allocated $3.34 million in IDA funding. Sub-component 1.1 was the main driver of key outputs and outcomes expected from Component 1. The benefits in customer service and land service quality were attributed to the project as shown by the evaluation surveys with the LRO offices. The government allocated their own resources for the activities which were deemed ineligible for IDA financing under the GoV regulation adopted after project approval, while the Bank provided additional unplanned technical assistance through a Trust Fund 29 to support the sustainability review and action plan on LROs. The exact contributions of the government and provincial government through in-kind support and direct financing is unclear as these budgets were not tracked once they were removed from the financing agreement. 43. Component 2 similarly achieved its outcome targets while disbursing only US$47 million out of US$139.15 million. After Subcomponent 2.1 and 2.3 were largely removed from the financing agreement, VILG focused on Sub-Component 2.2. However, prior to their removal, IDA funds had financed the MPLIS design and provided technical assistance that was key to the establishment of the MPLIS as well as funded the digitization and unification of records into the MPLIS. Out of the total Component 2 IDA funds, VILG expected to fund US$34.85 million for Sub-Component 2.1 (MPLIS), US$102.79 million for Sub-Component 2.2 (National Land Database), and US$1.5 million for Sub-Component 2.3 (participation and data sharing). The IDA credit savings were due to i) the GOV allocating more of their own funds for the activities deemed ineligible for IDA financing under the 29The World Bank mobilized Bank-executed trust funds to provide some technical assistance that could no longer be used via IDA funds. These included provision of recommendations to the LROs on ensuring sustainability of operations, as well as supporting the drafting of the land law that the GoV adopted in 2024. Page 21 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) GoV regulation adopted after project approval30; ii) land records that were unable to be digitized or included in the system due to errors and thus the number of records was reduced 31; iii) cost savings from engaging the private sector in the data digitization processes through competitive procurement; and iv) procurement of equipment using IDA funds only utilized in 20 out of 28 provinces. 44. At appraisal, it was expected the economic benefits attributable to the project would occur via (i) increased revenues from taxes and land service fees; (ii) cost savings in land transactions; and (iii) revenue from the sale of land information. The estimated financial internal rate of return (FIRR) was about 21% at a 10% discount rate for US$80 million. The evaluation found increases in LRO productivity in processing land transactions; however, the evaluation based on surveys from seven provinces conducted through direct investigation and 21 provinces through survey forms indicate that the implementation of VILG “does not have a direct impact on increasing revenue from taxes and fees or has only a negligible impact. The increase or decrease in revenue from taxes and fees mainly depends on the fluctuation of land transactions, particularly influenced by the volatility or stagnation of the real estate market.” Considering the MPLIS was active for less than a year at the time of the survey, the results are not surprising. A longer exposure period and comparison with provinces that have not yet connected to MPLIS or digitized their records, could provide the necessary counterfactual to attribute changes in transactions and revenues. 45. Yet in an economic rate of return, increased tax revenues and service fees and revenue are considered cost transfers. As such, this analysis looks just at transaction cost savings. In estimating the economic benefits, the evaluation found that there were approximately 650,000 transactions using the new system “with the transaction time reduced by 1 day per transaction and the number of visits to the authorities for land procedures by individuals and businesses reduced by 1 visit each (each visit previously averaged 3 hours) per transaction…it is estimated that the project has created 2 million hours of productive work for individuals and businesses”. Assuming regulations and MPLIS connections are made to allow for banks to help validate land ownership and secure mortgages, with an estimated 100,000 mortgages per year, the evaluation estimates potential savings for an additional total working hours saved of 1.6 million hours per year. 46. Unfortunately, a more detailed economic analysis cannot be created without having more detailed data on land transactions and estimates of national and provincial government funding of project activities outside the financial agreement. However, overall, the World Bank IDA financing provided a key foundation for the success of the LROs, National Land Database and MPLIS. Per the PAD, establishing and operation of a transparent land information system serves the public good and as such “cost recovery considerations should not be the decisive criteria” for funding the project. Accurate and publicly available land information is expected to facilitate investment decisions and avoid misallocations and land conflicts, supporting increased land use productivity and natural resources management. It will also help decrease costly conflicts and disputes over land and facilitate fair compensations where government land acquisitions are necessary. 30 The project expected to cover all costs related to the national land database but in the end, counterpart funds paid for the Technical Design and Construction Estimate Contracts for Land Database Construction and Supervision Contracts for Land Database construction, while IDA funds financed the Land Database Construction Contracts (IDA funds). 31 These land records will be digitized and incorporated into the system as land is transacted. Page 22 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) 47. Efficiency is rated Modest, reflecting the ability of the project to largely achieve outputs and targeted outcomes at lower amount of IDA financing, while recognizing that the cost of these investments was still financed by the government and attributable economic benefits did not realize to the extent expected. Only part of the change in transaction time (one day) can be attributed to the drop from 35 days to 8.5 days, and changes in land transaction volumes, estimated in the IRR, cannot be attributed to the project based on the data provided. However, the project contributed to the overall public good by providing the necessary foundation for land markets and land-based resource management. Meanwhile, the 18-month extension and substantial improvement in implementation efficiency since 2020 even amid the Covid pandemic compensated for the initial implementation delay. D. JUSTIFICATION OF OVERALL OUTCOME RATING 48. The overall outcome is rated Moderately Satisfactory. This is based on ratings of High for Relevance, Substantial for Efficacy and Modest for Efficiency. There were no shortcomings in the relevance of the current CPF or the CPF at appraisal. VILG largely achieved its objectives and stayed aligned with the TOC. The project was successful despite a two-year initial delay, the impacts of COVID which delayed field work, and the 2020 Decree which deemed some project activities ineligible for IDA financing, ramping up in its final years and using counterpart funds to keep the project going in the interim. The project achieved its overall objectives through both IDA financing and government contribution. 49. A split rating method was considered but not adopted given that the objectives and key outcomes remain unchanged, while the scope of the project largely was maintained with 28 of 33 provinces remaining with the project and seven non project provinces providing their own funding to join MPLIS, including one original VILG province. Clarification of the PDO, updated targets and removal of the irrelevant PDO indicator maintained the overall scope and objectives of the project while improving the capturing of attributable project effects. The project’s scope and scale remained substantially unchanged as revisions were made to improve measurability and not claim unattributable benefits. Although three outcome indicators were revised, one revision was a simple clarification, another increased the target, and the other removed an irrelevant indicator (PDO4) which was not explained in the PAD. Hence, the ambition and project scope remained the same. The restructured PDO indicators better measured the project’s achievement and similarly did not lower the project’s ambition. Although the project was restructured, outputs in the PAD proceeded as planned as the government provided its own funds to finance all activities. 50. Although PDO 4 on women’s name on LURCs was removed due to lack of attribution to VILG , as of December 2023, 11.91 million out of the 17.49 LURCs in MPLIS were registered in the name of women individually or jointly, including 10.07 million out of 14.76 LURCs (68.22%) in project provinces. The PAD had not established a target for PDO 4.32 32There was an informal baseline of 58.8% based on the 2014 Viet Nam Household Living Standard Survey that was not incorporated into the official results framework restructuring. Prior to VILG many records were in paper, so the survey was used to try to estimate women’s land rights until the records were digitized and ent ered into the National Land Database and MPLIS. Page 23 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) E. OTHER OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS Gender 51. Improving women’s land rights and administration was not a n activity directly financed by the project. However, the PAD noted VILG would “focus on supporting a gender sensitive land administration system including by facilitating gender land use rights analysis through the MPLIS” and the “MPLIS database will reflect the names of both spouses in LURCs”. The national land database and related MPLIS incorporated a gender tag, which enabled analysis of land transactions by the landowner’s gender and related production of gender disaggregated data on land transactions. Prior to VILG, the GoV depended on manual analysis of land records, including sex-disaggregated analysis. The digitization process did not include any tenure components and cannot change legal ownership rights, but the system now facilitates real time sex-disaggregated data for monitoring and reporting purposes. In the 28 VILG Provinces, out of 14.76 million LURCs, 10.07 million were in the name of women individually or jointly with their spouses.33 Institutional Strengthening 52. Enhancing Awareness of LRO Officials: The project's activities contributed to raising awareness among registration office staffs about the quality level of public land registration services, especially through training courses on professional processes, services, and ethnic minority activities. During face-to-face interviews in 7 provinces, field investigation with LRO officials showed that all interviewed officials had a good awareness on their obligation and responsibility to provide high quality public land services. 53. Effectiveness of digital transformation in the work process: Interconnecting the land database with the tax system and the public administrative one-stop shop information system contributed to accelerating the digital transformation process in local government, gradually transforming public land services online, helping to cut administrative procedures, reduce processing time and better meet the needs of businesses and people. It is an important contribution to the national eGovernment Strategy which identified land as one of the key registers. 54. Improvement in institutional mechanisms within LRO operations: Thanks to the digital transformation of the working environment, the order and manner for processing documents has changed, resulting in improved and consistent performance. As a result, up to 80% of provincial and registration office leaders think that the project has brought positive institutional changes to the LRO activities. 33 Data collected from MPLIS, February 2024. Page 24 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Mobilizing Private Sector Financing N/A Poverty Reduction and Shared Prosperity 55. Although the project evaluation did not allow a sufficient exposure period to measure medium and longer-term outcomes and related economic benefits, the independent evaluation showed land transaction savings of one day on average per transaction. It is unclear how much of this is administrative transaction time vs time spent by the customer. Other Unintended Outcomes and Impacts 56. Impact on resolving land disputes and supporting expropriation: Direct surveys at the commune level found that where commune officials have access to land data, such as in Thai Nguyen, the availability and completeness of land data helped resolve land dispute complaints, especially those related to compensation and land clearance. This positive result is expected in other provinces once the necessary data sharing regulations and guidelines are adopted. III. KEY FACTORS THAT AFFECTED IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTCOME A. KEY FACTORS DURING PREPARATION 57. Government commitment: The project objective and design aligned with the government’s sector strategy and leveraged momentum from the earlier World Bank VLAP project. 58. Ambitious but realistic objectives: The design and scope of VILG activities built on the experience of the VLAP in nine provinces, especially, completing and updating the spatial data coverage and computerization of land records in LROs. The project activities were clear and well aligned with good practices in land administration. A key factor that was debated at length during preparation was the number of provinces to include in VILG. MONRE and other central agencies were in favor of all provinces; the design team favored a number similar to VLAP. The result of 33 provinces was a compromise. The selection of provinces based on financial need was appropriate as others could self- finance as was seen by additional non-VILG provinces connecting to MPLIS. Similarly, rollout to over half the nation’s provinces, assured sustainability and uptake nationwide of the new system. 59. Lack of a solid results framework and monitoring plan: Although the PDO indicators were well aligned with the project objective, there were key targets missing and inaccurate baselines. More time should have been spent in design to ensure an accurate understanding of the existing environment and project objectives, especially for PDO-level indicators. There were also inadequate intermediary indicators to measure key project outputs, which led to adding additional indicators in project restructuring. Similarly, the plan for monitoring did not define realistic measures for data collection. There were weaknesses in the design of indicators, data sources, frequencies of data collection suggested, and missing baselines and targets due to the rushed design. Page 25 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) 60. Risk assessment and implementation readiness: The substantial procurement and fiscal risks had been noted but the mitigation measures were inadequate as they depended on technical assistance, which could not be supported following changes in Viet Nam’s regulatory environment around use of IDA funds for technical assistance. The delays from passing Viet Nam’s MTIP and related budgeting issues, as well as changes in the regulatory environment limiting the use of IDA for project activities, could not be avoided, but earlier provincial assessments of the status of existing land data and software would have better informed design, procurements, and mitigated further delays. In the end, VILG took nine months to become effective. Provinces were similarly not ready for implementation and on-lending, which led to further delays in project start up. The lack of implementation readiness resulted in disbursements under US$1 million at midterm. B. KEY FACTORS DURING IMPLEMENTATION 61. Software design: At preparation, it was envisaged that the initial MPLIS components (to provide the functionality required to capture the four layers of information, the migration of data from the other 5-6 software/systems in use across the country and the subsequent maintenance of the land database) would be developed by upgrading the existing ViLIS software, an approach that has been successful in many other Bank finances projects. The decision during implementation to design a new system and the eventual agreement between MONRE and Viettel in 2021 for the MPLIS software development and infrastructure was a significant change, resulting in a considerably extended timeframe and long periods of uncertainty as to which approach would be eventually taken. 62. MPLIS delays: the delays in finalizing the approach (in-house vs out-sourcing) to be taken to develop, implement and operate the MPLIS software and infrastructure led to delays in the MPLIS rollout and land database development. The decision had to be taken at a high-level of government due to cyber- security issues and other institutional considerations. MONRE issued approval of the new software in early 2021 and with this approval, the IDA-financed contracts to digitize the data and create the land database were then procured. The land database work financed by IDA could not begin until the software/system was agreed and available to contractors and LROs. 63. Government’s decision (late 2020) not to use IDA funds for MPLIS and the 2020 Decree restricting the use of IDA for ‘soft’ measures : this led to the removal of important activities such as training/capacity building, technical assistance and policy/strategy activities, public awareness raising from IDA funding and the financial agreement. Government financing covered these activities instead, while the World Bank focused on the LRO structure and guidelines, the National Land Database and related digitization of records, and training and assistance for the Central Project Management Unit (CPMU) and Project Provincial Management Units (PPMUs). The World Bank also mobilized bank executed trust funds to complete the LRO sustainability review and recommendations around the land policy/land law reform. 64. Delayed start: There was a 2-year delay in approving the MTIP, and related delays in budget allocations and access to counterpart funding. Similarly, the complicated MoF on-lending arrangements from the Page 26 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) central level to the project provinces constrained and delayed the start of many project activities, notably the land database contracts. It would have been better to include a project conditionality to ensure counterpart funding was available from the date of project effectiveness (i.e., approval of the MTIP) and clarity on the on-lending arrangements for the project provinces. 65. COVID-19: Due to the delayed start, many project activities were just ramping up when the COVID pandemic began. This affected digitization of land records and related establishment of the National Land Database, especially the preparatory and digitization work in the LROs. Due to the official and sensitive nature of land records, all work had to be done in the LRO under supervision and the shutdowns and social distancing requirements curtailed the office work. 66. Implementation with 33 implementing entities at the provincial level: In ViLG the challenge of dealing so many (28 at the end) provinces proved to be very significant in part because the reform process (initiated by Doi Moi) continued and related administrative processes involving central and provincial governments were evolving, with certain tension between centralized control and the autonomy of the provinces. These factors lead to a lack of clarity and experience in how to engage with the project provinces and the administrative processes required to facilitate the project. In addition, completing the administrative processes for 30+ on-lending agreements and working with those PPMUs with their own project staff was challenging, especially for procurement and Financial Management (FM) where local staff needed to understand Bank policies and procedures and manage the administrative work in English. While the CPMU and World Bank offered enhanced training and technical support to the provinces, the inability to use IDA funds for training and technical support activities placed a significant burden on both the CPMU and World Bank. Finally, the assumptions made at the time of project preparation about how long it would take for the project to commence activities (especially the land database contracts) proved to be far too optimistic. IV. BANK PERFORMANCE, COMPLIANCE ISSUES, AND RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME A. QUALITY OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION (M&E) M&E Design 67. The design of project monitoring and evaluation was based on the Aligned Monitoring Tool, which was development by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in collaboration with key donors to provide simplified, harmonized and aligned monitoring format. There was not an established TOC at appraisal; however, the TOC as reconstructed from the PAD provided a clear understanding of the relationships between activities, outputs and outcomes, and adequate indicators were identified in the result framework to monitor the progress toward the PDOs. However, the data source and frequency of data collection was not well designed and one PDO indicator was not attributable to the project based on project design. For example, two PDO level indicators (PDO 3 Page 27 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) and PDO4) were designed in the PAD to be measured every six 6 months plus annual independent assessments.34 Such data collection would be costly and an impractical way to measure these results. For example, PDO 3 (customer satisfaction) would be more appropriately measured at baseline and endline, which is what was implemented. More frequent measurement prior to project outputs isn’t prudent as no change would be expected in the outcome based on the TOC. Data that is dependent on surveys such as customer service, should not be carried out annually. Meanwhile, PDO2 (transfer time) was designed in the PAD to be measured every six months by project reports; however, this type of data requires surveys and detailed reviews of administrative data, which is best done at baseline and endline. There were a manageable number of indicators that captured main outcomes, but they needed to be augmented with additional intermediate indicators to capture key short-term outcomes and outputs, especially around Component 2. 68. These issues in RF design were realized early on in project implementation but only addressed formally by the government in its restructuring request at the end of the project. Many of the PDO indicator baselines and targets were also undefined and awaiting the planned 2017 baseline which was not carried out until 2019-2020 due to the delayed start of the project. Conducting a baseline survey ahead of project appraisal would have allowed for a clearer understanding of project targets and informed design. M&E Implementation 69. M&E progress was slow at the project start but capacity was gradually built up at both Central and Provincial PMU levels. There were no M&E staff assigned at the PPMUs35, so the CPMU spent significant time to obtain data. The project M&E system was established but not consistently used by the provinces. Thus, ISR reporting was irregular and not always in line with the established results framework. This was also partially due to expectations of indicator changes that were not formalized until the end of the project. Due to the lengthy internal restructuring process on the GoV side, the revisions were only formalized in the World Bank’s system after the restructuring in May 2023 as it took almost 18 months for the GoV to send the request to formalize changes to the results framework after the first cancellation of funds. 70. M&E implementation was inconsistent: Monitoring data provided in project reports around the PDOs had multiple errors and inconsistencies with changes in reporting of past data, reporting incorrect data points, and listing new targets that were never changed (and were not the targets eventually established in restructuring). These factors were influenced by the complicated reporting structure whereby the CPMU needed to manually collate information from the 30+ PPMUs using counterpart funds rather than having IDA financed M&E support as envisioned during project design. The evaluation report and government completion report provided helpful data but also contained errors and inconsistencies in reporting of key PDO indicators and did not align with ISR figures. The evaluation report did not provide details on the sampling or survey design, which made it difficult to understand how results differed from baseline findings (and attribution of project affects); and only raw data analysis was provided. Obtaining an understanding of related sampling framing and timing of data collection hence took time to collect. Nevertheless, the evaluation and government report were sufficient for measuring project progress after the GoV 34 PAD stated, “Six monthly (based on data captured by LROs) and periodic CPMU reviews. In addition, in Year 2, 3 and 5 independent assessments will be conducted”. 35 PPMU staff were assigned to conduct M&E among procurement and other tasks but did not have M&E specialists assigned. Page 28 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) provided further clarification and corrections to the reports. In the future an evaluation would better measure results if a longer exposure period was provided in line with the TOC and a counterfactual created to measure results to see whether longer-term outcomes are realized and ensure details on sampling design and data collection period are included. M&E Utilization 71. Implementing a monitoring and evaluation system enabled the CPMU and provinces to routinely check progress, prompting them to accelerate implementation or modify the project Results Framework but in the end the project largely depended on the project baseline and endline evaluation for reporting progress rather than the ISRs as did this Implementation Completion and Results Report due to the data quality issues. Justification of Overall Rating of Quality of M&E 72. The overall quality of the M&E is rated Modest. There were both M&E design and implementation shortcomings. B. ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND FIDUCIARY COMPLIANCE Environment 73. The project was classified as a Category B project – partial assessment - and triggered the World Bank safeguard policies on Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01). The project mostly had positive environmental and social impacts by improving the quality, quantity, and access to social and environment-related information in the land information system. OP 4.01 was triggered due to the potential downstream environmental and social impacts associated with project activities, specifically with subcomponent 1.3 on strengthening M&E in land use management. The environmental and social screening conducted during preparation identified no environmental impacts on natural habitats, natural reserves, wetlands of biodiversity preservation, natural rivers and lakes, and physical cultural resources. Relevant environmental criteria were considered in designing the M&E system to be in line with the Bank’s safeguard policies and guidelines. There was no requirement for preparing a separate environment instrument. During implementation, measures were considered in the design of the land database development and duly implemented to avoid and minimize adverse impacts on the environment. No environmental non-compliance occurred, and the Bank missions consistently rated environmental safeguards performance of the project as satisfactory during implementation. There were no outstanding environmental safeguard issues by the project closure date. Social 74. The project triggered OP/BP 4.10 on Indigenous Peoples, requiring the preparation of an Ethnic Minority Planning Framework, given the phased implementation approach of the project. EMDPs were prepared for the first four provinces by the Provincial People’s Committees (PPCs) and later expanding to all the 20 project provinces where ethnic minority groups are present. The Ethnic Minority Planning Framework was prepared and disclosed at provincial, district and commune levels in a form accessible by local people on Page 29 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) January 20, 2016, as well as the World Bank’s Infoshop on January 21, 2016. The Social Assessment and EMDPs were disclosed locally at the provincial, district and commune levels in a form accessible by local people on January 20, 2016, and on World Bank InfoShop on January 21, 2016. In all project provinces, a Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) was established and disclosed on local and national websites, in addition to disclosing the EMDPs and GRMs at the district level when required. During project implementation, capacity building was provided to the staff of the CPMU/PPMU implementing the EMDPs through two official training courses plus on-the-job training. The COVID-19 pandemic made it more difficult to implement the EMDPs, causing some implementation delays. A successful way to solve EMDP implementation delays was sharing training and good practices among the project provinces, which helped the PPMUs to implement their EMDPs better, considering the specific context of each province. Implementation support missions found that ethnic minority communities provided inputs and participated in the different activities included in the EMDPs. No grievance was recorded during project implementation. Since all the EMDPs have been implemented in compliance with the OP/BP 4.10, the social safeguard performance has been rated Satisfactory. Procurement 75. In general, procurement activities under the project were implemented in accordance with the Bank’s applicable Procurement Regulations (July 2016). Major procurement activities included fully decentralized procurement of technical services for development & integration of the land database in 28 project provinces; a large number of decentralized Force-Account contracts (FA) for certain technical services in compliance with specific and exceptional arrangements allowed in the project Financing Agreement; two large contracts of centralized procurement of equipment following a Framework Agreement; a large number of downstream Shopping for equipment (call-off contracts) in accordance with the pre-established Framework Agreements in 22/30 project provinces; and a selection of consulting firms for a few small assignments under Component 3. 76. Given the large number of procurement activities being implemented in a decentralized manner by nearly 30 different implementing agencies, the procurement performance and quality was uneven, so the overall procurement performance is considered Moderately Satisfactory throughout the project life. The procurement risks under the projects were assessed as Substantial during the original project period (March 2017 to late 2021). During the 18-month project extension, the procurement risks were gradually mitigated down to Moderate and finally reached Low in the last month of the project. Financial Management 77. FM reviews in regular supervision missions identified that an adequate FM system was in place that could provide, with reasonable assurance, accurate and timely information that the World Bank proceeds were being used for the intended purposes. The project FM rating was consistently rated as ‘Moderately Satisfactory’ throughout project implementation, mainly due to the challenges in monitoring of project fund flows and financial reporting of large number of implementing agencies (one ministry and Page 30 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) 28 provinces). Consequently, the project annual audited reports and interim financial reports were submitted with acceptable quality but often late due to the large volume of consolidation required. The FM reviews recognized CPMU and PPMUs efforts in maintaining adequate FM staffing, accounting, internal control systems, and proper supporting FM documents for related project activities. The CPMU and PPMUs fully carried out both internal and external audits, which were unqualified, and the audit recommendations and lessons learned were shared routinely with the GoV. C. BANK PERFORMANCE Quality at Entry 78. The World Bank coordinated closely with the counterpart to align the project design well with government strategies and best practices in land administration. The technical design, to upgrade the existing software and finance massive data digitization and conversion, is a sound and successful approach in many Bank- financed land administration projects. 79. However, the complex financial and institutional arrangements agreed with the World Bank during preparation, which required on-lending agreements with the provinces and each province to operate a separate PMU, caused delays, resulted in a heighted need for capacity building on Bank processes and procedures, and led to fragmented M&E and reporting. The World Bank flagged as high risk the fiscal and procurement issues but could have established better mitigation measures and potentially used alternative implementing mechanisms. Similarly, the World Bank should have established a better M&E Framework with clear baselines and targets and effective monitoring timelines with data sources at least for the PDO indicators. The World Bank’s overly optimistic appraisal assumptions on implementation planning, budget, provincial uptake and capacity, and quality of cadastral records, also contributed to the cancellation of IDA funds and delays in getting the project into Viet Nam’s MTIP, budgets allocated, and disbursements. These risks could have been mitigated with further due diligence. In the end, three restructurings were required, including revisions to the RF. Quality of Supervision 80. Patience and willingness to try a new approach overcame procedural, regulatory and fiscal hurdles: The Bank remained particularly responsive to the client and flexible to adjustments following the government regulation effectively barring technical assistance and other ‘soft’ measures for use of IDA funds, as well as flexibility to adapt to the government’s decision to enter into a direct but non-documented agreement with Viettel for the MPLIS software and system infrastructure. The enhanced capacity building efforts and technical assistance provided by the World Bank as well as flexibility to adapt to the change in IT system design helped turn around a struggling project and secure more counterpart funding. Rather than cancelling VILG or reducing its scope due to shortfalls and delays in early implementation, the World Bank gave the project more time to develop alternative strategies and demonstrate results—and it did. With the extension, VILG was able to make up for the two-year delay and almost fully achieved the expected targets, suggesting that patience, and flexible supervision is warranted for technically and institutionally complex projects with high levels of Client buy-in. Nevertheless, despite persistent engagement with the client Page 31 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) (MONRE, MoF, MPI) the formal restructurings to incorporate these flexible approaches were late and should have been conducted prior to one month ahead of project closing. 81. Increased implementation support with clear identification of shortcomings and key next steps turned the project around. There were multiple setbacks including delays in project effectiveness, signing the financing agreement, budget provision, decision for the MPLIS software/system, procurement planning processes and provincial agreement to participate in the project. The World Bank took corrective measures, appropriately flagging the issues in Aide Memoires and downgrading the project ratings accordingly, as well as mobilizing team resources and trust funds to fill the gaps left by the limits to IDA financing. 82. Following the midterm review in December 2019 with disbursements at only 0.3%, the World Bank, in close collaboration with GoV counterparts, worked together to diagnose the sources of the issues and develop action plans with clear delineation of responsibilities and next steps. The World Bank’s preparation of a detailed workplan with agreed actions and the government’s subsequent approval of the Master Plan, helped overcome some of the key implementation roadblocks. However, certain issues could have been addressed earlier, including further support provided to i) procurements at the provincial level, ii) effective M&E reporting to ensure consistency in reporting and adherence to the results framework, and iii) restructuring the results framework and counterpart financing prior to one month ahead of project closing, although the Bank was constrained by the internal GoV processing of official restructuring requests. Justification of Overall Rating of Bank Performance 83. World Bank performance is rated Moderately Satisfactory. The World Bank satisfactorily supervised VILG implementation showing flexibility while ensuring VILG objectives were met; however, there were issues in supervision of M&E reporting and delays in restructuring while in design the World Bank should have considered more realistic institutional, monitoring, financial, and procurement arrangements in Viet Nam’s complex procedural and decentralized environment. D. RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME 84. The key risk to the development outcome remains due to the lack of a long-term agreement between MONRE and the software/system provider of MPLIS. The Bank has raised this concern throughout the project, and it has also been raised by several project provinces. The risk is high given that the official commitment of Viettel to support project provinces ended at project closing. MONRE is planning to build a unified centralized MPLIS system with government funding to be completed in 2025. MONRE has instructed provinces to continue using the interim MPLIS in the form of "rental" arrangements. Project provinces are planning for budget resources to maintain the MPLIS and land database under the guidance of MONRE. However, the process to procure a new system faces complex public investment procedures and any new software and system will take time to design, procure, develop, integrate land data, and build related capacity to operate. It is important for MONRE and the PPCs to find a long-term solution to Page 32 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) maintain the continuous operation of the current system to prevent the disruption of land administration services. 85. A national rollout plan and related technical and financial support or incentives are recommended to expand usage of MPLIS nationwide and maintain the national land database through routine data maintenance. All land offices across the country need to be integrated into the system with required hardware and software. While 35 provinces are now integrated in the national land database using the new MPLIS software, almost half of Viet Nam’s provinces are not yet included and expected to join using their provincial resources. With some non-project provinces still working via paper records, technical assistance and capacity building is required to ensure there is a clear understanding how to digitally process incoming land transactions and keep the system maintained with accurate records. The quality of digitalized spatial data is uneven and may contain errors but can be improved and replaced by standardized cadastral data or extracted from cadastral surveys in the future if there is the necessary budget and buy-in. A loss of confidence in the system or trying to maintain multiple land systems across provinces will likely result in the MPLIS and the National Land Database becoming obsolete. A national rollout plan, outreach and continued capacity building is needed with funding incentives. 86. To address some of the gaps left by GoV restrictions on the use IDA, the World Bank mobilized grant funds to support key policy work and strategic assessments. First, the team supported the preparation of a sustainability plan. The resulting ‘National Land Information System Action Plan and 10-year Investment Roadmap’ provides detailed actions and sequenced investments needed to complete the national land database, data integration and to ensure sustainability of systems and services. Second, this work was also complemented by the World Bank engagement on national land policy and Land Law reforms which led to the adoption of notable reforms such as digital land information and market-based valuation principles in Land Policy Resolution 18, dated June 2022 and the new Land Law approved in January 2024. These documents provide the policy and legal framework to enhance digital land administration and services in Viet Nam. V. LESSONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 87. To fully realize the potential benefits of an integrated land information system, including land access and natural resource management, GoV needs to establish regulations and guidelines to share data externally, including local land offices and external stakeholders such as banks. Although data sharing and an increase in MPLIS use/access are envisioned, these cannot happen beyond the current connections with the tax office without drafting regulations to allow land offices to provide land information externally and developing data sharing services. Sharing such information will provide land transaction savings in the mortgage process around verification of land information, as well as mitigating some risks to the banks to see other encumbrances on the property. These activities were envisioned during project design but impacted by the subsequent Decree limiting IDA financing. Nevertheless, the Bank has endeavored to fill that gap through a separate land policy/land law reform engagement and using the MPLIS and land database in land data integration and sharing activities in the Can Tho and Da Nang city project (P178968). Page 33 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) 88. Increasing the accessibility, quality and digitization of land records and administration can provide transaction time savings while improving the ability to resolve land conflicts. However, increases in land transactions and related land markets are dependent on multiple factors, including trends in the economy and real estate. An accurate, integrated, and unified land information system can save land administration officials time processing requests and key data for land management decisions and resolving conflicts, while customers can save time checking status of records online and waiting less time for approvals. Although such accessibility of land information and quality customer service provide key foundations to land pricing and access to land, improved land administration is not the sole factor driving land markets. 89. When measuring longer-term outcomes, such as changes in land use or markets, a longer-term evaluation is necessary covering both project and non-project areas. The evaluator and government report noted the need for a longer exposure period to see whether predicted outcomes will occur as the MPLIS was only functional as of late 2022 with the portal active in December 2023. 90. Prior to appraisal, there should be certainty in the country’s financial and budgeting procedures and willingness to borrow funds for technical assistance and ‘soft’ components, as well as verification of any pending regulations that may affect these terms. The absence of such fiscal agreements and awareness can pose a significant risk to the project and lead to significant delays in project effectiveness and obtaining project budgets. 91. When working at the sub-national level, either at district or provincial levels, assessments of district/provincial readiness and willingness to engage could be considered as a pre-requisite ahead of selection and programming tailored to support each office based on the technical assessment. When land administration is decentralized, offices have different capacities, systems, finances, strengths, weaknesses, and structures established. These differences may require different modes of engagement. For example, historical paper-based land records almost always have substantial data errors and need more support and time to clean the data before digitization. Ensuring data cleaning and collating records as a prerequisite, and funding georeferencing and vectorization could improve scanning and capturing of land records. Overall, different technical assistance and lending arrangements may be necessary and should be considered during structuring of institutional arrangements and procurement. . Page 34 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) ANNEX 1. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND KEY OUTPUTS Page 35 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) A. RESULTS INDICATORS A.1 PDO Indicators Objective/Outcome: Improved Transparency of Land Administration Services in Project Provinces Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 1: Number of Number 0.00 0.00 2,000,000.00 2,434,557.00 accesses to the Multi- Purpose Land Information 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 System (MPLIS) a. Land users Number 0.00 0.00 1,000,000.00 1,782,345.00 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 b. Business and Number 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 professionals (Commercial banks, land valuation 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 agents, property agents, and investors) c. Government and public Number 0.00 0.00 1,000,000.00 652,212.00 institutions (such as department of taxation, 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 notaries, and judiciary and others) Page 36 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Comments (achievements against targets): This indicator was originally called “number of entities accessing the MPLIS”. The target was TBD in the PAD. The “number of accesses to MPLIS” is measured by counting the number of the requests for land administration services or inquiries for information services which were served by LROs/branches or land information portals (i.e. hits) using the MPLIS and land database developed and operational under the project in the reporting period. The MPLIS software solution was not deployed for years YR1 to YR5 and they have a value of 0. The MPLIS has been deployed from years YR6 and YR7, so the new data is available. In the May 2023 restructuring, targets were set to 2,000,000 with sub-indicator targets for 1a and 1c set for 1,000,000 each. The target for 1b was set to 0 as at the time of restructuring, subcomponent 2.3 was cancelled so there would be no APIs/land portal to allow businesses access. By June 30, 2023, the actual completion result has reached 2,434,557 (122%): • Indicator 1a reached 1,782,345, • Indicator 1b was not measured as MPLIS does not differentiate between individual land users vs. business/commercial users. MPLIS considers the bank as an individual user. Businesses and professionals have not yet been identified as a special type of user (like tax authorities). MPLIS does not provide data sharing for this group; however, businesses can access data upon request. The search function allows tracking and calculating of land services performed; however, it does not require identification but only requires entering the receipt code. Banks, for example, can only access information about land owned by the bank; banks are not allowed to directly access the land database to get information about general land ownership. Indicator 1c reached 652,212. This is based solely on connection with the National Tax Authority and MPLIS as of 2023 though per indicator 2.7, the MPLIS has connected with 4 public service providers. Objective/Outcome: Improved Efficiency of Land Administration Services in Project Provinces Page 37 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 2: Average time to Days 35.00 10.00 10.00 8.50 register a simple land transfer 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 Comments (achievements against targets): The baseline value at the beginning of the VILG project (2016) was taken according to data from the VLAP project (project of measuring, preparing cadastral records and building land database of 09 provinces funded by the World Bank, ending in 2015). In 2017, the Government issued Decree No. 01/2017 stipulating a simple land transfer implementation time of 10 days and for remote areas with difficult socio-economic conditions, it is 20 days. The registration time prescribed differs by regions. Usually for remote areas it is 1-2 times longer than in urban areas. A baseline survey was conducted in 2020 (report 2021). The consulting firm conducted surveys in the project provinces and found an average time for a land transfer of approximately 9.6 days. The time for a land transfer for favorable areas was found to be about 9 to 10 days with approximately 3% of requests lasting beyond 10 days. Remote areas took 1-2 times longer than urban areas. An endline survey was conducted in 2023 on the 28 project provinces. Based on the survey of the consulting firm for the independent impact assessment plus monitoring figures from the MPLIS (NLIS) land portal, the time for simple land transfer average was reported by the government final report as 8.5 days for all areas. Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Page 38 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Target Completion Indicator 3: Customer Percentage 0.00 0.00 0.00 satisfaction with land services in project areas per category 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 below: a. Land users Percentage 50.00 65.00 75.00 79.00 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 b. Business and Percentage 50.00 70.00 75.00 0.00 professionals (e.g., commercial banks, land 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 valuation agents, property agents, and investors) c. Government and public Percentage 50.00 70.00 75.00 82.70 institutions (such as department of taxation, 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 notaries, and judiciary and others) Comments (achievements against targets): The baseline in the PAD of 50% was based on data at the end of the World Bank VLAP project. As part of the VILG baseline evaluation (2021) and endline evaluation (end 2023), information on customer satisfaction was collected. The baseline survey found satisfaction rates of around 70%. The endline survey found satisfaction rates of 79% for land users and satisfaction rates of 82.7% for businesses and organizations. The evaluation report and government report did not provide disaggregation by businesses vs organizations/government officials but included surveys with over 100 land administration officials. Page 39 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Indicator 3.a: The end target in May 2023 restructuring was increased from 65% in the PAD to 75% based on current project progress on deploying the appropriate MPLIS interim solution and on developing and operationalizing land databases. Indicator 3.b: Data was not measured separately for this group by the independent evaluator. Indicator 3.c: The end target in May 2023 restructuring was increased from 70% in the PAD to 75% based on current project progress on deploying the appropriate MPLIS interim solution and on developing and operationalizing land databases. A.2 Intermediate Results Indicators Component: Strengthening Quality of Land Service Delivery Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 1.1: Percentage of Percentage 0.00 100.00 90.00 96.00 LROs and branches comply with agreed procedures and 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 standards in public land service delivery Comments (achievements against targets): Page 40 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) This indicator is divided into 2 sections: a) for LRO (provincial level) and b) for LRO branches (district level). Due to detailed assessment of project progress at district level by CPMU at restructuring time, the end target was adjusted from 100% to 90% with estimation that some districts of difficult mountainous provinces may not be able to complete the project plan. Actual achievement at completion was 96% (average) based on 100% of 28 provincial LROs and 93% of 231 district Sub-LRO (Provincial LRO’s branches) compliance with agreed procedures and standards in public land service delivery. In addition the Manual on Land Service Provision was distributed for use in all of Vietnam’s 63 provinces. Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 1.3: Number of Number 0.00 0.00 28.00 61.00 provinces that established a centralized provincial LRO 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 with uniform structure Comments (achievements against targets): This indicator was added when the RF was restructured in May 2023 to improve measurement of the project in terms of establishing a unified provincial- level LRO structure. This indicator aims to evaluate the impact of the project on the organizational adjustment of LROs, which revised the structure of LROs from 2 levels of provincial and district LROs to only 1 level provincial LROs with associated district branches of those LROs. LROs must operate according to a centralized model, including LROs in the province and branches in the district. The project has 28 provinces (LROs) and 231 districts (sub-LROs) Page 41 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) By June 30, 2023, the actual achieved target was 100% of all 28 provinces plus 33 additional provinces. The new LRO structure was rolled out nationally with 61 of 63 provinces adopting the new structure. Only 2 provinces do not have a centralized provincial LRO: Quang Ninh and Phu Tho. Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 1.4: Percentage of Percentage 0.00 0.00 90.00 100.00 managers and officers of LROs and branches, and 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 cadastral officers of Commune People's Committees, trained on land administration service delivery in digitized environment Comments (achievements against targets): This indicator was added when the RF was restructured in May 2023 to measure project achievements in developing human resources for strengthening and sustaining quality of land service delivery in digitized environment. This indicator aims to evaluate the impact of training provided by government efforts that facilitated the operation of the VILG digitized land database. By June 30, 2023, the actual achieved target is 100% in project areas, including all officers in 28 provincial LROs and 231 district LRO branches. In addition, training on MPLIS was provided to all other districts within the 28 project provinces that did not receive project funds to build land databases (40 districts across the 28 project provinces). MPLIS training also occurred in 51 districts and 7 non-VILG provinces. Page 42 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 1.5: Number of Number 0.00 0.00 20.00 20.00 EMDPs implemented in project areas 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 Comments (achievements against targets): This indicator was added when the RF was restructured in May 2023 to measure project achievements on developing and implementing Ethnic Minority Development Plans to raise awareness and participation among ethnic minorities. This indicator is to evaluate the EMDP of the project areas. There were 20 of 28 project provinces with ethnic minorities that were flagged to complete EMDPs. By June 30, 2023, the actual achieved target is 20 (100%). Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 1.6: Percentage of Percentage 0.00 0.00 90.00 100.00 ethnic minority communities in the project areas engaged 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 in EMDP implementation Page 43 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Comments (achievements against targets): This indicator was added when the RF was restructured in May 2023 to reflect the share of ethnic minorities that engaged with implementation of EMDPs. This indicator is to evaluate the training about EMDP of the project. By June 30, 2023, the actual achieved target is 100%. Component: Establishment and Development of the Multi-Purpose Land Information System and Land Database Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 2.1. Percentage of Percentage 0.00 100.00 90.00 100.00 LROs/branches that have installed and implemented 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 MPLIS. Comments (achievements against targets): During May 2023 restructuring, the end target was decreased from 100% in the PAD to 90% based on current project progress on deploying the appropriate MPLIS interim solution, and on developing and operationalizing land databases. This indicator counts the number of LROs/Branches within the project provinces. At the PAD, this covered LROs/Branches within 33 project provinces but following project restructuring, the percentage was based on 28 project provinces. MPLIS has now been installed and deployed to 231 district branches in the 28 VILG provinces as well as 40 additional districts in these provinces where land databases were not funded. The actual number of provinces with LROs/branches that installed and implemented MPLIS actually extends to 35 provinces, including 29 original VILG provinces (28 VILG provinces and 1 original VILG province which became a non-project province and self-funded with alternative funding) and 6 non-project provinces. Page 44 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) By June 30, 2023, the achievement rate is 100% (28 of the 28 project provinces targeted) though this was actually surpassed when consider non VILG provinces and districts. Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 2.2: Percentage of Percentage 0.00 70.00 70.00 95.00 all land parcels (with LURCs and without it) that are geo- 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 referenced and registered. Comments (achievements against targets): This indicator measures the percentage of land parcels (with LURCs and without it) in project provinces that are geo-referenced and registered, based regular cadastral map. Except for a number of land parcels in Son La province that are relatively located on the current land use map because there is no regular cadastral map. The number of project provinces was reduced in restructuring from 33 to 28 and with that the associated number of land parcels to be covered; however, the percentage targets remained at 70%. In the technical regulation, regular cadastral maps are given priority as input documents for database development. Therefore, the rate of land parcels with geo-references in the database is high. By June 30, 2023, the actual achieved rate is 95%. Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 2.3: Percentage of Percentage 0.00 70.00 90.00 100.00 Page 45 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) LROs and branches 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 connected with other sectors and data accessed by the user-entities Comments (achievements against targets): This indicator was revised in May 2023 restructuring to increase the end target from 70% to 90% based on current project progress on deploying MPLIS solution, and on developing and operationalizing land databases. The target in the PAD was based on the original 33 VILG provinces but following restructuring was based on 28 VILG provinces. In the end, 29 of the original 33 project provinces were covered plus non project provinces but the indicator target is based on 28 of 28 provinces. By June 30, 2023, the actual achieved rate was 100%. Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 2.4: Percentage of Percentage 0.00 90.00 90.00 100.00 LROs provides land information (through 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 websites, SMS, ...) Comments (achievements against targets): The VILG invested in the national land database for 28 provinces which is centrally managed and available for access by different user groups through the DONRE's website as well as the NLIS national land portal (MPLIS). The project restructurings decreased the project provinces from 33 to 28 but the percentage target remains the same. Page 46 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) By June 30, 2023, the actual achieved rate is 100%. Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 2.5: Percentage of Percentage 0.00 90.00 90.00 100.00 provinces in which an integrated land database is 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 operational and available for public access Comments (achievements against targets): Indicator was revised from "An integrated land database is operational in the provinces and available for public access" to "Percentage of provinces in which an integrated land database is operational and available for public access" to ensure consistency in definition and measurement unit. The end target was decreased from 100% in the PAD to 90% based on project progress on deploying the appropriate MPLIS solution, and on developing and operationalizing land databases. Only data is available in YR6 and YR7 because from YR6 the MPLIS started implementation. By June 30, 2023, the actual achieved rate is 100% which represents 28 project provinces. The original number of project provinces was 33 project provinces but restructured to 28. Although additional non project provinces connected to the MPLIS, only the 28 of 28 project provinces were counted. Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Page 47 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Indicator 2.6: Percentage of Percentage 0.00 0.00 90.00 100.00 end users trained on MPLIS 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 a. LROs/Branches Percentage 0.00 0.00 90.00 100.00 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 b. Commune Percentage 0.00 0.00 90.00 100.00 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 c. Central Department Percentage 0.00 0.00 90.00 100.00 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2026 30-Jun-2023 Comments (achievements against targets): Indicator was added at the RF restructuring in May 2023. This indicator is to evaluate the training about MPLIS system of the project. By June 30, 2023, the actual achieved rate is 100%, higher than the end target. All 28 provincial LROs and 231 district sub-LROs were trained as well as 7 additional non project provinces. Number of users in the system 11,008, including trained staff from all VILG 28 provinces, 231 districts and other non-VILG districts and provinces. Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 2.7: Percentage of Percentage 0.00 0.00 90.00 100.00 Page 48 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) provinces with an 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 established connection and regular data exchange between LROs/branches and at least one other public service provider a. Provincial and district- Percentage 0.00 0.00 90.00 100.00 level One-door Public Service Offices 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 b. Connection and Percentage 0.00 0.00 90.00 100.00 exchange with the National Tax Authority 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 c. Connection and exchange Percentage 0.00 0.00 90.00 100.00 with the National Electronic Public Service Portal 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 d. Connection and Percentage 0.00 0.00 90.00 100.00 exchange with the National Citizens' Database 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 Comments (achievements against targets): Indicator was added at RF restructuring in May 2023. The Indicator is to evaluate the effectiveness of connecting and sharing information between the land database and other public service providers: The National Tax Authority,The National Electronic Public Service Portal andThe National Citizens' Database according to requirements of the Vietnamese government By June 30, 2023, the actual achieve rate is 100%, with all 28 of 28 project provinces connecting to each of the 4 other information centers. Page 49 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Component: Project Management Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 3.1: M&E system Yes/No No Yes Yes Yes operational 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 Comments (achievements against targets): The project faced difficulties in meeting this requirement because of limitation of using IDA budget for M&E operation. Most of the activities had to be financed by government budget. M&E was set up and used to monitor the project progress across the 28 project provinces but there were quality issues. Formally Revised Actual Achieved at Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target Target Completion Indicator 3.2: Cumulative Number 0.00 2.00 1.00 1.00 number of independent impact assessments 01-Jun-2016 01-Jun-2016 30-Jun-2023 completed Comments (achievements against targets): The project faced difficulties in meeting this requirement because IDA funds were eligible according to the GOV during project implementation to finance this independent assessment. Number of assessments was reduced to 1 and it took long time to register the use of counterpart funds to conduct this work. Page 50 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Independent assessment was conducted as an endline evaluation. A mid-term review was conducted but no independent evaluation was conducted at mid-term. Page 51 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) B. KEY OUTPUTS BY COMPONENT C. Objective/Outcome 1: Improve the efficiency of land administration services in the Project Provinces (Component 1: Strengthening the Quality of Land Service Delivery) PDO 2 Average time to register a simple land transfer: (Target 10; Actual 8.5/Exceeded) PDO 3: Customer satisfaction with land services in project areas per category: PDO3A Land Users (Target 75%; Actual Outcome Indicators 79%/Exceeded), PDO3B. Businesses and Professionals (Target 75%; Actual Not Measured), PDO3C. Government and Public Institutions (Target 75%; Actual 82.7%; Exceeded) 1.1 Percentage of LROs and branches comply with agreed procedures and standards in public land service delivery (Target 90%; Actual 96% (1.1a LROs/provincial 100% and 1.1b LRO branches/districts 93%) Exceeded 1.3 Number of provinces that established a centralized provincial LRO with uniform structure (Target 28; Actual 61; Exceeded) Intermediate Results 1.4. Percentage of managers and officers of LROs, branches, and cadastral officers of Commune People’s Committees trained Indicators36 on land administration service delivery in digitized environment. (Target 90%; 100%; Exceeded) 1.5. Number of EMDPs implemented in project areas (Target 20; Actual 20; Achieved) 1.6 Percentage of ethnic minority communities in the project areas engaged in EMDP implementation (Target 90%; Actual 100%; Exceeded) 1. Establishment of a unified provincial-level LRO Structure nationwide Companies formed under the Project (Target N/A; Key Outputs (linked to Actual: Completed) the achievement of 2. Land service delivery manual with streamlined procedures and guidelines (Target N/A; Actual: Completed) Objective/ Outcome 1) 3. LRO Officers Trained (Target N/A; Actual ??) 4. Ethnic minority development plans prepared and implemented (Target 2037; Actual 20; Completed) 36 Intermediary indicator 1.2 (number of land law monitoring system established and operational) was eliminated when the related component was removed during restructuring. 37 The target is based on 20 of the 28 the provinces having a significant focus on ethnic communities. Page 52 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Objective/Outcome 2: Improve the Transparency of Land Administration Services in the Project Provinces (Component 2: Establishment and Development of National Land Database and MPLIS) PDO1. Number of accesses to the Multi-Purpose Land Information System (MPLIS) (Target 2,000,000; Actual 2,434,557; Exceeded38) PDO1A Land Users (Target 1 million Actual 1,782,345 Exceeded), PDO1B. Businesses and Professionals (Target 0; Actual Not Measured), PDO3C. Government and Public Institutions (Target 1 million; Actual 652,212; Target not met) Outcome Indicators PDO 3: Customer satisfaction with land services in project areas per category: PDO3A Land Users (Target 75%; Actual 79%/Exceeded), PDO3B. Businesses and Professionals (Target 75%; Actual Not Measured), PDO3C. Government and Public Institutions (Target 75%; Actual 82.7%; Exceeded) 2.1 Percentage of LROs/branches that have installed and implemented MPLIS. (Target 100%; Actual 100%; Achieved) 2.2 Percentage of all land parcels (with LURCs and without it) that are geo-referenced and registered (Target 70%; Actual 95% percent; Exceeded)39 2.3 Percentage of LROs/branches connected with other sectors and data accessed by the user-entities (Target 90%; Actual 100%; Exceeded)40 Intermediate Results 2.4 Percentage of LROs provides land information through websites, SMS (Target 90%; Actual 100%; Exceeded) Indicators 2.5 Percentage of provinces in which an integrated land database is operational and available for public access (Target 90%; Actual 100%; Exceeded) 2.6 Percentage of end users trained on MPLIS: LROs/Branches, Commune, Central department (Target 90%; Actual 100%; Exceeded) 2.7 Percentage of provinces with an established connection and regular data exchange between LROs/branches and other public services providers (Target 90%; Actual 100%) Key Outputs by 1. Digitalized land records and Unified land database developed, including multiple data layers (cadastral land price, land use plan, land Component statistics) (Target N/A; Actual: Completed) (Linked to the 2. Interim MPLIS developed and operational (Target N/A; Actual: Completed) achievement of the 3. LRO Officers Trained (Target N/A; Actual 11,006 MPLIS users trained) Objective/Outcome 4. Interim MPLIS and Land Database are connected to and exchanging information with other systems (Target N/A; Actual Completed) 2) 5. Provinces connected to the MPLIS (Target 28; Actual 35; Exceeded)41 38 The target for this indicator was not set in the PAD and then informally set in the ISR to 2,953,000; however, this was cumulative and based on existing provincial electronic systems available and not MPLIS which was established in 2022. The current indicator is a level/annual reporting-not cumulative. Cumulatively for the two years would have been over 3.6 million accesses. 39 All land parcels that had accurate cadastral maps and land data were incorporated. Those without accurate maps will be updated and incorporated into the National Land Database as land transactions occur. 40 The targets were increased from 70 to 90 in the last month of VILG during restructuring and update of the results framework. 41 The original target was 33. In the end 5 provinces pulled out and restructuring focused on 28 provinces but 7 non project provinces joined MPLIS. Page 53 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) National Land Database and its operation in MPLIS Achievement Component 2: National Land Database and MPLIS Number of systems 1 Number of pages/sites (links) specific to each province 28 Number of active users > 11,008 Number of land documents 2,279,867,477 Number of applications received 4,856,813 Number of land parcels 41,330,369 Attribute information storage capacity (GB) 2,478.08 Number of Scan Profile Files (HSQ) 63,975,966 Scan Profile Files storage capacity (TB) 138,621.63 Page 54 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) ANNEX 2. BANK LENDING AND IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT/SUPERVISION A. TASK TEAM MEMBERS Name Role Preparation Hoa Thi Mong Pham, Vael Zakout Task Team Leader(s) Hoang Xuan Nguyen Procurement Specialist(s) Ha Thuy Tran Financial Management Specialist Klaus W. Deininger Team Member Thu Ha Le Team Member Giang Thi Huong Nguyen Team Member Stamatis Kotouzas Team Member Dorothea Huberta Maria Hilhorst Team Member Phuong Thu Nguyen Team Member Khang Van Pham Social Specialist Aristeidis Panou Counsel Huong Thi Lan Tran Team Member Thao Thi Do Team Member Giang Tam Nguyen Social Specialist Keith Clifford Bell Team Member Anna L Wielogorska Team Member Nina Masako Eejima Counsel Chau-Ching Shen Team Member Roxanne Hakim Team Member Page 55 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Supervision/ICR Kathrine M. Kelm Task Team Leader(s) Hoang Xuan Nguyen Procurement Specialist(s) Ha Thuy Tran Financial Management Specialist Jennifer Beth Lisher Team Member Floris Dalemans Team Member Thu Hong Thi Nguyen Team Member David Jorge Baringo Ezquerra Social Specialist Thu Ha Le Team Member Hai Yen Tran Procurement Team Son Van Nguyen Environmental Specialist Aristeidis Panou Counsel Quynh Thuy Ngo Social Specialist Thao Thi Do Team Member Giang Tam Nguyen Social Specialist Nga Thuy Thi Nguyen Procurement Team Chau-Ching Shen Team Member Page 56 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) B. STAFF TIME AND COST Staff Time and Cost Stage of Project Cycle No. of staff weeks US$ (including travel and consultant costs) Preparation FY15 16.275 68,816.20 FY16 31.100 166,387.32 FY23 10.800 96,422.40 Total 58.18 331,625.92 Supervision/ICR FY17 19.550 125,829.14 FY18 15.550 131,239.20 FY19 18.920 253,630.26 FY20 40.300 376,519.79 FY21 77.545 519,534.86 FY22 87.830 548,812.98 FY23 72.040 644,422.86 FY24 12.675 58,894.50 Total 344.41 2,658,883.59 Page 57 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) ANNEX 3. PROJECT COST BY COMPONENT Amount at Approval Actual at Project Percentage of Approval Components (US$M) Closing (US$M) (US$M) Strengthening Quality of 6.84 (4.05 IDA) 1.77 (1.53 IDA) 25.88% Land Service Delivery Establishment and Development of the Multi- 160.39 (139.15 IDA) 55.08 (47 IDA) 34.34% Purpose Land Information System and Land Database Project Management 12.77 (6.8 IDA) 4.05 (0.2 IDA) 31.71% Total 180(150 IDA) 60.90 (48.73 IDA) 33.83% Page 58 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) ANNEX 4. EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS See efficiency section in main text. Page 59 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) ANNEX 5. BORROWER, CO-FINANCIER AND OTHER PARTNER/STAKEHOLDER COMMENTS CPMU has reviewed and commented on the draft Implementation Completion Report (ICR) for VILG. However, CPMU had a detailed discussion with Ms. Jennifer about some of the project's Result Indicators. We respectfully request that the World Bank review and update the Report based on the discussed content. Regarding the assessment of the effectiveness of the project and M&E work, we respectfully request the World Bank to consider and make a reasonable assessment in accordance with the project's implementation results. • Context o Before the VILG project was implemented, the land database was managed in a decentralized manner at the provincial level. This led to a lack of standardization in the process of conducting land transactions, the central government could not supervise or monitor the operation and exploitation of the land database, and there were difficulties in connecting and sharing the land database with national databases and other national information systems. The VILG project has operated the land database of 28 provinces according to a centralized model at the central level, building a unified national land information portal. o VLAP was piloted in 9 provinces. • Restructuring o After restructuring: Component 2: Development and Operation of Land Database on the MPLIS A. Development of the primary design of the MPLIS and provision of equipment for operation of land database of the Project Provinces, and B. Development and Implementation of land database for the Project Provinces. • Efficacy Analysis o Land officials at district and commune levels have the right to access land information. According to legal regulations on land management, commune-level land officials are only allowed to access and look up information but are not allowed to update information in the land database. • Efficiency Analysis o The implementation time of bidding packages to build a land database is affected due to the lockdown policy of the Vietnamese government during the Covid epidemic (2020, 2021). • Effectiveness Assessment o The project has made the following main state management contributions: ▪ Forming a unified centralized management model nationwide (for 28 provinces of the VILG project); ▪ Establish standardized and unified public service processes for all provinces under the VILG project, contributing to administrative reform; ▪ Connect the land database with the tax agency, national population database, national public service portal, and provincial public service portal; ▪ Completing a complete land database with 4 components of 231 districts of 28 provinces, contributing to completing a centralized and unified national land database according to the direction of the Vietnamese government. Page 60 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) • M&E o However, the project has built the NLIS land information portal. The NLIS portal tracks the implementation of land transactions and service provision of the NLIS system. Therefore, indexes 1 and 2 will be monitored and calculated through the NLIS portal. The NLIS portal is monitoring about the construction of land database (progress, volume...); implementing services such as providing land information, land transfer, connecting and sharing information with other units (tax authorities, public service portals...) can all be done through the tools provided by the NLIS land information portal. o M&E staff of PPMUs must take on many tasks at the same time such as planning and bidding, so the CPMU spent significant time to obtain data. The project M&E system was established but not consistently • Risk to Development o MONRE is implementing a project to build a unified centralized MPLIS system with government funding. The MPLIS system (data center, transmission lines, software, training...) will be completed in 2025. During the project implementation period, MONRE has instructed provinces to continue using the temporary MPLIS solution in the form of "rental" according to regulations of the Vietnamese government. • Annexes o Update Annex 1 from Result Indicator file from CPMU and discussed with team Page 61 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) ANNEX 6. Project Provinces/Districts and MPLIS Coverage 1. Project provinces and cities at closure (28) Northen region Central region Southern region 1. Bắc Giang 13. Quảng Trị 21. Trà Vinh 2. Lạng Sơn 14. Nghệ An 22. Bến Tre 3. Cao Bằng 15. Hà Tĩnh 23. Tiền Giang 4. Sơn La 16. Phú Yên 24. Long An 5. Yên Bái 17. Thừa Thiên Huế 25. Tây Ninh 6. Lào Cai 18. Quảng Ngãi 26. An Giang 7. Thái Nguyên 19. Đắk Lắk 27. Vĩnh Long 8. Thái Bình 20. Khánh Hoà 28. Cần Thơ (city) 9. Nam Định 10. Ninh Bình 11. Hà Nam 12. Hải Phòng (city) 2. Provinces who withdrew from VILG (5 provinces): Tuyên Quang, Quảng Bình, Lâm Đồng, Kiên Giang, Bắc Ninh42 3. Land Database operation – Provincial coverage: Total Database operation in the MPLIS (district) district No. VILG Provinces Provincial per Total VILG Non-VILG province Coverage Total 418 322 231 91 VILG project 320 271 231 40 1 Cao Bằng 10 6 1 70% 2 Lạng Sơn 11 4 36% 3 Thái Nguyên 9 9 100% 4 Lào Cai 9 9 100% 5 Yên Bái 9 9 100% 6 Sơn La 12 6 6 100% 7 Bắc Giang 10 6 4 100% 8 Thái Bình 8 8 100% 9 Hà Nam 6 6 100% 10 Nam Định 10 8 1 90% 42 Bac Ninh moved from VILG to non-VILG province but connected to MPLIS. Page 62 of 63 The World Bank Vietnam: Project for Improved Land Governance and Databases (VILG) (P154387) Total Database operation in the MPLIS (district) district No. VILG Provinces Provincial per Total VILG Non-VILG province Coverage 11 Ninh Bình 8 3 38% 12 Hải Phòng (city) 15 11 4 100% 13 Nghệ An 21 12 9 100% 14 Hà Tĩnh 13 13 100% 15 Quảng Trị 10 9 90% 16 Thừa Thiên Huế 9 9 100% 17 Quảng Ngãi 13 8 62% 18 Phú Yên 9 8 1 100% 19 Khánh Hòa 9 8 89% 20 Đăk Lăk 15 7 3 67% 21 Tây Ninh 9 6 67% 22 Long An 15 15 100% 23 Tiền Giang 11 10 1 100% 24 Vĩnh Long 8 8 100% 25 Bến Tre 9 9 100% 26 Trà Vinh 9 9 100% 27 An Giang 11 11 100% 28 Cần Thơ (city) 9 4 2 67% Page 63 of 63