On April 8, the Vietnamese Government issued Decree No. 77/2025 outlining the authority and procedures for establishing state ownership over nine specific categories of assets.

According to the decree, the nine asset groups subject to state ownership declaration include:

Confiscated property: Items, means of administrative violations, or criminal case evidence that have been lawfully confiscated.

Ownerless real estate: Land or houses with no identifiable owners or those that have been abandoned.

Lost or forgotten property: Property for which the rightful owner cannot be identified or does not reclaim it within the legal timeframe.

Inheritance with no heir: Property that has surpassed the statutory inheritance period or lacks rightful claimants under the Civil Code.

Unclaimed goods at ports: Goods stored in customs zones without any party stepping forward to receive them.

Voluntarily transferred property: Assets that owners willingly hand over to the state through central or local agencies.

Foreign business assets: Assets transferred to the state without compensation after a foreign enterprise's operational period in Vietnam has expired.

Public-private partnership (PPP) project assets: Property transferred to the state as stipulated in PPP contracts, including Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT), Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO), Build-Transfer-Lease (BTL), and Build-Lease-Transfer (BLT) agreements.

Buried or sunken assets: Property found on land, islands, or within Vietnam’s maritime territory for which no ownership can be established.

The decree also emphasizes transparency and openness in declaring and managing assets as state-owned. It outlines clear procedures for handling and processing such assets under public ownership regulations.

For assets such as confiscated items, administrative violation evidence, or assets seized from convicted individuals, the declaration of state ownership must follow case-specific protocols.

Authorities are also permitted to consolidate multiple small-value cases (each below VND 100 million, or approximately USD 4,250) over a six-month period for joint processing.

Additionally, assets voluntarily transferred to the state through legally recognized contracts such as donation or ownership transfer agreements are exempt from the formal procedure of establishing state ownership.

The Vinh