The $250 million safari project in Hà Nội has appeared to have quietly pushed its land-clearance deadline back by a year, with local authorities acting like the original deadline never existed.
The Latest: On Nov. 12, Vietnam Television (VTV) reported that the Ba Vì Safari Park project “is expected to complete site clearance in the second and third quarters of 2027 to break ground at the end of 2027.”
- This contradicts Hà Nội People’s Committee Decision 5648, which originally required compensation, support, resettlement, and site clearance to be completed within 60 days of its issuance, setting a deadline of Dec. 8, 2026.
As of Nov. 12, Luật Khoa Magazine had found no published document amending the deadline.
The Details: In addition, VTV’s report did not mention the 60-day deadline, Decision 5648, or who issued the new plan.
- Adding to the contradiction, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ba Vì Safari project took place on Oct. 9, the same day Hà Nội approved the investment policy, well before any land had been cleared.
- Starting Nov. 16, the Ba Vì Commune People’s Committee will work with the investor to survey public land and land used for roads and irrigation.
- The commune also stated that the project will take residential land from only 90 households, adding that “most of the land being acquired is agricultural.”
- The commune called reports that the project had expanded to 580 hectares and would take land from nearly 900 households “untrue.”
The Background: The Ba Vì Safari project covers about 299.51 hectares, with a total investment of about 6.506 trillion đồng (about $250 million).
- Four days later, the Hà Nội People’s Committee approved the investment policy and selected Mặt Trời Real Estate Group Joint Stock Company—part of Sun Group—as the investor, with 15% of the funds coming from the investor’s own capital.
The urgency of this development was highlighted on Oct. 5, when the Committee issued Resolution 29, agreeing to “adopt the policy of implementing [the project] immediately.”
- The schedule outlined in the decision originally runs from the fourth quarter of 2026 to the second quarter of 2030.
Why It Matters: The revised timeline surfaced one day after the Nov. 11 morning dialogue in Hương Canh village.
- Before the dialogue, police put up iron fences and banned filming, photography, and livestreaming.
Furthermore, the resettlement site for residents losing land has not been announced, despite residents asking about it at the dialogue.
- Authorities have disclosed only the number of households losing residential land; they have not released the total area of farmland to be taken or the number of households losing it.
- Bloomberg previously cited a preliminary estimate by authorities that nearly 4,000 people could be affected.
Thành Phương wrote this news article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on Nov. 13, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine translated it into English.
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