Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Land resources are important drivers of the economy and key tools for reducing poverty. Positive results can be achieved through better and more efficient land use management.

What aspects from the experience of developed countries can be introduced into the practice of land use?

Experts from the Institute for Macroeconomic and Regional Studies (IMRI) studied foreign experience in the regulation and privatization of land resources.

In the land legislation of many developed countries, the concepts of "land ownership" and "ownership of land" are clearly distinguished.

For example, in Germany, only those who have been a tenant for 10 years can acquire land.

According to the Spanish land law, it is not allowed to lease more than 50 hectares of irrigated land or 1 thousand hectares of extensive pastures.

Almost all countries in the world exercise sufficient control over the privatization of land resources. For example, in the US and Ireland, only 3 percent of total agricultural land is exchanged as property during the year. This figure is 2% in the UK, France and Italy, and 1.5% in Germany.

In most cases, land resources are provided to land users on the basis of a long-term lease agreement. For example, 42% of the land in the US and Germany has been leased out on a long-term basis. This figure is 40% in New Zealand, 39% in the UK and Canada, 66% in Belgium, 56% in France, 32% in the Netherlands, 25% in Portugal, and 15% in Japan. Prices for land lease and payments are determined by arbitration or exchange auction.

In the middle of the 20th century, a law was passed in the United States describing the forms of private ownership of land: unconditional and lifelong, as well as a special form of private ownership - family property (homesteads). This led to widespread land leasing in the US and the development of a land capital market as well as financial institutions. Land reforms in the United States, along with the development of farming, contributed to the growth of financial market capitalization.

The new land reform in India has resulted in 85% of agricultural land being leased out and part of the land sold into ownership in the form of subsidies and grants to the poor. As a result, the volume of agricultural production has increased by 4-5 times, and the purchasing power of the poorest strata of the population has increased.

As a result of China’s land reform, 90 million hectares of land have been leased to the rural population. As a result, 90 percent of the poor strata of the rural population are provided with new jobs. Smallholders united in agricultural production cooperatives, which became the drivers of economic activity. Thanks to sensible land reforms, China has become a grain exporting country.

Analyzes show that in most countries the land market is tightly controlled. At the same time, state bodies retained the authority to transfer land from one category to another, issue permits for sale, monitor their environmental condition, in particular, prevent land erosion, degradation and desertification.

Based on the best international experience, the following conclusions can be drawn: when regulating and privatizing land resources, it is proposed to clearly enshrine in the legislation the concepts of “land ownership” and “ownership of land”, as well as the rights to use land (in the form of lease) depending on types and categories lands. When leasing land in agriculture, it is advisable to pay attention to the factor of creating new jobs for local residents through the land use of the investor.