Circular No. 22/2026/TT-BTC Guiding the content and technical requirements of the database on national, regional, and provincial planning and schematic maps for the period 2021-2030

 

 

CIRCULAR

Guiding the content and technical requirements of the database on planning and
national-level, regional, provincial spatial planning diagrams

 

Based on Law No. 112/2025/QH15 on Planning;

Based on Law No. 60/2024/QH15 on Data;

Based on Law No. 27/2018/QH14 on Surveying and Mapping;

Based on Decree No. 70/2026/NĐ-CP dated March 9, 2026 of the Government, detailing certain provisions of the Planning Law;

Based on Decree No. 165/2025/NĐ-CP dated June 30, 2025 of the Government, detailing certain provisions and measures for implementing the Data Law;

Based on Decree No. 27/2019/NĐ-CP dated March 13, 2019 of the Government, detailing certain provisions of the Surveying and Mapping Law, which has been amended and supplemented by Decree No. 136/2021/NĐ-CP dated December 31, 2021, Decree No. 22/2023/NĐ-CP dated May 12, 2023, and Decree No. 29/2026/NĐ-CP dated January 25, 2026 of the Government;

Based on Decree No. 29/2025/NĐ-CP dated February 24, 2025 of the Government, detailing the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance, as amended by Decree No. 166/2025/NĐ-CP;

In accordance with the request of the Director of the Planning Management Department:

The Minister of Finance promulgates this Circular to guide the content and technical requirements of the database on planning and national-level, regional, provincial spatial planning diagrams.

 

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Application

1. This Circular guides:

a) The content and technical requirements of the database on national-level, regional, and provincial spatial planning, except as provided in paragraph 2 hereof.

b) The content and technical requirements of the national-level, regional, and provincial spatial planning diagrams.

2. The list of geographic entities and data structure of the spatial planning database on national marine space, national land use, and industry planning shall be in accordance with relevant laws.

Article 2. Applicability

This Circular applies to agencies, organizations, and individuals involved in preparing, reviewing, deciding, approving, publishing, or providing information related to national-level, regional, and provincial spatial planning, as well as other agencies, organizations, and individuals relevant thereto.

Article 3. Interpretation of Terms

1. Digital data of legal documents include proposals for decisions or approvals on planning; decision or approval documents on planning; explanatory reports on planning; strategic environmental impact assessment reports (if any); review reports on planning; summary and explanation, reception, and consideration of comments from agencies, organizations, communities, and individuals regarding the planning; reports explaining and receiving comments on reviews; other technical documents (if any) created and digitized from paper documents in the public consultation file, the review submission file, or the decision or approval submission file.

2. Digital data of planning diagrams include digital representations established and digitized from diagrams in the public consultation file, the review submission file, or the decision or approval submission file.

3. Metadata of the spatial planning database is metadata describing the origin, time, format, management unit, and other technical attributes of the data contained in the spatial planning database.

Chapter II
CONTENT AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE DATABASE ON
PLANNING

Article 4. Format of digital data for legal texts

1. The text file is created to be signed and stamped in one of the following formats: (.doc), (.docx), (.odt), (.xls), (.xlsx), other format as prescribed by relevant laws.

2. Legal texts digitized from paper documents: PDF/A two-tier format (.pdf) version 1.4 or higher, color images (if any), minimum resolution: 200 dpi, digitization ratio: 100%.

Article 5. Format of digital data for diagrams in the planning dossier

1. Digital planning diagrams are established to be signed and stamped in one of the following formats: (.dwg), (.dxf), (.dgn), (.gdb), (.mdb), (.tab), (.mid), (.shp), other geographic format as prescribed by relevant laws.

2. Planning diagrams digitized from paper planning diagrams in the planning dossier: GeoTIFF or GeoPDF format, minimum resolution of 200 dpi or higher, scanning ratio 1:1.

Article 6. Organization of data for the database on planning

The organization of data for the database on planning is specified in Appendix III attached to this Circular.

Article 7. Requirements for the geographic database of planning

1. The geographic database of planning is packaged in one of the following formats: (.gdb), (.gml), (.gpkg), other geographic format as prescribed by relevant laws.

2. The geographic database of planning must assign a unique identification code for each geographical object according to the rules specified in Section 2 of Appendix IV attached to this Circular.

3. The naming convention, data theme, data layer, and information field of the geographic database of planning are as prescribed in Section 1 of Appendix IV attached to this Circular.

4. The content of geographical objects in the geographic database of planning must ensure consistency with the content of geographical objects depicted on the planning diagrams.

Article 8. Coordinate reference system, time reference system, and metadata of the geographic database of planning

1. The coordinate reference system and time reference system are implemented according to the national technical standard for base geographic information standards.

2. Metadata of the geographic database of planning is constructed in accordance with the standards and specifications for geographic databases, as well as legal provisions on surveying and mapping. Minimum mandatory metadata fields include: supervising authority; data repository agency; source of data; date of update; data format; coordinate reference system; scope; name of database; version.

Article 9. Catalogue of geographical objects and data structure of the national, regional, provincial planning geographic databases

1. The catalogue of geographical objects and data structure of the national, regional, provincial planning geographic databases are specified in Section 3 of Appendix IV attached to this Circular.

2. During the process of preparing plans, the Ministry and People's Committee at the provincial level may supplement new geographical objects or add data types, attributes, relationships, value domains for existing geographical objects listed in the catalogue of geographical objects as specified in Section 3 of Appendix IV attached to this Circular to reflect planning content while ensuring compliance with legal provisions on planning and relevant laws.

Article 10. Organization of Data in the National Master Plan, Regional, and Provincial Spatial Databases

The national master plan, regional, and provincial spatial databases are organized into 12 data themes as follows:

1. Finance (Economy and Society, Investment).

2. Construction (Construction; Transportation and Communications).

3. Industry and Commerce (Industry and Trade).

4. Agriculture and Environment (Agriculture and Rural Development; Natural Resources and Environment).

5. Culture, Sports, and Tourism (Culture, Sports, and Tourism).

6. Science and Technology (Information and Communication; Science and Technology).

7. Health (Healthcare; Social Security; Women and Children; Prevention and Control of Social Evils).

8. Education and Training (Education and Training; Vocational Education).

9. Internal Affairs (Employment Sector; Veterans' Sector).

10. Defense.

11. Security.

12. Foreign Affairs.

Chapter III
CONTENT AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE MASTER PLAN MAP

Article 11. Main Content to be Expressed on the National Master Plan, Regional, and Provincial Spatial Maps

1. The main content of the national master plan, regional, and provincial spatial maps is specified in Appendix I attached to this Circular. During the planning process, the Ministry and the People's Committee at the provincial level may supplement the content of the national master plan, regional, and provincial spatial maps beyond those specified in Appendix I of this Circular to reflect the planning content; shall be responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the content expressed on the spatial map within their jurisdiction; ensure compliance with legal provisions; and be consistent with the explanatory report, decision or approval document, and other legal bases determining the location, scope, and route direction of geographical objects as per legal provisions.

2. The geographical objects planned for the development orientation of the national maritime space that are expressed on the national master plan map must be specifically reflected on the national spatial marine map.

3. The geographical objects planned for the land use development direction that are expressed on the national master plan map must be specifically reflected on the national land use map.

4. The geographical objects planned for industry development that are expressed on the national master plan map must be specifically reflected on the industry spatial map.

5. The geographical objects planned and expressed on the national master plan, national maritime space, national land use, industry spatial maps within the region must be specifically reflected on the regional spatial map.

6. The geographical objects planned and expressed on the national master plan, national maritime space, national land use, industry spatial, and regional spatial maps within the province must be specifically reflected on the provincial spatial map.

Article 12. Technical Requirements of the National Master Plan, Regional, and Provincial Spatial Maps

1. The location, scope, and route direction of the geographical objects expressed on the national master plan, regional, and provincial spatial maps must be consistent with the legal bases to determine the location, scope, and route direction of the geographical objects as per legal provisions and comply with the legal provisions concerning the protection of state secrets. In cases where there are insufficient legal bases to determine the location, scope, and route direction of planned geographical objects, symbols indicating the proposed location and route direction of the geographical object should be shown on the spatial map.

2. The maps showing the current status of natural conditions, economy and society, population, infrastructure systems must depict the geographical objects at the specified scale and ensure accuracy as per the same-scale map provisions.

3. The planning maps depicting the planned geographical objects at the specified scale must ensure spatial relationships between the planned geographical objects.

4. Determining the priority levels of the geographical objects expressed on the spatial map shall be based on the following principles:

a) Geographical objects related to the main content of the plan are prioritized for expression on the spatial map;

b) The order of priority in expressing geographical objects: point-like objects, line-like objects, area-like objects;

c) Symbols representing geographical objects with lower priority levels should be shifted to adjacent positions relative to symbols representing higher-priority objects and must ensure that such shifts do not alter the spatial relationships between the geographical objects.

5. The format of presentation and system of symbols for the national master plan, regional, and provincial spatial maps are specified in Appendix II attached to this Circular. During the planning process, the planning authority may supplement additional symbols and explanatory notes beyond those specified in Appendix II attached to this Circular to reflect the content of the plan as per legal provisions on planning.

Chapter IV
IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

Article 13. Implementation Provisions

1. This Circular shall take effect from March 17, 2026, except as provided in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article.

2. The Circular No. 04/2023/TT-BKHĐT dated June 26, 2023, issued by the Minister of Planning and Investment, which provides guidance on the content and technical requirements for the database of planning documents and diagrams, national spatial plans, regional plans, provincial plans (Circular No. 04/2023/TT-BKHĐT), shall cease to have effect from the date this Circular takes effect, except as provided in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article.

3. The provisions on content and technical requirements for the database of planning documents and diagrams, national spatial plans, and land use plans for the period 2021-2030, as provided in Circular No. 04/2023/TT-BKHĐT, shall remain effective until such time as the plan is adjusted but not beyond June 30, 2026.

4. The provisions on content and technical requirements for the database of planning documents and diagrams, national spatial plans, and land use plans for the period 2021-2030, as provided in Circular No. 04/2023/TT-BKHĐT, and the provisions of land law regarding land shall continue to be implemented until the end of the validity period of the plan.

5. The provisions on content and technical requirements for the database of planning documents and diagrams, national spatial plans, and land use plans for the period 2021-2030 as provided in Item 3, 4, 5, 12, 14, 16, 19, 20, 22, 29, and 30 of Appendix I to Law No. 21/2017/QH14 on Planning shall be applied from the date this Circular takes effect, subject to the corresponding national sectoral plans in Items 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 15, 14, and 24 of Section I of Appendix to Law No. 112/2025/QH15, as provided for in Circular No. 04/2023/TT-BKHĐT, except as provided in Article 14 of this Circular.

Article 14. Transitional Provisions

1. The database of planning documents and diagrams, national spatial plans, regional plans, provincial plans for the period 2021-2030 and adjustments to such plans that have been decided or approved prior to March 1, 2026, shall not be required to be rebuilt in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

2. The database of planning documents and diagrams, national spatial plans, regional plans, provincial plans for the period 2021-2030 and adjustments to such plans that have been submitted for approval prior to March 1, 2026, but not yet approved, shall continue to be implemented in accordance with the laws in effect prior to March 1, 2026.

Article 15. Responsibilities

1. The agencies, organizations, and individuals involved in the preparation, review, decision-making, or approval, publication, provision of information on national spatial plans, regional plans, provincial plans shall be responsible for implementing the provisions of this Circular.

2. The Department of Spatial Planning Management under the Ministry of Finance is responsible for guiding the implementation of the provisions of this Circular.

3. The Ministries and People's Committees at all levels are responsible for guiding and organizing the implementation of the provisions of this Circular.