The Ho Chi Minh City government has cleared nearly $30.5 million in back rent for the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens by converting the zoo’s land lease into a public land allocation, city officials confirmed this week.

Vice-chairman Bui Xuan Cuong of the municipal People’s Committee signed the decision, which changes the terms of the zoo’s lease and allocates more than 96 percent of the site to Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens Co. Ltd., the state-owned enterprise that manages the facility.

Under the new arrangement, the city will allocate over 164,700 square meters of land for non-commercial purposes such as maintaining green spaces, conserving rare animal and plant species, and supporting the zoo’s educational and scientific functions.

A separate 5,857-square-meter section of land, used for commercial activities like parking, food courts, kiosks, and offices, will remain under lease with annual rent payments. The revised land use term remains at 50 years, retroactive to December 4, 2014.

The city also directed the Region II Tax Department to assess and collect any remaining land lease payments up to the date of the new decision, and to apply lease payments for the commercial-use section moving forward.

“We are very happy that the difficulties and obstacles faced by the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens have received attention from the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee,” a zoo representative said. “The decision will serve as a basis for the tax authority to recalculate the land lease payment for the zoo.”

The Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens, established in 1864, is one of the eight oldest zoos in the world. It operates as a wholly state-owned, non-profit public service enterprise under the city’s administration. Its primary mission is to manage the 160-year-old facility and care for its collection of rare and endangered animals and plants.

In 2014, the city initially leased the entire 170,000-square-meter site to the zoo with a flat annual rent, without differentiating between commercial and non-commercial land use. Based on that agreement, the tax authority calculated the zoo’s land payments as if the entire property were used for business purposes.

As a result, the zoo had accrued a total of VND864 billion ($33.5 million) in rent arrears by October 2024, including VND787 billion ($30.5 million) in overdue fees subject to tax enforcement.

The revised agreement, which distinguishes between business and public-service land, is expected to significantly reduce the zoo’s financial burden and ensure that it can continue operations.

Today, the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens is home to more than 2,000 animals from 135 species and over 2,500 plants. It remains one of Ho Chi Minh City’s most popular attractions, especially during holidays and weekends.

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