Thông tư liên tịch 01/2008/TTLT-UBDT-KHĐT-TC-XD-NNPTNT của Uỷ ban Dân tộc, Bộ Kế hoạch và Đầu tư, Bộ Tài chính, Bộ Xây dựng và Bộ Nông nghiệp và Phát triển nông thôn về việc hướng dẫn thực hiện Chương trình phát triển kinh tế-xã hội các xã đặc biệt khó khăn vùng đồng bào dân tộc và miền núi giai đoạn 2006 - 2010

JOINT CIRCULAR

GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAM ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SPECIAL DIFFICULTY-HIT COMMUNES IN ETHNIC MINORITY AND MOUNTAINOUS AREAS IN THE 2006-2010 PERIOD

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 07/2006/QD-TTg of January 10, 2006, approving the Program on socio-economic development in special difficulty-hit communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the 2006-2010 period (below referred to as Program 135, phase II); the Ethnic Minority Committee and the Ministries of Planning and Investment; Finance; Construction; and Agriculture and Rural Development jointly guide the implementation as follows:

Part I.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. This Circular guides the performance of the tasks of Program 135, phase II, under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 07/2006/QD-TTg of January 10, 2006 (below referred to as Decision No. 07/2006/QD-TTg) in communes, villages and hamlets (below collectively referred to as villages) under competent authorities’ decisions.

2. Program 135, phase II, is invested with many capital sources, including central budget supports, local budgets and raised funds. People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities (below referred to as provincial People’s Committees) shall mobilize resources of their localities, and units, organizations and people of all strata inside and outside their provinces, and integrate Program 135, phase II with other local programs and projects for implementation.

3. Central budget supports shall be allocated to provinces according to the approved quotas for and number of villages of provinces; provinces shall allocate funds to each commune and village according to criteria rather than in equal share. Criteria for fund allocation are based on the percentage of poor households, geographical position, area, population, and particular conditions of each commune, ensuring that communes with a high poverty rate receive investment priority. Provincial People’s Committees shall direct the formulation of criteria and fund allocation quotas and submit them to People’s Councils of provinces and cities (below referred to as provincial People’s Councils) for approval to serve as a basis for annual fund allocation and notify them to the People’s Committee of each special difficulty-hit commune and village in communes of region II.

4. Works and projects included in the investment plan must receive funds for complete implementation within one year or two years at most.

5. The Program shall be implemented in an open and democratic manner at the grassroots level, bringing into full play people’s participation in the course of implementation. Commune People’s Committees shall publicize eligible beneficiaries and capital levels of projects for each year and throughout the Program period through meetings with people, broadcasting on the local radio, posting up announcements at offices of commune People’s Committees, village cultural centers, schools, marketplaces and other public places. The formulation of implementation plans of each year and up to 2010 must take into account villagers’ opinions through meetings or questionnaires. Villagers’ opinions shall be summed up in writing. Works and contents prioritized for investment shall be selected at the approval of a majority of people. People’s Committees of communes, wards and townships (below referred to as commune People’s Committees) shall make a sum-up list and submit it to standing bodies of commune People’s Councils before submission to People’s Committees of districts and towns (below referred to as district People’s Committees).

6. Management shall be further decentralized to the commune level to enable communes to manage each project under the Program Provincial and district People’s Committees shalI guide and dispatch their cadres to assist communes in directly managing projects.

7. The Program implementation in communes must achieve the following objectives: Communes will receive investment supports for their socio-economic development; commune and village cadres and the community will be trained in capacity building; people will have more jobs and earn additional incomes from their participation in the commune’s program; women will receive priority in benefiting from and participating in all activities of the Program.

8. From 2008 onward, annual reviews shall be conducted to identify and exclude from the Program communes and villages which have achieved the program’s objectives.

Part II.

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

I. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISM

Program 135, phase II, has four tasks, which shall be performed through the following specific projects and policies:

- A project to support production development and economic restructuring and raise the production level of ethnic minority people (referred to as the production development support project);

- A project on essential infrastructure development;

- A project to train and re-train commune and village cadres and the community in capacity building;

- Policies to support services, improve people’s living standards and provide legal aid to raise people’s legal awareness.

Below are specific provisions on the implementation of projects and policies under Program 135, phase II.

1. Production development support project

1.1. Beneficiaries:

a. Poor households as prescribed by law;

b. Household groups: Household groups entitled to supports must satisfy the following conditions:

- Being composed of poor households and other households living in the same residential cluster of a village which are prestigious, experienced in production and capable of attracting and assisting poor households in the group in escaping from poverty. Each household group has a head elected by group members to manage the group’s activities;

- Having a written commitment or the group’s operation rule which specifies the responsibilities, obligations, rights and contributions (in labor, materials, money) of each group member in order to implement the production plan set by the group and efficiently use capital sources to raise income and generate employment for group members;

- Households and household groups are selected in an open and democratic manner on the basis of prioritizing investment for poorer households. Household groups must be established at the will of poor and non-poor households to develop a certain production activity. The number of non-poor households in a group must not exceed 20% of the group’s total number of households and shall be decided by commune People’s Committees on the basis of the opinions of a majority of poor households in the group.

1.2. Investment support contents

On the basis of orientations for agricultural, forestry and fishery development and people’s needs, localities shall select contents which are appropriate, practical, market-driven and sustainable in terms of income and food security; all investment contents are not necessarily carried out in one locality to ensure focal and avoid thinly spread investment.

The specific contents cover:

1.2.1. Support for agricultural, forestry, fishery and industrial extension activities to help the poor get access to services and scientific and technical knowledge for application to production, raise their awareness about such knowledge for application to production plans already worked out by households or household groups for production development in their communes.

1.2.2. Support for building and expanding new production models:

- The model to apply scientific and technical advances to cultivation, animal raising, aquaculture and agricultural, forestry and aquatic processing;

- The model to associate production with processing, preservation and sale of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products;

- The model on economic restructuring in communes.

1.2.3. Support of plant varieties, animal breeds and production materials (applicable to poor households):

- Animal and aquatic breeds; plant varieties with yield and quality suitable to local conditions;

- Veterinary medicines, plant protection drugs.

1.2.4. Support for the procurement of equipment, machinery and tools for production, processing and preservation of products.

1.2.5. Capital structure: The allocation and disbursement of capital for the production development support project in 2008 comply with current regulations; from 2009 onward, the capital structure of projects will comply with the Prime Minister’s regulations.

Funds for implementing the above contents must be integrated with such sources as funds for Program 135, soft loans for poor households from the Social Policy Bank under the Prime Minister’s decisions, households’ own capital and funds raised from other sources to make concentrated and efficient investment in production.

1.3. Procedures for making and approving production investment plans:

1.3.1. The provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Service shall guide districts in formulating annual and long-term plans in line with the province’s production development orientations, and advise and propose to the provincial People’s Committee for promulgation (or promulgate as assigned by the provincial People’s Committee) specific guidance on mechanisms and policies of the central government (if necessary).

1.3.2. The project management unit for Program 135 or district People’s Committees’ specialized sections assigned to implement the project shall coordinate with village heads in holding a meeting with people (of a village or a number of villages) to notify them of contents, eligible beneficiaries and capital support levels for a village (or a number of villages) under Program 135, Decisions No. 31/2007/QD-TTg and No. 32/2007/QD-TTg and other sources of policy loans, households’ own capital (in money, materials, land and labor), other raised funds, market information, the commune’s socio-economic development orientations for households to select agricultural, forestry, fishery and small industrial products in the direction of commodity production and generation of many jobs for local laborers.

The project management unit or the district People’s Committee’s specialized section and village heads shall hold meetings with households and household groups to discuss and identify contents that need investment supports (it is recommended to select only one or two contents to ensure concentrated and efficient investment) and report selected contents to the investor (the commune) for summing-up.

1.3.3. The investor shall make an implementation plan enclosed with detailed cost estimates set by the commune as well as the 2006-2010 plan and submit them to the district People’s Committee for approval.

1.3.4. The district People’s Committee shall synthesize annual plans and 2006-2010 plans of communes, evaluate, approve and report on them to the provincial People’s Committee.

1.3.5. The provincial People’s Committee shall, based on the centrally allocated funds and local funds, annually allocate funds to districts.

1.4. Organization of implementation:

1.4.1. Provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Services shall assist provincial People’s Committees in performing the state management of the project implementation in their localities and specific tasks under the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry’s guidance. The tasks are specified in this Circular and the guideline handbook for implementation of the production development support project issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

1.4.2. District People’s Committees shall organize, direct, guide, examine and supervise the project implementation in their localities.

2. Infrastructure development project

2.1. Works eligible for investment

2.1.1. Works eligible for investment in communes, including the building, repair and upgrading of works in communes (including the repair and upgrading of works already invested with other funding sources):

a. Roads from communes to villages and inter-village roads. Funds for Program 135 may not be used for investment in building motor roads to commune centers (for communes without such roads);

b. Small irrigation works in service of intra-commune or inter-village production;

c. Works for power supply from communes to villages. Funds for Program 135 may not be used for investment in building works to supply power to commune centers (for communes whose centers have not yet been connected with the national power grid);

d. Schools and classrooms in commune centers which will be supplied with power and water, have toilets, be completely furnished with pupil tables and benches and facilities for semi-boarding pupils, and have housing for teachers. Primary education and pre-school classrooms, kindergartens, housing for teachers and auxiliary works in villages will be built where necessary.

e. Health stations which will fully have auxiliary works and be supplied with power and water and furnished with essential equipment and facilities according to the standards set for commune-level healthcare establishments;

f. Marketplaces: Supports shall only be provided for investment in building market stalls and initial ground clearance on areas of under 5,000 m2;

g. Community houses in villages where necessary;

h. Daily-life water supply works.

2.1.2. Works eligible for investment in villages of region-II communes, including the building, repair and upgrading of works in villages (including the repair and upgrading of old works already invested with other funding sources):

a. Roads from villages to commune centers;

b. Small irrigation works: sewers, dams, pump stations, canals, ditches and works on canals and ditches within villages, and other irrigation works capitalized at under VND 500 million;

c. Works for power supply from communes to villages;

d. Primary education and pre-school classrooms and kindergartens, including houses for teachers, which will be fully furnished with pupil tables and benches and supplied with power and water and have auxiliary works;

e. Community houses in villages where necessary;

f. Daily-life water supply works.

2.1.3. Works invested with Program 135 funds or other works in localities using over 50% of capital from Program 135 must be affixed with a sign indicating that such a work is under Program 135 and specifying the name of the investor, the constructor and dates of ground breaking and completion.

2.2. Investment deciding authority: District People’s Committees shall decide on investment in all infrastructure works under Program 135.

2.3. Investment planning:

From the second quarter every year, the commune People’s Committee shall publicize works eligible for investment specified at Point 2.1 and the list of works under the commune’s construction planning for comment from people and mass social organizations in order to select and review the list of works under planning, their locations, capital levels (central budget, local budget and raised funds) and sizes for the whole period and include them, in the priority order, in the following year’s implementation plans, which shall be reviewed and reported by the commune People’s Council to the district People’s Committee for approval. On the basis of the list of works planned for the following year approved by the district People’s Committee, the investor shall elaborate, or hire a consultancy organization to elaborate, the econo-technical report on work construction and submit it together with the bidding plan to the district People’s Committee president for evaluation and approval.

Funds for elaborating econo-technical reports shall be annually planned and taken from the state budget investment capital for projects under Program 135.

2.4. Elaboration, evaluation and approval of econo-technical reports on work construction:

2.4.1. Infrastructure investment works in communes and villages are small-sized, which therefore do not require the formulation of investment projects but just econo-technical reports on work construction and the investment of which must be completed within two years. An econo-technical report must specify the name of the work, investor, construction site, work size, capital sources, construction duration, completion time, working drawing design and cost estimate.

2.4.2. The investor shall either hire a consultancy organization to elaborate the econo- technical report and bidding plan and submit them to the district People’s Committee president for evaluation and approval according to regulations; or elaborate (if capable) the econo-technical report on small-sized and simple works within a village such as the village cultural center, classrooms (of primary schools or kindergartens) and roads capitalized at under VND 300 million, or request the district People’s Committee to designate an appropriate specialized section to elaborate such report, and submit it to the district People’s Committee president for evaluation and approval.

2.4.3. Investment expenses for infrastructure works under Program 135, phase II, shall be managed under the guidance in the Construction Ministry’s Circular No. 02/2008/TT-BXD of January 2, 2008, guiding the estimation and management of construction investment costs under the Program on socio-economic development in special difficulty-hit communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the 2006-2010 period.

2.5. Investment and construction of works

2.5.1. Construction contractors shall be selected as follows:

a. The investor shall publicize the organization of bidding or designation of contractors on either the district’s television or radio at least 15 days before the issuance of bidding dossiers. Information on works to be implemented by the community only need to be posted up at the commune People’s Committee office, village cultural center and marketplaces, and notified in villager meetings and on the commune’s public addressing system;

b. Bidding packages for construction consultancy services comply with the Bidding Law and its guiding documents;

c. Bidding packages for goods procurement comply with the Bidding Law and its guiding documents;

d. Packages for construction and installation or for construction and installation associated with goods procurement valued at VND 1 billion or more shall be put up for bidding under the Bidding Law (its current guiding documents);

e. Bidding packages for construction and installation valued at under VND 1 billion shall be conducted as follows:

- Construction and installation bidding packages valued at VND 300 million or less under development investment projects shall be put up for bidding with the community participation. The investor shall notify the community for registration of participation. When different community groups register to participate in the bidding, the investor shall hold a meeting with these groups to notify them of the approval of the selection of bidders based on criteria on prices and construction progress and quality; past the notified time of registration (set by the investor), if only one community group registers for participation, the investor shall assign this group to implement the bidding package. When no community group registers for participation, the investor shall select an appropriate contractor for negotiation and conclusion of a contract to implement the bidding package;

- Bidding packages for construction and installation or for construction and installation associated with procurement (fully equipped pump stations, transformer stations) valued at between over VND 300 million and under VND 1 billion shall be put up for bidding on the basis of having at least 3 bidders for selection. Past the notified time of registration, if there are less than 3 bidders, the investor shall make a proposal to the district People’s Committee for decision.

A bidding shall be conducted as follows:

+ Publicizing the organization of a bidding, the place and time for issuing bidding dossiers;

+ Preparing and issuing bidding dossiers;

+ Preparing bids;

+ Evaluating bids;

+ Submitting for approval, evaluating and approving the selection of bidders;

+ Negotiating, finalizing and concluding contracts.

g. Designation of contractors is permitted for the following cases:

-   Urgent bidding packages to remedy consequences of natural disasters, typhoons or floods:

-   Bidding packages that have been put up for bidding but had only one bidder;

-   Bidding packages to be implemented by assigning work in a unit of product (VND million/ km or m2) in order to mobilize people’s labor and their own organization of implementation. The state budget shall support less than 70% of the investment capital specified in the approved econo-technical report.

h. Works built by people in the commune may receive in advance at least 50% of the contract value which, however, must not exceed the annually planned capital for the work; works built by enterprises selected through bidding or by designated contractors may receive in advance at least 30% of the contract value which, however, must not exceed the annually planned capital for the work.

i. Specific requirements on the process and forms of contractor selection, bidding and construction contracts comply with the bidding guide handbook jointly issued by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ethnic Minority Committee.

2.5.2. The district People’s Committee president shall approve or authorize the approval of bidding results of bidding packages (except construction and installation bidding packages valued at under VND 300 million which are approved by the investor) at the proposal of the investor. The investor shall approve results of contractor designation and bidding packages as authorized.

2.5.3. Supervision of construction activities

a. The construction of works shall be supervised by investors, consultant supervisors, authors’ supervisors and commune supervisory boards. Investors shall select consultancy units capable of supervising construction. When no qualified consultancy unit is available, investors shall base themselves on specific conditions to organize the construction supervision and take responsibility for their decisions.

b. Supervision by investors complies with Article 21 of Decree No. 209/2004/ND-CP of December 16, 2004.

2.5.4. Pre-acceptance test, handover, management and operation of works

a. Pre-acceptance test of a work: The investor shall organize the pre-acceptance test of a completed work which shall be participated by the following persons:

- A representative of the project management unit;

- Representatives of units of design consultancy, construction and supervision consultancy;

- A supervisory representative of the investor, a representative of the commune supervisory board and representatives of organizations and individuals managing and using the work;

In specific cases, the investor may also invite other concerned persons to participate in the pre-acceptance test.

b. Handover of works for management and operation

- After the acceptance of a work, the investor shall hand it over to the commune People’s Committee for subsequent handover to villages, units or individuals for management, use and maintenance, and transfer all related dossiers and documents to the commune People’s Committee;

- Repair and maintenance:

+ Infrastructure works for inter-communal use which are located in a commune and is not managed by the commune People’s Committee (inter-communal health clinics, inter-communal roads and boarding schools for ethnic minority pupils) shall be repaired and maintained by assigned management units with annual repair and maintenance funds.

+ Works and work items for service business conducted by or benefiting individual households and household groups shall be managed, repaired and maintained by users themselves.

+ Infrastructure works in common service of a commune or village (including those funded by capital sources other than Program 135’s) which are managed by the commune People’s Committee under the assignment of competent authorities may be repaired and maintained with central budget supports under Program 135, local budgets and other raised funds;

+ Infrastructure works in common service of a commune or village may be repaired and maintained with central budget supports, local budgets and other raised funds. The commune People’s Committee shall annually elaborate a plan to repair and maintain works managed and operated by the commune and submit it to the district People’s Committee for approval. The funds for repair and maintenance shall be separately allocated from the commune’s annual budget. The commune People’s Committee, the investor of the commune’s repair and maintenance funds, shall, based on the allocated fund, assign the project management unit of the commune (if any) or village which has the work to be repaired and maintained to elaborate cost estimates of state budget capital supports, raised funds, materials and labor mobilized from the community and submit them to the investor for approval. Prices of materials and labor must conform with the local price level and shall be decided by the investor. Depending on the nature of jobs, the village head shall organize the repair by villagers themselves or by a repair group. The investor shall conclude a repair contract, conduct the pre-acceptance test and make payments to the representative of the group which conducted the repair as certified by the village head;

Pursuant to the State’s current regulations on capital construction management and this Circular, provincial People’s Committees shall specify and guide the regular repair and maintenance of works.

3. Project on capacity building training and re-training for commune and village cadres and the community

3.1. Beneficiaries:

3.1.1. Commune-level full-time cadres and public employees, commune- and village-level part-time cadres under the Government’s Decree No. 121/2003/ND-CP of October 21, 2003, on regimes and policies toward cadres and public employees in communes, wards and townships, and amended and supplemented documents (if any);

3.1.2. Officials dispatched from higher levels to assist communes.

3.1.3. Members of commune management and supervisory boards;

3.1.4. Prestigious persons in the village community;

3.1.5. Poor households and households that are experienced and play an active role in hunger eradication, poverty reduction and rural development in communes and villages;

3.1.6. Source cadres planned for the commune’s leadership positions;

3.1.7. Commune-level legal aid and collaborators, members of commune legal aid clubs.

3.1.8. Ethnic minority youths aged between 16 and 25 years.

Among the above beneficiaries, priority shall be given to ethnic minority or female cadres.

3.2. Training and re-training contents:

a. Policies on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; raising the awareness about and improving scientific and technical knowledge for application to household economic development;

b. The mechanism for Program 135 manage­ment and implementation; knowledge about investment project management, supervision, assessment, review reports, application of information technology to investment manage­ment, capital payment and settlement concerning projects and policies under Program 135, phase II;

c. The Regulation on grassroots democracy and the community’s participation in the Program implementation: meetings with people, review of opinions, elaboration of plans and investment supervision;

d. Supports for job training for ethnic minority people (integrated with the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 81/2005/QD-TTg of April 18, 2005, on the policy of support for short-term job training for rural laborers applicable to youths aged between 16 and 25 years);

f. Relevant legal knowledge.

3.3. Training and re-training documents

Training and re-training documents shall be compiled and published by the Ethnic Minority Committee in collaboration with concerned ministries and branches. Particular documents for each locality shall be compiled under the direction of the provincial People’s Committee for uniform use in such locality.

3.4. Training and re-training duration and forms:

3.4.1. Training and retraining for commune and village cadres: A training course should last 3-4 days and must not exceed 7 days. If the investor finds it necessary to train the project management unit, such a training course must not exceed 20 days; training and retraining documents shall be compiled under the direction and approval of the provincial People’s Committee;

3.4.2. Training and retraining for the community (people): A training course should last 2-3 days and must not exceed 5 days. Training and retraining should mostly be conducted for each village or a number of villages and can be in the form of an on-the-field meeting or a field visit to learn production models.

If necessary, refresher courses on practical contents may be conducted after 6 months or one year. Such course must not exceed 2 days.

Expenses for province-inbound and -outbound field visits must not exceed 5% of the total annually planned capital.

3.5. Training and re-training plans

3.5.1. Based on the contents prioritized for implementation and training and retraining contents and beneficiaries, commune People’s Committees shall assess on and classify professional qualifications and capability of beneficiaries and select eligible trainees and appropriate training needs, synthesize and report them to district People’s Committees;

3.5.2. District People’s Committees shall classify eligible trainees, sum up their training or re-training needs, estimate training or re-training costs and elaborate training or re-training plans for report to provincial People’s Committees;

3.5.3. Provincial standing bodies of Program 135 shall assume the prime responsibility for working out and submitting annual and long-term training and re-training plans to provincial People’s Committees for approval;

3.5.4. Based on assigned planned project capital, provincial standing bodies of Program 135 shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with provincial Planning and Investment Services and Finance Services in, working out plans on fund allocation, reporting them to provincial People’s Committees, submitting them to provincial People’s Councils for decision, and breaking them down in separate columns or items.

- District People’s Committees shall directly manage and organize the disbursement of funds for training under the planned capital assigned to district People’s Committees;

- Provincial standing bodies of Program 135 and concerned provincial Services and branches may only manage the funds allocated to them under plans.

3.5.5. Funds for the project implementation shall be allocated from the state budget’s non-­business funding sources. Training and re-training funds shall be used as follows:

- Expenses for printing training documents shall be paid according to current regulations;

- Expenses for compiling training programs and manuals shall be paid at the levels set in the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 87/2001/TT-BTC of October 30, 2001;

- Expenses for foreign trainers or experts (if any) shall be paid at the levels set in the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 51/2008/TT-BTC of June 16, 2008, guiding the management and use of funds for training and re-training state cadres and public employees;

- Expenses for food, accommodation, travel, stationery, drinks and others for learners and participants during the training time shall be paid according to the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 23/2007/TT-BTC of March 21, 2007, prescribing the regime of working mission allowances and conference expenses applicable to state agencies and public non-business units;

- For trainees being commune-level public employees and full-time and part-time cadres, and part-time cadres of villages and street residential units under the Government’s Decree No. 121/2003/ND-CP of October 21, 2003, on regimes and policies toward cadres and public employees in communes, wards and townships, in special difficulty-hit, border and security-zone communes and region-II communes having special difficulty-hit villages, difficulty-hit villages of region II communes, and unsalaried persons, all training, food, accommodation and travel expenses shall be subsidized at the levels set in the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 23/2007/TT-BTC;

- Ethnic minority youths aged between 16 and 25 years who are sent to job training by competent authorities may, apart from entitlements specified in the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 81/2005/QD-TTg of April 18, 2005, on policies of support for short-term job training for rural laborers, receive additional supports as follows:

+ Food allowance of maximum VND 10,000/person/day during the job training time;

+ Travel allowance: Poor people who participate in a job training course at a place 15 km or more away from their place of residence may receive travel supports according to public transport fares, which, however, must not exceed VND 200,000/person/course;

+ Expenses for course management (not exceeding 5% of the cost estimates).

Based on the levels of expenses under the central level’s guidance, provincial People’s Committees shall direct the level of payment for each content suitable to their local conditions.

4. Policies on support for services, improvement of people’s living standards and legal aid to raise people’s legal awareness comply with the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 112/2007/QD-TTg of July 19, 2007, and the Ethnic Minority Committee’s Circular No. 06/2007/TT-UBDT of September 20, 2007, guiding the implementation of policies on support for services, improvement of people’s living standards and legal aid to raise people’s legal awareness.

II. FOR TASKS TO BE PERFORMED IN THE FORM OF PROJECTS, PROJECTS SHALL BE ORGANIZED AND MANAGED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Investors

District People’s Committees are investors of works or investment projects to be operated and used in a number of communes; commune People’s Committees are assigned to be investors of works or investment projects to be used within a commune.

When a commune facing difficulties acting as the investor, the district People’s Committee shall dispatch its cadres to assist the commune to become a qualified investor.

When a commune does not meet requirements on investor, the district People’s Committee shall assign a unit with appropriate functions to be the investor. The commune People’s Committee shall send its cadres to join the investor in managing the project and organize the takeover of the work for operation and use.

2. Project management units

2.1. The investor may decide to hire consultancy organizations or individual consultants or establish a project management unit (if necessary) to assist the investor in the project management.

2.2. When the investor hires an individual consultant or consultancy organization to manage the project, such individual or organization must meet prescribed requirements and possess management capacity suitable to the project’s size and nature. Responsibilities and powers of the project management consultant shall be defined in the contract concluded by the two parties. When hiring a project management consultant, the investor shall still use its specialized bodies under its management apparatus or appoint a unit to examine and monitor the performance of the project management consultancy contract.

2.3. When the investor establishes a project management unit, the tasks and powers of such unit shall be assigned or authorized by the investor to perform some or all of the tasks and powers of the investor. A project management unit shall be set up as follows:

2.3.1. The commune being the investor: The commune shall use its general project management unit. The commune’s project management unit has the legal person status and may open accounts at the district State Treasury branch and use seals of the commune administration. When the commune has no project management unit yet, it shall set up such unit under the guidance of this Circular;

2.3.2. The district being the investor: The district People’s Committee shall set up a project management unit or assign an existing project management unit to manage projects. The president or vice president of the district People’s Committee may not hold the post of project management unit head. The district project management unit may open accounts at the district State Treasury branch and has its own seal.

3. Tasks and powers of an investor and a project management unit set up by the investor:

3.1. Tasks and powers of an investor:

3.1.1. To organize the elaboration of an econo- technical report on work construction and the bidding plan and submit them to the investment deciding authority for approval;

3.1.2. To organize the evaluation of the working drawing design and cost estimates of works;

3.1.3. To approve the result of contractor designation and submit the result of bidder selection for approval;

3.1.4. To conclude contracts with contractors;

3.1.5. To pay contractors according to the contracted schedule or pre-acceptance minutes;

3.1.6. To conduct pre-acceptance tests of works in order to put them into operation and use.

Depending on specific characteristics of each project, the investor may authorize the project management unit to perform some or all of its tasks or powers.

3.2. Tasks and powers of a project management unit:

3.2.1. To carry out procedures for land allocation, preparation of construction grounds and other activities in service of the construction of works;

3.2.2. To prepare dossiers of the econo-technical report on work construction and bidding plan to be submitted to the investment deciding authority for evaluation and approval according to regulations;

3.2.3. To make bidding dossiers and bid invitations (if any), publicize the bidding and organize the selection of contractors;

3.2.4. To negotiate and sign contracts with contractors under the investor’ authorization;

3.2.5. When fully capable, to supervise the work construction;

3.2.6. To conduct pre-acceptance test, payment and settlement of works under the signed contract;

3.2.7. To manage the construction quality, volume, progress and costs, and environmental safety and sanitation of construction works;

3.2.8. To accept and hand over works;

3.2.9. To make annual reports on investment capital disbursement and settlement reports upon completion, operation and use of projects;

3.2.10. To concurrently manage different projects when permitted by the investor.

4. Tasks of an investor and a project management consultancy organization hired by the investor

4.1. Responsibilities of an investor:

4.1.1. To select and sign a contract with the project management consultancy organization qualified for and suitable to the project management;

4.1.2. To sign for approval payments to contractors at the request of the project management consultancy organization;

4.1.3. To facilitate the operation of the project management consultancy organization;

4.1.4. To take responsibility before law and compensate for damage when colluding with the project management consultancy organization or contractors to cause investment capital loss.

4.2. Tasks of a project management consultancy organization:

4.2.1. To make bidding dossiers and bid invitations (if any), to provide consultancy for the selection of contractors;

4.2.2. To supervise the construction of works if fully capable;

4.2.3. To conduct pre-acceptance test, payment and settlement of works under contracts signed by the investor; to take full responsibility before the investor and law for the accuracy and reasonability of payment values;

4.2.4. To manage the construction quality, volume, progress and costs, and environmental safety and sanitation of projects;

4.2.5. To accept and hand over works;

4.2.6. To make annual reports on investment capital disbursement and settlement reports upon completion, operation and use of projects;

Depending on specific conditions of each project, the investor may assign the project management consultancy organization to perform other tasks which must be specified in the contract.

4.2.7. To take responsibility before law and the investor for its commitments under the contract. To compensate for damage caused by its faults in the course of managing the project. To take responsibility for its project management activities at the construction site.

5. Commune supervisory boards

Communes (including region-II communes having special difficulty-hit villages) shall set up commune supervisory boards to supervise the implementation of projects and support policies under Program 135 in their communes. Commune supervisory boards shall be established under decisions of commune People’s Committee presidents at the proposal of commune Fatherland Fronts. A commune supervisory board is composed of a number of representatives of the commune’s socio-political organizations; representatives of the commune People’s Council; prestigious persons in the community who are capable and experienced in supervision activities. The commune supervisory board of a region-II commune having special difficulty-hit villages must have at least two representatives of the special difficulty-hit village who are nominated by villagers.

5.1. A commune supervisory board is tasked to supervise the construction of works and projects in the commune from the selection of works, design survey to construction, pre-acceptance test, handover and operation of works as well as payment, settlement and maintenance of works.

5.2. In the course of construction, a commune supervisory board shall coordinate with the investor’s supervisors (the project management unit’ supervisor and supervision consultant) and the author supervisor in supervising construction quality and volume, prices of construction materials, construction progress, and take part in the pre-acceptance tests of works at different stages.

III. USE OF INVESTMENT CAPITAL SOURCES

1. Investment capital

Program 135, phase II, is funded with various capital sources specified in Decision No. 07/2006/QD-TTg, including:

1.1. Central budget funds (including foreign loans and aid) directly invested in Program 135;

1.2. Local budget funds directly invested in Program 135;

1.3. Funds lawfully raised in localities; monetary, material or labor supports of branches, economic units, social organizations and other localities; locally mobilized resources, mostly in materials or labor. Contributions in cash are not required from poor households.

2. Allocation of funds for projects and policies

2.1. The estimation, allocation and management of budget funds comply with the State Budget Law and its guiding documents;

2.2. For special difficulty-hit communes and villages that perform the Program’s tasks with local budget funds under the Prime Minister’s decisions, provincial People’s Committees shall allocate funds for the performance thereof, which must be at least equal to the central budget fund level.

3. Use of central budget funds

3.1. Central budget funds may only be used to support projects and policies specified in Section I, Part II of this Circular.

3.2. Prices of construction materials, plant varieties, animal breeds and other goods, purchased from people for use in projects under Program 135 must match local common price levels at the time of purchase; vouchers for payment are sellers’ receipts certified by the head of the village and the People’s Committee of the commune where sellers reside.

3.3. Localities which have implemented works and projects under the guidance of Program 135, 1999-2005 period, may, prior to the guidance of this Circular, use annually allocated central budget funds under Program 135 to continue the imple­mentation of Program 135, phase II, for completed works whether or not for which settlement has been made and under-construction works.

3.4. Funds for the operation of local steering bodies for program implementation at all levels shall be allocated from local budgets and other lawful funding sources. Provinces which enjoy additional allocations from the central budget may use the Program’s funds to cover expenses for activities of the steering committees, examination and supervision activities, organization of meetings to implement, review and sum up the program implementation; working trip allowances for cadres attending conferences and training courses at district, provincial and central levels. The annual support level must not exceed 0.5% of the total central budget funds supported to the program, with the minimum level of VND 50 million/year and the maximum level of VND 500 million/year for each province, and shall be provided from 2007. Provincial People’s Committees shall specify levels of support for the provincial steering committees, agencies directly managing project components and local administrations of all levels.

3.5. Budget funds for the implementation of Program 135 shall all be managed and settled in a centralized and unified manner through the State Treasury. For people’s contributions in cash, materials, assistance in kind, labor or completed works, finance agencies shall, based on unit prices of materials and a workday’s value, convert such contributions into Vietnam dong before making budget collection orders and concurrently making and sending budget spending orders to State Treasury branches where transactions are made for accounting them into the works’ or projects’ values and incorporating them in state budget revenues and expenditures.

3.6. Based on the estimates of targeted additional allocations from the central budget to local budgets assigned to the program’s beneficiary provinces by competent authorities, the Minister of Finance shall transfer funds to localities under the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 86/2006/TT-BTC of September 18, 2006, guiding the management of targeted additional allocations from the central budget to local budgets and amended documents (if any).

IV. PLAN SUM-UP, ASSIGNMENT AND REPORTING

The elaboration, allocation, assignment of cost estimates, the management, use and settlement of funds for Program 135 comply with the State Budget Law and its guiding documents.

V. EXAMINATION, SUPERVISION, ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING

1. Examination, supervision and assessment

1.1. Provincial People’s Committees shall take direct and overall responsibility for the quality, progress and effectiveness of the Program in their provinces. Based on the objectives of Program 135 and actual local conditions, provincial People’s Committees shall direct districts in setting targets to be achieved in each year, each period and upon the Program completion, which serve as a basis for monitoring and assessing the results of the Program in their provinces.

1.2. Provincial People’s Committees shall direct their units and districts in regularly examining the Program implementation. Provincial standing bodies of Program 135 shall assume the prime responsibility for proposing examination plans and contents, assisting provincial People’s Committees in reviewing and reporting evaluation results to the central standing body of Program 135 (the Ethnic Minority Committee).

1.3. Provincial People’s Committees shall direct provincial Services, Departments, branches, district People’s Committees and concerned units in facilitating People’s Councils, Fatherland Fronts and mass organizations at all levels and the community to participate in and coordinate with one another in supervising the Program implementation.

1.4. The Ethnic Minority Committee shall:

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries and branches in, planning and organizing the examination and supervision and conducting annual, mid-term and final reviews of the Program implementation;

- Coordinate with the State Audit in elaborating annual plans on audit of the Program implementation and submit them to the Government for decision.

2. Reporting on implementation results

2.1. Based on the norms on supervision and assessment of the Program implementation set by the Ethnic Minority Committee, provincial People’s Committees shall direct the collection of reports from local administrations of all levels to make a sum-up report and submit it to the Central Steering Committee for the Program. Program management bodies at each local level shall designate full-time staff in charge of reporting. Before sending reports, investors shall compare the reported figures on capital disbursement against those certified by State Treasury branches where their accounts are opened.

2.2. Quarterly and annual reports shall be made under the Minister-Chairman of the Ethnic Minority Committee’s Decision No. 04/2008/QD-UBDT of August 8, 2008, promulgating the Regulation on the regime and forms of reports on the Program on socio-economic development in special difficulty-hit communes of ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the 2006-2010 period. Apart from general reports, provincial specialized agencies shall report to their superiors under regulations.

2.3. The Central Standing Body of Program 135 shall synthesize and send biannual and annual reports to the Central Steering Committee for Program 135.

Part III.

ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. Concerned central agencies shall, pursuant to this Joint Circular and within the ambit of their functions and tasks, guide and specify necessary contents of this Circular.

2. The handling of transitional issues must ensure the principle that the implementation of the new guiding Circular must not cause discontinuity or delay of the program implementation, specifically as follows:

- The production development support project: Ongoing projects which were approved by competent authorities prior to the effective date of this Circular may be implemented under the guidance at the time of project approval. Approved projects which have not been implemented will be supplemented and revised according to current regulations;

- The infrastructure development project: Projects having econo-technical reports approved and contractors selected prior to the effective date of this Circular may be implemented under relevant guidance at the time of project approval;

- The project on capacity building training for grassroots cadres and the community: Training courses with approved plans and cost estimates which have not been conducted will have these plans and cost estimates (if any) supplemented or adjusted under the guidance of this Circular. Training courses which have been conducted or ongoing training courses comply with the guidance at the time of project approval, or may be adjusted under the new guidance if necessary;

- In the course of implementation, if competent authorities decide to replace, amend or supplement documents named in this Circular, such amendments or supplements will be applied.

3. Provincial People’s Committees shall specify and guide contents of this Circular to suit their local conditions and characteristics.

4. Provincial People’s Committees shall assign provincial agencies for ethnic minority affairs to act as the standing bodies of the Program which shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with provincial Services and branches in, advising and assisting provincial People’s Committees in managing the Program and have the following tasks:

4.1. To reach agreement with provincial Planning and Investment Services and Finance Services in guiding districts in working out annual capital plans and annually reviewing and reporting the implementation of such plans in their localities to provincial People’s Committees;

4.2. To synthesize districts’ capital plans for projects and policies under Program 135 and send them to provincial Planning and Investment Services and Finance Services for incorporation into other local capital sources;

4.3. Under the guidance of ministries and central branches, to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned units in, advising or proposing provincial People’s Committees to provide guidance suitable to local conditions;

4.4. To carry out some activities under the project on training and re-training of grassroots cadres and the community when so assigned by provincial People’s Committees;

4.5. To assume the prime responsibility for, and assist provincial steering committees for target programs in, organizing the examination, monitoring, evaluation, review and reporting according to regulations issued by the provinces and the Central Standing Body of Program 135;

4.6. To perform other tasks as assigned by provincial People’s Committees.

5. District People’s Committees shall establish district standing bodies of Program 135, which shall advise and assist district People’s Committees in managing, directing and examining, and reviewing reports from management units and communes where projects are implemented, on the Program implementation.

6. When a commune is the investor (including region-II communes having special difficulty-hit villages entitled to the Program’s investment), the commune People’s Committee shall decide to establish a project management unit for Program 135 if necessary. A commune-level project management unit is composed of its head, an accountant, officials of the commune People’s Committee, contractual technicians, other members working by term of office (heads or deputy heads of villages having works or projects) and prestigious villagers in the community. Priority shall be given to females to work as members of the project management unit. A commune project management unit has the legal person status and may open accounts at district State Treasury branches and use seals of commune administrations in their transactions. The project management unit shall manage all projects and policies implemented in their localities as assigned by the investor.

7. Branches and levels shall, within the ambit of their functions and tasks, direct, examine, supervise and urge the implementation of this Circular.

8. This Circular replaces Joint Circular No. 676/2006/TTLT-UBDT-KHDT-TC-XD-NNPTNT of August 8, 2006, of the Ethnic Minority Committee and the Ministries of Planning and Investment; Finance; Construction; and Agriculture and Rural Development, guiding the implementation of the program on socio­economic development in special difficulty-hit communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, and takes effect 15 days after its publication in "CONG BAO" Pursuant to this Joint Circular, central and local agencies shall amend, supplement, replace or annul contents of promulgated documents or related documents which are contrary to this Joint Circular. In the course of implementation, People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities being beneficiaries of Program 135, phase II, should report arising problems or inappropriate issues to the Ethnic Minority Committee for coordination with concerned ministries and branches for study, amendment and supplementation as appropriate.