----------------------------------------------------------- Document source: [Version: 15 August 1997] http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~vern/luat/luat.html AVSL, GPO Box 161; BELCONNEN, ACT 2616 Australia and Coombs Computing Unit, Australian Nat. Univ. ------------------------------------------------------------ STATE PLANNING COMMITTEE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM No: 03-UB/NLN Independence-Freedom-Happiness Hanoi, 29 April 1993 CIRCULAR ON IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISION NO 327-CT WITH RESPECT TO APPRAISAL AND APPROVAL OF PROJECTS AND COMPILATION OF PROGRAMME 327 In order to implement Decision No 327-CT dated September, 15th 1992 by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (now Prime Minister) on the use of bare land, degraded hills, forest, coastal plains, and water bodies, the State Planning Committee now issues guidelines on appraisal and approval of projects and compilation of Programme 327, for use by ministries, provinces and cities. I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES * Programme 327 has been established by compilation of the projects which have been considered and approved by the relevant authorities, such as the Prime Minister, Minister and Chairmen of the provincial and city People's Committees in accordance with Decision No 327-CT. * In establishing the projects which constitute Programme 327, the following decisions and circulars are in particular to be followed: - Rules for capital construction issued together with Regulation No.385/HDBT dated 7 November 1990 by the Council of Ministers; - Circular No.01/TTLB dated 9 March 1991 by the State Planning Committee, the Ministry of Construction, and the State Bank on capital construction; - Circular No 04/TTLB dated 9 March 1991 by the State Planning Committee and the Ministry of Construction on formulation, appraisal, and approval of projects on the basis of technical and economic documentation. II. INVESTMENT FIELDS 1. In forestry: Forest plantations, assistance of natural regeneration, protection and management of watershed forests (upland forests, coastal forests, environmental forests and of special-use forests (national parks, natural and historical reserves) botanical gardens, etc. 2. In agriculture: - Plantations of industrial crops (rubber, coffee, tea, mulberry, etc) fruit trees, pharmaceutical plants, and food crops. - Raising of large domestic animals (buffaloes, cattle, etc). 3. In marine production: Project for use of alluvial flats, water bodies, and for cultivation of marine products. 4. In fixed cultivation and sedentarisation - Projects for the stabilisation of villages where people already carry out fixed cultivation; - Projects for making shifting cultivators change into permanent farming practices, including forestry, cultivation of industrial crops and food crops, prepare homegardens, raise domestic animals, and in general build up a varied commodity production. - Projects for highland people; and - Projects for people belonging to very small ethnic groups. - (Funds for construction of temples, churches, and markets are to be obtained from other sources.) Projects under management by the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of the Interior are to combine economic effectiveness with national defence. Projects in areas of troop concentrations in mountainous areas, along boundaries, and on islands are to receive labour for reforestation, planting of industrial crops, and harvesting of marine products. Such projects are to organise their production facilities, establish business operations, and improve the environment. III FORMULATION, APPRAISAL, AND APPROVAL OF PROJECTS 1. Project formulation: Projects of Programme 327 are of the following kinds: * Forestry-Agriculture-Industry projects; * Agriculture-Forestry-Industry projects; * Projects in marine production combined with agriculture, forestry, and industry; * Fixed cultivation and sedentarisation projects. Based on the outline for implementation of Decision No 327-CT until the year 2000 and on the long-term strategy for socio-economic development of various economic sectors and of various localities, all ministries and all provinces which have proposed projects to be included in Programme 327 are now to formulate those projects in more detail. Each project should be described with respect to location, scope area, objectives, estimated need of capital, foreseen results, etc., in accordance with the form attached to this Decision. The project descriptions, listed in order of priority, are to be forwarded to the State Planning Committee, to the Ministry of Finance and to the ministry managing the economic sector concerned by the project. Based on the plans received and on a general estimate of the funds available from various State sources, the Central Board of Programme 327 will publish a list of projects which are to be established during the planning year by the various ministries and local authorities. The Central Board will also specify which projects are to be appraised and approved by the Centre and which ones will be appraised and approved at the provincial level. Ministers and Chairmen of provincial People's Committee are to guide the formulation of projects in the list which are to be managed by the central (Ministry) level and provincial (People's Committee) level, respectively. The following issues should be considered when formulating the projects: * The situation in which the project will be placed: Projects may be concerned with forest protection, regreening bare land and degraded hills, utilising water bodies, distributing the labour force and the population in general, creating new jobs and establishing administrative, socio-economic, defence, and security units at the local level. The projects must be designed in such a way that they really constitute a step towards reducing poverty among the local people, enabling them to improve their living conditions. * Describe clearly the objective for socio-economic development in the project area. * Give priority to the following kinds of projects: - projects in border areas; - projects on islands; - projects in mountain areas; - projects in areas of fixed cultivation and sedentarisation; - projects in areas where small minority ethnic groups live; - projects in areas where opium growing is being reduced; - projects concerning state farms and state forest enterprises where there is still much land available where raw material sources for various processing industries could be created. * The project description should present the general socio-economic situation in the project area and the importance of agriculture, forestry, fishery, processing industries, and services. It should describe how the project is to contribute to development of a varied commodity economy and social improvements in the whole area. The scope of the project must also be suitable with regard to the investment capacity of the government and the people. The households should be considered as independent production units; this is especially important for the creation of economically successful homegardens. 2. Appraisal and approval of projects a) For projects which concern several areas (provinces, etc.), or several economic sectors, or require a total investment of 11 billion dong or above (grants and loans from the Treasury combined) are to be appraised by the State Planning Committee and approved by the Prime Minister. b) Project requiring less than ll billion dong in total investment which will be under the authority of a ministry will be approved by the Minister concerned after agreement has been obtained from the local authority (for projects in land use planning and use of land). c) Chairmen of the Provincial People's Committees are authorised to approve projects to be undertaken by the provincial authority which require investments of less than 11 billion dong and which are duly appraised by the economic sector concerned. Note however the following special rules: * All marine production projects with an area above 700 hectares are to be appraised and ratified by the Ministry of Marine Products. * All forest seed projects are to be appraised and approved by the Ministry of Forestry. * For projects which require a total investment of 5-11 billion dong (and have been duly approved by the Minister or the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee concerned) an agreement must be made with the State Planning Committee on use of the funds, for purposes of balancing the State budget. d) The project document to be submitted for appraisal and approval is to include: - A request for approval of the project. - Documentation describing the project. - Maps as required (map of the general situation) land map and land allocation map in the scale of 1:25,000 for forestry and the scale of 1:10,000 to 1:25,000 for agriculture and marine production). For areas inhabited by ethnic minorities as well as in other difficult areas, the mapping standards could be simplified. - The conclusion of the provincial appraisal council for Programme 327. - Projects to be managed directly by a ministry should obtain agreement by the ministerial appraisal council (for Programme 327) and also consider the opinion of the provincial People's Committee about the land use rights of the project in relation to the general plans for development in the area. In order to simplify the procedures for appraisal and approval, the provincial authority should send 5 complete project descriptions and 5 summaries directly to the Standing Committee of Programme 327 at the State Planning Committee. This Committee will check the documentation and forward it to the sectoral ministry concerned. After considering the documentation, the concerned ministry will set a time for an appraisal meeting and invite the leading agency for the project and other organisations concerned to participate. The sectoral ministry will request clarification of unsettled issues from the project leading agency and the project implementing agency. Comments should be made available in time for the appraisal meeting. Participants in the appraisal meeting should be able to represent his or her sectoral ministry in all matters related to that sector. The ministry responsible for the project should send the conclusions from this appraisal meeting to the project leading agency for its appraisal and approval. * Time frames for appraisal and approval: + For projects submitted to the Prime Minister for appraisal and approval, the delay should not be longer than 60 days from receipt of a complete set of documents. + For projects submitted to a ministry for appraisal and approval, the delay should not be longer than 30 days from receipt of a complete set of documents. + For projects to be managed by a local authority, appraisal and approval by the concerned ministry (if needed) should not take longer than 25 days from receipt of a complete set of documents. If appraisal and approval is only needed at the local level, it should not take more than 15 days from the day the documents were approved by the ministry. The time frames mentioned above do not include the time needed for the project leading agency and the project implementing agency to complement the documents as required. In order to reduce time for travel, the Central Board for Programme 327 will organise appraisal and approval for all projects in a province at the same time. For projects under the authority of different ministries, the Minister will represent the project leading agency. For projects under the authority of provinces (and cities), the Chairman of the People's Committee will represent the project leading agency. The person representing the project leading agency will appoint the project implementing agency. In the case of projects which the Prime Minister is to approve, he will also appoint the project leading agency. The function of the project implementing agency is defined in interministerial circular No.01/TTLB dated 9 March 1991. That agency has the direct responsibility for utilisation of the funds of the project and for necessary construction. It is also responsible for use of the funds and for results obtained. In areas-where there are state farms or state forest enterprises, the Director of these enterprises will become the Project Director. In other areas, the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee will appoint the Project Director. Staff working in the State administrative system (at district or commune level) should not be appointed Project Director. For fixed cultivation and sedentarisation projects, a leading staff member at the district level should be appointed to be chairman of the district level management board for all projects within the districts. His functions and duties will be the same as those of Project Directors (have the right to open project accounts and use the appropriate seals). For all projects which were approved as outlined above, the decision documents are to he sent to the State Planning Committee, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids, and Social Welfare, and the specialised Ministries. Decision documents for projects directly undertaken by a ministry will be sent to the provincial People's Committee so that the provincial authorities can coordinate the project with other activities in the area. All projects previously approved at the ministerial or provincial levels which are not in accordance with the spirit of Decision No 327-CT should be reconsidered or cancelled IV. SOURCES OF FUNDS AND USE OF FUNDS A. Sources of funds - Grants from the State budget; - Interest-free loans provided from the State budget; - Grants from abroad (WFP/PAM, SIDA,...); - Funds from State and private economic units; - Contributions from the local population, etc. B. Use of funds 1. Grants from the State budget: The state can provide funds for different activities, such as: + Plantation, natural regeneration, and protection of the following kinds of forest: - protection forests in watersheds or coastal areas, - amenity forests in big cities and industrial areas, - special-use forests (national parks, nature reserves, historical sites, national seed stands, botanical gardens, etc.) + Infrastructure, such as main roads, bridges, electric transformer stations, small water conservancy structures, fresh water supply, schools, clinics, etc. Further, in areas of fixed cultivation and sedentarisation, in high mountains, in areas where ethnic minorities lead a difficult life, and in areas where opium is being replaced by other crops, additional activities can be financed with State grants, such as land reclamation, soil improvement, establishment of effective homegarden systems (V.A.C.), and provision of seeds, fertilisers, and insecticides. + Construction of dams bordering the sea and establishment of forests protecting marine production projects. + Establishment of basic technical facilities as needed, for example in seed production, for animal breeding, and as demonstrations for extension in agriculture, forestry, and fishery. 2. Interest-free loans Interest-free loans can be obtained for the following purposes: + Establishment of industrial crops, fruit trees, and trees yielding non-wood forest products; + Cultivation of marine product; + Establishment of home gardens; + Purchase of big domestic animals; + Purchase of boats and fishing equipment. 3. Special grants for non-commercial economic activities Special grants can be obtained for certain non-commercial economic activities, such as the following: + Provision of transport and reception facilities for people moving to new economic zones (including support with food and assistance in house construction, particularly if large families are split and need several houses); + Establishment of home gardens; + Creation of welfare facilities for families who move to new economic zones; + Formulation of projects within Programme 327 according to directives by the Central Board for Programme 327. The State Planning Committee and the Ministry of Finance should compile annual plans for formulation of such projects and forward them to the ministries concerned and the provincial and city People's Committees. V. COMPILATION OF PROGRAMME 327 AND SUPERVISION OF IMPLEMENTATION 1. Compilation of Programme 327 - Concerned sectoral ministries are to assemble the documents for all approved projects within their sector and submit them to the Prime Minister. Copies should be sent to the State Planning Committee, the Ministry of Finance, the Department of Labour Supply of the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids, and Social Affairs. For projects under management of different ministries, copies should instead be sent to the People's Committees in the areas of the projects. - Provincial People's Committees are to assemble documents for all approved projects to come under management of provincial authorities. All projects belonging to Programme 327 should be considered as a part of the local socio-economic development plan. - In cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, the sectoral ministries concerned, and the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, the State Planning Committee is annually to compile a list of projects constituting Programme 327 for submission to the Prime Minister. 2. Supervision of implementation - The Head of the State Planning Committee has been nominated by the Prime Minister to allocate funds for each project within the Programme and will inform concerned ministries and provincial authorities about standards for investments. He will also inform the various ministries about the total amounts available. - Based on the standards for investments provided by the State Planning Committee, Ministers and Chairmen of provincial People's Committees are to provide the various project implementing agencies with cost estimates for different project components. Copies should also be submitted to the State Planning Committee, the Ministry of Finance, sectoral ministries, and the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, for their follow-up and control. - The project implementing agencies are to carry out the project according to plans and to report regularly on the rate of progress to the provincial and ministerial boards for Programme 327. - Sectoral ministries and provincial People's Committee are to supervise the work of the project implementing agencies, in particular verifying whether the projects are carried out according to plans. If plans need to be changed, agreement should be obtained from the State Planning Committee. - Every six months, the ministerial and provincial boards for Programme 327 are to report about the progress of the projects within their areas of responsibility to the Central Board for Programme 327. If problems should arise during implementation of this guideline, the ministries or provincial People's Committees should immediately inform the State Planning Committee, the Ministry of Finance, sectoral ministries, and the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, in order to resolve the matter. For Chairman of the State Planning Committee Vice president Signed: Tran Khai STATE PLANNING COMMITTEE FORMAT OF PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS (According to Decision No 327-CT) 1. Project name: 2. Location: 3. The master organ of the investment: 4. The objectives of the project: a) Main character of the project b) Scope of the project + Total area affected + Area to be used for production c) Ability of the project to attract labour + From the locality + From other areas 5. Time for implementation + Time for project preparation (and costs of preparation) + Time implementation of the project (date of start-up and date for termination) 6. Estimated need for funds + Total funds needed + Of which: - From the State budget (divided between grants and loans) - From other sources (divided between them) 7. Estimated benefits and foreseen problems of the project. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- End of File