Joint Circular No. 05/2013/TTLT-UBDT-BNNPTNT-BKHĐT-BTC-BXD guiding the implementation of Program 135 on supporting investment in infrastructure, promoting production development for particularly difficult communes, border communes, safe-zone communes, and particularly difficult villages.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Pursuant to Decision No. 551/QĐ-TTg dated April 4, 2013 of the Prime Minister approving Program 135 on supporting infrastructure investment and promoting production development for particularly difficult communes, border communes, safe area communes, and particularly difficult villages;

Pursuant to Decision No. 826/QĐ-TTg dated May 29, 2013 of the Prime Minister amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decision No. 2406/QĐ-TTg dated December 18, 2011 of the Prime Minister promulgating the list of national target programs for the period of 2012-2015 and decisions promulgating national target programs for the period of 2012-2015;

The Minister of the National Committee of Ethnic Minorities, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Minister of Planning and Investment, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Construction issue this Joint Circular guiding the implementation of Program 135 on supporting infrastructure investment and promoting production development for particularly difficult communes, border communes, safe area communes, and particularly difficult villages (Program 135),

Pursuant to Decision No. 135/2009/QĐ-TTg dated November 4, 2009 of the Prime Minister promulgating the Regulations on Management and Direction of Implementation of National Target Programs;

This Joint Circular guides the implementation of Program 135 according to Decision No. 551/QĐ-TTg dated April 4, 2013 of the Prime Minister on supporting infrastructure investment and promoting production development for particularly difficult communes (particularly difficult communes), border communes, safe area communes (hereinafter referred to as communes) and particularly difficult villages, hamlets, villages, settlements, neighborhoods, wards (hereinafter referred to as villages).

Article 1. Program 135 is funded from multiple sources including central government budget (CGB), local government budget (LGB), contributions from businesses, organizations, individuals both within and outside the country. Provincial People's Committees (PPCs) have the responsibility to mobilize resources and integrate programs and projects to implement the program in their respective areas.

2. CGB supports provinces based on the total annual investment support amount of Program 135, based on the average capital standard of communes and villages. PPCs decide criteria for allocating funds to communes and villages under Program 135 according to the degree of difficulty (K factor) and allocate funds to districts according to criteria set by district People's Committees who assign detailed plans to communes.

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

3. For communes and villages implementing Program 135 from LGB, PPCs must allocate sufficient funds to ensure that the investment level is at least equal to the CGB standard.

Article 2. Principles

4. Implementing Program 135 must be transparent and democratic at the grassroots level, with strong participation from the people. Commune People's Committees must publicly announce beneficiaries, planned capital amounts, and final settlement figures annually and throughout the entire phase of the program. Annual and overall phase planning must involve public consultation. Commune People's Committees must compile and submit these plans through the Standing Committee of the People's Council at the same level (where such councils exist) for approval by the district People's Committee.

5. Implementation plans for Program 135 must align with economic and social development plans, be linked to new rural area standards, and must have the agreement of the provincial Program 135 steering committee; they should be implemented widely across all communes and villages, while prioritizing resources for demonstration projects in some communes and villages to replicate successful experiences. Projects and works allocated funding must be completed thoroughly within one year, with a maximum duration of two years.

6. Strengthen decentralization for commune People's Committees to manage Program 135 projects and works. PPCs and district People's Committees are responsible for providing guidance and deploying staff to assist commune People's Committees in direct management.

7. Annually, PPCs must review particularly difficult communes and villages and send them to the National Committee of Ethnic Minorities for verification, consolidation, and submission to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

5. The implementation plan for Program 135 must be consistent with the master plan and socio-economic development plans, align with new rural area criteria, and must have the unanimous opinion of the provincial-level Program 135 steering committee; it shall be implemented widely across all communes and ethnic minority villages, while prioritizing resource allocation to direct management in some communes and villages to draw lessons for replication. Projects and works allocated funds must be completed thoroughly, with the implementation period concentrated within one year, not exceeding two years at most.

6. Enhance decentralization for commune-level People's Committees to manage projects under Program 135; provincial and district-level People's Committees are responsible for guiding and arranging cadres to assist the commune-level People's Committees in directly managing these projects.

7. Annually, the provincial-level People's Committee shall organize reviews of communes and ethnic minority villages and submit them to the Ethnic Minorities Committee for verification, consolidation, and submission to the competent authority for consideration and decision.

Chapter II
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 3. Projects under Program 135

Program 135 includes: The Project to Support Production Development and The Project to Support Investment in Infrastructure.

Article 4. Implementation Mechanism

1. The Project to Support Production Development

a) Object:

- Poor households and near-poor households: in accordance with current regulations.

- Group of households: must ensure the following conditions:

+ Selected openly and democratically from the village based on voluntariness, including poor and near-poor households and other households with good reputation living in the same area, having experience in production, capable of guiding and assisting poor and near-poor households within the group to escape poverty. The group has a group leader elected by the households to manage and direct the activities of the group (priority given to women as group leaders).

+ Commitment and clear responsibility and obligations to implement the production plan and project already determined and to use funds effectively to increase income and create jobs for members. The establishment of the group of households is decided by the People's Committee of the commune; the number of households that are not poor households shall not exceed 20% of the total number of households in the group and must have the agreement of the majority of poor and near-poor households. The group of households builds internal rules of operation, which are agreed upon by the village head and approved by the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune.

b) Investor: The People's Committee of the commune is the investor of the project to support production development.

c) Content of investment support:

Based on the planning for new rural development, orientation for agricultural development, forestry, fisheries, and the needs of the people, localities select appropriate and practical contents linked to the market, ensuring sustainable income and food security to build the project to support production development; it is not necessary to invest in all contents at the same location to concentrate capital and avoid dispersion. The specific implementation content is as follows:

- Supporting agricultural extension, forestry extension, fishery extension, industrial extension activities to help people improve their knowledge in developing household economies, applying scientific and technological progress to production, accessing credit, market information, and effectively using land.

- Providing high-yield, quality seeds and breeds of crops, livestock, and aquatic products according to the wishes of the people and suitable for local conditions; providing fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, veterinary drugs, vaccines for dangerous animal diseases; supporting materials for crop and livestock breed conversion with economic value; supporting construction of breeding facilities and improvement of aquaculture areas.

- Supporting the development of production models; cooperating with organizations and businesses, applying scientific and technological progress to production, cultivation, animal husbandry, aquaculture, processing, preservation, and marketing of agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products; supporting conditions for people to visit and learn from effective production development models.

- Supporting the purchase of equipment, machinery, and tools for agricultural production, processing, and product preservation after harvest.

- Supporting the enhancement of capacity for management staff in production development, agricultural extension, forestry extension, fishery extension services such as plant protection, veterinary services, food safety; helping poor and near-poor households access services and scientific and technological knowledge, improving awareness and application in household production plans and group production plans to develop production in the commune.

- Capital for implementing the above contents must be integrated from various sources: Program 135 capital, preferential loans from the Social Policy Bank according to decisions of the Prime Minister for poor households, near-poor households, extremely difficult households, self-owned capital, and other mobilized capital to concentrate investment resources for effective production development.

d) Process of establishing, reviewing, and approving the investment production plan:

- The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with the Ethnic Minority Board, guides the People's Committee of the district to establish long-term and annual plans consistent with the new rural development planning and production development orientation in the locality, to submit to the People's Committee of the province.

- The People's Committee of the commune:

+ Directing the Village Head or inter-village to organize meetings to inform villagers about the content, beneficiaries, funding support levels for the village under Program 135, available loans under current policies, other mobilized capital; market information, socio-economic development orientation of the commune for discussion and selection by the villagers. The Village Head compiles and reports the confirmed content to the investor.

+ Establishing annual and phase plans to submit to the People's Committee of the district.

- The People's Committee of the district: Compiling annual and phase plans of communes (already reviewed by competent authorities) to report to the People's Committee of the province.

- The People's Committee of the province: Allocating capital based on approved plans, central funding, and local funding to implementing units.

đ) Organization of implementation:

- The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with the Ethnic Minority Board, advises the People's Committee of the province to guide and direct the implementation of the production development support project and pilot implementation in some communes and villages to draw lessons and expand widely.

- The People's Committee of the district is responsible for directing, guiding, and inspecting the People's Committee of the commune to organize the implementation of the project.

2. The Project to Support Investment in Infrastructure

a) Construction works at commune and village level:

- New construction, repair, renovation, upgrading, including repair and upgrading of old works funded by other sources as stipulated in Point b Clause 4 Article 1 of Decision 551/QĐ-TTg dated April 4, 2013 of the Prime Minister.

- Construction works using more than 50% of Program 135 funds must have a signboard indicating the name of the work under Program 135 and basic information of the investor, contractor, total investment capital, start date, and completion date.

b) Investment decision:

The People's Committee of the district is the authority to decide on investment in infrastructure works under Program 135.

c) Investment Plan:

- In the second quarter of each year, the People's Committee of the commune shall base on the list of projects to be invested as stipulated in point a, Clause 2, Article this and the overall plan to announce and organize the collection of opinions from the people and political-social organizations to review the list, location, capital (state budget, local budget, mobilized funds), scale of the project; prioritize the order, determine specific projects for implementation in the following year, consolidate through the Standing Committee of the Commune People's Council (where there is an organization of the Commune People's Council), and submit to the People's Committee of the district for approval.

- Based on the list of projects approved by the People's Committee of the district, the investor shall organize the preparation of the Economic and Technical Report for construction projects, accompanied by bidding plans to be submitted to the Chairman of the People's Committee of the district for approval.

d) Preparing, reviewing, and approving economic and technical reports:

- Preparing economic and technical reports (KT-KT):

+ The cost of preparing the Economic and Technical Report is allocated in the annual plan from the investment fund for projects under Program 135;

+ Infrastructure projects within Program 135 that have a duration not exceeding two years or a value of less than three billion VND (excluding land use fees) only need to prepare an economic and technical report; for projects with an investment capital of three billion VND to less than fifteen billion VND (excluding land use fees) or requiring high technical standards (determined by the investor), the investor must prepare an economic and technical report and approve it after receiving the review opinion of the specialized management agency;

+ During the preparation of the Economic and Technical Report for infrastructure projects, the investor (in cases where they prepare it themselves or hire consulting units) must collect opinions from the community (beneficiaries directly and those responsible for contributing to the construction of the project) regarding the investment contents and mechanisms for mobilizing investment resources to implement the project;

+ The Economic and Technical Report for constructing projects and bidding plans shall be prepared by the investor themselves or selected organizations or units with sufficient capacity to carry out the work;

+ Management of investment costs for infrastructure projects under Program 135 shall be carried out according to separate guidelines issued by the Ministry of Construction.

- Reviewing and approving economic and technical reports:

+ The investor is responsible for organizing the review before submitting to the competent authority for approval of the economic and technical report for investment and construction projects;

+ For projects where the district is the investor, the People's Committee of the district assigns the specialized agency to organize the review of the economic and technical report;

+ For projects where the commune is the investor: The People's Committee of the district is responsible for reviewing the economic and technical report before approval;

+ The time limit for reviewing the economic and technical report: Not more than ten working days from the date of receipt of complete valid documents for projects where the district is the investor; not more than seven working days for projects where the commune is the investor;

+ Documents for submission for review and approval of the Economic and Technical Report:

The investor's request for approval, including the following contents: Project name, investor, investment objectives, scale and location of construction, total investment amount, sources of investment capital, investment capital mobilization plan, start and completion dates, other necessary explanations; detailed economic and technical report, construction design drawings, budget estimates, and bidding plans; related legal documents.

+ Contents of the review of the Economic and Technical Report, including:

The alignment of the project with the new rural development planning, consistent with the overall plan for developing infrastructure in the commune;

Technical feasibility, land clearance capability, ability to mobilize capital to meet the project schedule, factors that may affect the project;

Consideration of the rationality of the project costs (comparing with local prices, comparing with similar projects and programs);

đ) Implementing investment and construction projects:

- Selecting contractors to implement projects according to the following three forms:

+ Entrusting the local community (direct beneficiaries of the project) to implement construction themselves;

+ Selecting groups of skilled workers or individuals (preferably from the commune) with sufficient capacity to undertake the work;

+ Selecting contractors through bidding procedures;

Specific regulations on the process, form of selecting contractors, bidding, and construction contracts shall be implemented according to current regulations.

- Cases permitted to designate contractors:

+ Bids with a total investment amount below three billion VND;

+ Bids urgently implemented to address the consequences of natural disasters, typhoons, and floods;

+ Bids organized but only one bidder participated;

+ Bids implemented through lump-sum contracting based on unit products (for example: million VND/km, m²) to mobilize labor from the community, organized and implemented by the community itself, with state budget support not exceeding seventy percent of the investment capital, and with an economic and technical report already approved by the competent authority;

+ Other special cases decided by the Prime Minister.

- Approving the results of contractor selection:

The Chairman of the People's Committee of the district approves or delegates approval of the bidding results for packages at the proposal of the investor.

e) Supervising construction activities.

- Investor supervision: The investor organizes the supervision of construction, the responsibility for supervision by the investor is carried out according to Article 24 of Decree No. 15/2013/ND-CP dated February 6, 2013 of the Government on construction quality management.

- Community supervision: Implemented according to the provisions of Decision No. 80/2005/QD-TTg dated May 14, 2005 of the Prime Minister on the community investment supervision regulation and Circular Joint No. 04/2006/TTLT-KH&ĐT-UBTƯMTTQVN-TC dated December 4, 2006 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of the community investment supervision regulation. The operating expenses of the community investment supervision board are implemented according to Part IV of Circular Joint No. 04/2006/TTLT-KH&ĐT-UBTƯMTTQVN-TC dated December 4, 2006.

For small-scale investment projects (with a value of less than five hundred million VND), with simple technical designs, if the investor entrusts the community investment supervision board to organize construction supervision, the community investment supervision board is entitled to receive construction supervision monitoring cost rates, not exceeding the construction supervision monitoring cost rate prescribed by the provincial People's Committee; in cases where the provincial People's Committee has not prescribed the construction supervision monitoring cost rate, the rate published by the Ministry of Construction shall apply.

g) Inspection, handover, and management of operation of works:

Inspection and handover of works: The project owner organizes the inspection of completed works; the participants in the inspection include:

+ Representative of the project owner;

+ Representative of the organization providing consultancy for the technical and economic report;

+ Representative of the construction organization or unit;

+ Representative of the owner's supervision, representative of community supervision;

+ Representative of the organization or individual managing and using the work;

+ Representative of the community benefiting from the work.

Depending on specific cases, the project owner may invite additional relevant parties to participate in the inspection.

- After the inspection, the project owner hands over the work to the People's Committee of the commune to transfer it to the organization or individual responsible for managing and using it (with a three-party handover: Representative of the project owner-Construction party-Organization or individual benefiting), and hands over at least one set of related files and documents to the People's Committee of the commune; publicly announce the value of the work settled to the people.

h) Maintenance and repair of works:

For infrastructure works serving multiple communes and not managed by the People's Committee of the commune, maintenance and repair shall be carried out by the assigned units from the annual maintenance and repair budget.

- Works and components serving business services or household benefits managed by users shall be maintained and repaired by themselves.

- Infrastructure works serving communal benefits within the commune, including those funded by sources other than Program 135, shall be managed by the People's Committee of the commune and use support funds for maintenance and repair from Program 135 and other legitimate financial sources.

Annually, the People's Committee of the commune shall prepare a plan for the maintenance and repair of works under its management and use, submit it for approval by the People's Committee of the district. The maintenance and repair fund is allocated as a separate item in the commune's budget. The People's Committee of the commune acts as the investor for the commune's maintenance and repair fund, based on the allocated budget, assigns the Commune Project Management Board (if any) or village with maintenance and repair works to prepare detailed budgets for various sources: state budget support, mobilization, materials, labor in the community for approval by the investor. Material and labor prices are determined according to the local price level by the investor. Depending on the nature of the work, the village head organizes villagers to self-maintain and repair or form maintenance and repair teams. The investor signs contracts and organizes inspections and payments with representatives of the teams confirmed by the village head.

Based on current regulations on basic construction management issued by the State and this Circular, the Provincial People's Committee shall issue guidelines for maintenance and repair activities.

Organization of project and work management:

- For projects with inter-commune usage or requiring high technical standards, the district level shall act as the investor.

- For works managed and used by a commune, the commune level shall act as the investor. The People's Committee of the commune decides to establish a Project Management Board. The Project Management Board has legal personality, is permitted to open an account at the District Treasury and use the seal of the People's Committee of the commune for transactions. The Project Management Board consists of: The Board Chair being the Chairman (or Deputy Chairman) of the People's Committee of the commune working part-time; accountant; other members include representatives of some departments in the commune, village heads, some households representing the community (nominated by the community).

- In cases where the commune faces difficulties in acting as the investor, the People's Committee of the district shall assign specialized staff to assist the commune or join the commune-level Project Management Board so that the commune has sufficient capacity to act as the investor.

- Responsibilities of the investor and project management board: Implemented in accordance with Decree No. 12/2009/NĐ-CP dated February 12, 2009 of the Government on Construction Investment Management.

Article 5. Consolidation, allocation, and utilization of investment capital

1. Investment capital:

Decision No. 551/QĐ-TTg dated April 4, 2013 of the Prime Minister stipulates that Program 135 shall be invested from various sources of capital:

- State budget capital directly invested in Program 135.

- Provincial budget capital directly invested in Program 135.

- Capital raised through contributions from enterprises, organizations, individuals both domestically and internationally; cash contributions shall not be solicited from poor households and near-poor households.

2. Consolidation, allocation, and management of project capital:

The establishment, allocation, decision on budget estimates, management, utilization, and settlement of accounts for Program 135 expenses shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law and related guiding documents.

3. Utilization of capital:

- The capital shall be used to support projects in areas such as production development assistance, infrastructure investment, and maintenance and repair of works.

- For construction materials, planting seeds, livestock, and other goods purchased from local residents for use in Program 135 projects, prices must be consistent with the general market prices at the same time period; payment vouchers shall be purchase receipts with confirmation from the village head where the sale took place, and confirmed by the People's Committee of the commune.

- Localities that have implemented projects according to the guidance of Program 135 Phase II, infrastructure investment projects in communes under the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction from 2012-2015 before the issuance of this Circular may continue to allocate central and local funds provided annually to complete projects that have been settled, completed but not yet settled, and ongoing projects within the scope of Program 135.

- Administrative expenses for Program 135 at all levels shall be guaranteed from provincial budgets and other legitimate sources to support activities such as inspection, supervision, organizing meetings, mid-term and final evaluations of Program 135 implementation, travel expenses for officials attending provincial, district, and central training sessions, office equipment for the permanent office. The administrative expense guarantee from the provincial budget each year shall not exceed 0.5% of the total central budget support for each province to implement Program 135, but not less than 50 million VND/year and not more than 500 million VND/year. The provincial People's Committee shall specifically allocate these funds to the agencies and units directly managing and directing the implementation.

- All investment capital for implementing Program 135 from the budget must be centrally managed and settled through the State Treasury.

Chapter III
INSPECTION, SUPERVISION, IMPLEMENTATION, AND EFFECTIVENESS

AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR ENFORCEMENT

Article 6. Inspection, supervision, evaluation, and reporting

1. Inspection, supervision, and evaluation

- The provincial People's Committee is directly and comprehensively responsible for the quality, progress, and effectiveness of Program 135 within its jurisdiction. Based on the objectives of Program 135 and the actual conditions of the province, the provincial People's Committee directs districts to establish targets to be achieved annually, during each phase, and at the end of the program, serving as the basis for evaluating the results of Program 135.

- The Program 135 Permanent Office at the provincial level shall take the lead in proposing plans and contents for inspections, assisting the provincial People's Committee in directing relevant departments, sectors, and district People's Committees to organize regular inspections, compile reports, and evaluate results to submit to the Ethnic Committee.

- The provincial People's Committee shall direct relevant departments, sectors, and district People's Committees to create favorable conditions for local People's Councils, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and political-social organizations, communities (represented by delegates) to participate and cooperate in supervising the implementation of Program 135.

- The Ethnic Committee:

+ Shall take the lead in coordinating with relevant ministries and sectors to propose plans and organize annual, mid-term, and final evaluations of Program 135 implementation;

+ Shall coordinate with the State Audit Agency to develop annual audit plans for Program implementation to be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

The training institution is responsible for submitting reports on the results of each course to the Construction Department of the locality where its headquarters is located and where the training takes place for monitoring and management (according to the model in Appendix 11 of this Circular);

- The Ethnic Committee will issue specific guidelines regarding the content and reporting system.

- The Ethnic Committee shall consolidate and report to the Central Steering Committee on Sustainable Poverty Reduction as prescribed.

Article 7. Implementation Organization

1. Relevant central agencies shall provide detailed guidance based on this Circular and their respective functions and responsibilities.

2. Handling transitional issues: ensuring principles so that the implementation according to this Circular does not interrupt or delay the progress of Program 135, specifically as follows:

- Infrastructure investment projects: projects that have been approved by competent authorities for feasibility studies and selection of contractors prior to the effective date of this Circular shall be implemented according to applicable guidelines at the time of approval;

- During the implementation process, if there are documents applied for implementation specifically cited in this Circular that are replaced, amended, or supplemented by competent authorities, they shall be applied according to the corresponding replacement, amendment, or supplementation of those documents.

3. The provincial People's Committee shall specify and guide in accordance with the characteristics of the locality.

4. The provincial People's Committee shall assign the provincial Ethnic Affairs Department as the Permanent Office of Program 135.

The Permanent Office of Program 135 shall take the lead in coordinating with relevant departments to assist the provincial People's Committee in managing Program 135 and shall have the following tasks:

- In coordination with the Department of Planning and Investment and the Department of Finance, guide districts in preparing long-term and annual investment plans, aggregate long-term and annual capital implementation plans within the jurisdiction, and report to the provincial People's Committee.

- Aggregate capital implementation plans for projects under Program 135 from districts to the Department of Planning and Investment and the Department of Finance for integration of capital sources within the jurisdiction.

- Based on the guidance of central ministries and sectors, take the lead in coordinating with relevant units to advise and propose the provincial People's Committee to issue appropriate guidance in line with local conditions.

- Take the lead in assisting the provincial People's Committee to organize inspections, monitoring, evaluations, and reporting in accordance with provincial regulations and the Ethnic Committee.

- Implement certain aspects of Program 135 as assigned by the provincial People's Committee.

5. The People's Committee of the district assigns the Ethnic Affairs Office (where there is an Ethnic Affairs Office) or a suitable specialized agency to be the Standing Agency of Program 135 at the district level. The Standing Agency is responsible for advising, assisting the People's Committee of the district in managing, directing, inspecting, organizing the implementation, and compiling reports.

6. Departments and levels, based on their functions and responsibilities, are responsible for directing, supervising, inspecting, and urging the correct implementation of the provisions of this Circular.

Article 8. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect from January 3, 2014.

Article 9. Responsibility for implementation

1. Based on this Circular, central agencies and local agencies are responsible for amending, supplementing, replacing, or abolishing the contents of documents or related documents that have been issued but are no longer consistent with this Circular.

2. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties or new issues arise, relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals are responsible for reflecting them to the inter-ministerial bodies: the National Ethnic Council, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Construction for consideration, guidance, or amendment and supplementation to ensure consistency.