Joint Circular No. 05/2013/TTLT-UBDT-NNPTNT-KHĐT-TC-XD guiding the implementation of Program 135 on investment infrastructure support and production development for particularly difficult communes, border communes, safe area communes, and particularly difficult villages.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for implementing Program 135 on supporting investment in infrastructure and promoting production development for particularly difficult communes, border communes, safe area communes, and particularly difficult hamlets and villages.

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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;

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

Pursuant to Decision No. 826/QD-TTg dated May 29, 2013 of the Prime Minister amending and supplementing some articles of Decision No. 2406/QD-TTg dated December 18, 2011 of the Prime Minister promulgating the list of National Target Programs for the 2012-2015 period and Decisions promulgating National Target Programs for the 2012-2015 period.

The Minister, Head of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas, 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 investment in infrastructure and promoting production development for particularly difficult communes, border communes, safe area communes, and particularly difficult hamlets and villages (Program 135).

Chapter I.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

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

Article 2. Principles

1. Program 135 is invested with various sources of capital: central budget (CBT), local budget (LBT), contributions from enterprises, organizations, individuals both within and outside the country. People's Committees (PC) of provinces and centrally-administered cities (hereinafter referred to as PC at provincial level) are responsible for mobilizing resources and integrating programs and projects to organize implementation within their jurisdiction.

2. CBT supports provinces based on the total annual investment support amount of Program 135, based on the average capital quota of communes and hamlets. The PC at provincial level decides criteria for allocating funds to communes and hamlets under Program 135 according to the degree of difficulty (K factor) and allocates funds to districts according to criteria set by the district PC which assigns detailed plans to communes.

3. For communes and hamlets implementing Program 135 tasks from the local budget, the PC at provincial level must allocate funds to ensure a minimum equal to the CBT investment quota.

4. Implementing Program 135 must be transparent and democratic at the grassroots level, strongly encouraging people's participation. Commune PCs must publicly announce information about beneficiaries, planned funding amounts, and annual and overall phase settlement expenses of the Program. Annual and overall phase planning must involve public opinion collection. Commune PCs, after consolidating and passing through the Standing Committee of the People's Council at the same level (where such councils are organized), submit to the district PC for approval.

5. Implementation plans for Program 135 must align with economic and social development plans, link with new rural area standards, and require consensus from the Program 135 provincial-level steering body; they should cover all communes and hamlets comprehensively while prioritizing resource allocation for pilot projects in certain communes and hamlets to accumulate experience for wider application. Projects allocated funds must be completed thoroughly within one year, with a maximum duration of two years.

6. Enhance decentralization for commune PCs to manage Program 135 projects, with the provincial and district PCs responsible for guidance and arranging personnel to assist commune PCs in direct management.

7. Annually, the PC at provincial level reviews particularly difficult communes and hamlets and submits them to the Committee for Ethnic Minorities for review, consolidation, and submission to competent authorities 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 households, near-poor households, and other households with good reputation living in the same area, having experience in production, and 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, aquaculture, 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 contents are as follows:

- Supporting agricultural extension, forestry extension, fishery extension, industrial extension activities to help people enhance knowledge in household economic development, apply scientific and technological progress to production, access credit, market information, and effective land use.

- Supporting high-yield, quality seeds and breeds, and aquatic species that are valuable in the market according to the wishes of the people and suitable for local conditions; supporting 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 product consumption; supporting people to visit and learn from successful production development models.

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

- 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, improve awareness, and apply them to the household and group production plans already determined to develop production in the commune.

- Capital for implementing these contents must be integrated from various sources: Program 135 capital, preferential loans from the Social Policy Bank according to the Prime Minister's decisions 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) Procedure for drafting, reviewing, and approving the investment plan for production:

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

- The People's Committee of the commune:

+ Directs the Village Head or inter-village to convene 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.

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

- The People's Committee of the district: Compiles the 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: Allocates capital based on the approved plan, central government allocation, and local capital.

đ) Organization of implementation:

- The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in coordination with the Ethnic Minority Board, advises the People's Committee of the province to guide and direct the implementation of the project to support production development and pilot projects 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 sign 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 budget for projects under Program 135;

+ Infrastructure projects within the Program 135 that have a duration of no more than two years or a value of less than 3 billion VND (excluding land use fees) only need to prepare an economic and technical report; for projects with an investment capital of 3 billion VND to less than 15 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 (those directly benefiting and 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 construction projects and bidding plans shall be prepared by the investor themselves or selected organizations or units with sufficient capacity to undertake them;

+ 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 construction investment 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 exceeding ten working days from the date of receipt of complete valid documents for projects where the district is the investor; not exceeding 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 request for approval from the investor, 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 explanation of the Economic and Technical Report, construction 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 infrastructure development of 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);

đ) Implementing construction investment:

- Selecting contractors to carry out construction according to three forms as follows:

+ Entrusting the community (direct beneficiaries of the project) to self-implement construction;

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

+ 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 3 billion VND;

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

+ Bids organized but only one bidder participated;

+ Bids implemented by 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, with state budget support of less than 70% 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 shall approve or delegate approval of the bidding results for packages at the proposal of the investor.

e) Supervising construction activities.

- Investor supervision: The investor shall organize construction supervision, the responsibility for supervision by the investor shall be 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 costs of the community investment supervision board shall be 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 500 million VND), simple technical design, 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 quotas, maximum not exceeding the construction supervision monitoring cost quota prescribed by the provincial People's Committee; in cases where the provincial People's Committee has not prescribed the construction supervision monitoring cost quota, the quota published by the Ministry of Construction shall be applied.

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

Acceptance and handover of works: The project owner organizes the acceptance of completed works; the participants in the acceptance include:

+ Representatives of the project owner;

+ Representatives of organizations providing consultancy services for technical and economic reports;

+ Representatives of construction organizations and units;

+ Representatives of the project owner's supervision team and community supervision representatives;

+ Representatives of organizations and individuals managing and using the works;

+ Representatives of the community benefiting from the works.

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

- After acceptance, the project owner hands over the works to the People's Committee of the commune to transfer to organizations and individuals responsible for managing and using them (with a three-party handover: Representative of the project owner-Construction unit-Organizations and individuals benefiting from the works), and hands over at least one set of related files and documents to the People's Committee of the commune; publicly announce the final value of the works 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 management 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, and allocate maintenance and repair funds as a separate item in the commune's budget. The People's Committee of the commune is the investor of the commune's maintenance and repair funds, based on the allocated budget, it 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 market price in the commune 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 acceptance and payment 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 work.

Organization of project and work management:

- For projects with inter-commune usage or high technical requirements, the district level shall be the project owner.

- For works managed and used by a commune, the commune level shall be the project owner. 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 National Treasury of the district, and uses the seal of the People's Committee of the commune for transactions. The members of the Project Management Board include: The Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune (or Deputy Chairman) serving concurrently as the Board Leader; an accountant; other members comprising some representatives from commune departments, village heads, and some households representing the community (nominated by the community).

- In cases where the commune finds it difficult to act as the project owner, 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 the capacity to act as the project owner.

- Responsibilities of the project owner 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 using various sources of capital:

- State budget capital directly invested in Program 135.

- Local budget capital directly invested in Program 135.

- Capital raised from contributions by 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:

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

- 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 with difficult conditions, border communes, safe area communes, and ethnic minority villages under the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction from 2012-2015 before the issuance of this Circular may continue to use Program 135 capital from central and local budgets allocated annually to complete ongoing projects that have been settled, completed but not yet settled, and those still under construction within the scope of Program 135 implementation.

- Administrative expenses for Program 135 at all levels shall be guaranteed from the local budget 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 staff attending provincial, district, and central training sessions, office equipment for the permanent office. The administrative expense guarantee from the local budget each year shall not exceed 0.5% of the total central budget support provided to each province for implementing Program 135, but shall be at least 50 million dong per year and not more than 500 million dong per year. The Provincial People's Committee shall allocate these funds specifically to the agencies and units responsible for managing and directing the implementation.

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

Chapter III.

INSPECTION, SUPERVISION, IMPLEMENTATION, 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 fully 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 achieved annually, during each phase, and upon completion 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 submit evaluation results to the National Ethnic Committee.

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

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

- The National Ethnic Committee shall aggregate and report to the Central Steering Committee for Sustainable Poverty Reduction as prescribed.

Article 7. Implementation Organization

1. Based on this Joint Circular and their respective functions and responsibilities, central agencies involved shall provide detailed guidance on necessary contents.

2. Handling transitional issues: ensuring principles so that the implementation of this Joint 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 construction contractors prior to the effective date of this Joint 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 Joint 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 to suit the local conditions.

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:

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

- Consolidate the capital implementation plans for projects under Program 135 submitted by districts and send them to the Department of Planning and Investment and the Department of Finance for integration of capital sources within the jurisdiction.

- On the basis of guidance from central ministries and sectors, take the lead in coordinating with relevant units to advise and propose to the Provincial People's Committee to issue appropriate guidance based on local conditions.

- Take the lead in assisting the Provincial People's Committee to organize inspections, monitoring, evaluations, and reporting as prescribed by the province and the National 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 Minority Affairs Office (where there is an Ethnic Minority 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 set forth in 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 any difficulties or new issues arise, relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals are responsible for reflecting these to the Joint Ministries: the Committee for Ethnic Minorities, 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./.