Circular No. 07/HCSN guides the management and use of World Bank loans for primary education projects concerning training, research seminars, and consulting experts.

CIRCULAR

GUIDELINES FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND USE OF WORLD BANK LOANS FOR THE PRIMARY EDUCATION PROJECT IN THE CATEGORY OF TRAINING, SEMINARS, RESEARCH, AND ADVISORY EXPERTS

- Based on the development credit agreement signed between the Government of Vietnam and the International Development Association on November 1, 1993.

- Based on Decree No. 58/CP dated August 30, 1994 of the Government promulgating the regulations on borrowing and repaying foreign debts; Decree No. 20/CP dated March 15, 1994 of the Government promulgating the regulations on managing and using official development assistance.

- Based on Circular No. 09/TC-NH dated June 2, 1994 of the State Bank and Ministry of Finance on the management and use of loans from international financial institutions. Circular No. 18 TC/TCĐN dated March 5, 1994 of the Ministry of Finance, guiding the management of foreign loans for the Government.

- Based on Circular No. 67/TC-ĐTPT dated September 12, 1995 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the management and use of investment funds for the primary education project.

The Ministry of Finance guides the management and use of the loan capital and counterpart funds allocated to the project's operational budget for training, seminars, and advisory experts as follows:

i-    GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1/ The capital borrowed by the Government of Vietnam from the World Bank (hereinafter referred to as IDA loan - International Development Association) for the Primary Education Project must be balanced within the State Budget. Based on the signed loan agreement, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for allocating state budget funds according to the approved plan to repay foreign debt when due (including both principal and interest).

2/ The Ministry of Education and Training, directly through the National Project Management Board (hereinafter referred to as the project owner), must strictly comply with the terms committed in the loan agreement and the regulations on borrowing and repaying foreign debts stipulated in Decree No. 58/CP dated August 30, 1994 of the Government.

3/ The project owner is responsible for preparing and submitting annual expenditure plans according to the implementation schedule, consistent with the commitments made in the loan agreement, while adhering to current regulations on the management and use of foreign loans by the Government and the provisions set forth in this circular.

4/ The project owner is responsible for reporting and settling accounts for the IDA loan in accordance with current regulations.

II - SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1/ Annually, based on the expenditure items and the project implementation progress (as per the signed agreement) approved by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the project owner shall prepare detailed plans for the following categories:

* Training Plan: including:

- Domestic training

- Overseas training

* Expert expense plan:

- Expenses for foreign experts.

- Expenses for domestic experts.

* Seminar and research work expense plan:

- Content, number of participants, seminar duration...

- Research topics agreed upon with the World Bank accompanied by contracts (topics include school map construction; primary school curriculum development and implementation; primary teacher salary system research...).

* Project management expense plan (project management costs and 15% of equipment and teaching materials purchase costs).

* Withdrawal plan from the loan account and use of special account funds divided by month and quarter: This plan includes specific details:

- Direct payment amount.

- Amount transferred to the special account for:

+ Cash withdrawal in local currency.

+ Cash withdrawal in foreign currency.

This plan must be submitted to the Ministry of Finance (Administrative Affairs Department) for review before proceeding with tender procedures to select advisory experts, open letters of credit, issue special commitments...

2/ Methods of withdrawing funds and payment methods:

All procedures, methods of withdrawing funds, and payments from the loan account shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 18 TC/TCĐN dated March 5, 1994 of the Ministry of Finance, Circular No. 09/TC-NH dated June 2, 1994 of the Ministry of Finance and State Bank, and adhere to the disbursement principles of the World Bank.

2.1- Withdrawal for direct payment from the special account:

- Based on the approved annual expenditure plan divided by quarter and month, the project owner sends a letter along with the request of the Ministry of Education and Training to the Ministry of Finance (Administrative Affairs Department). The Ministry of Finance reviews and authorizes the Vietnam Agricultural Bank to disburse funds according to the project owner's payment order at the selling exchange rate announced by the State Bank on the day of disbursement, while the Agricultural Bank must immediately report to the Ministry of Finance to process the government budget receipts and expenditures.

a. Expenditure for domestic and overseas training:

+ Domestic training and training:

The project owner needs to prepare a detailed report on the training content, number of participants, duration, and location, aligning with the project deployment requirements and the loan agreement provisions. The maximum average cost per person per week should not exceed 200 USD (including material costs, meals, accommodation, travel expenses, and speakers' fees...).

+ Overseas training and training:

In addition to the above points, the project owner must prepare a list of participants for overseas training and training, service supply contracts already signed, and a "No Objection Letter" from the World Bank. The contract must clearly specify the training content, number of people, number of days, location... and the training service costs that must be paid to the training provider.

The expenditure for staff participating in overseas training and training shall be applied in accordance with Circular No. 32 TC/TCĐN dated April 21, 1995 of the Ministry of Finance.

b. Expenditure for advisory experts:

+ Foreign advisory experts:

Based on the project content and the functions of the advisory experts, the project owner needs to prepare files for long-term and short-term advisory experts to organize selection. Files of selected experts must be submitted to the National Tender Evaluation Committee, reviewed and approved in writing by the World Bank regarding expertise, experience, working period, salary...

Domestic consultants:

Domestic consultants must be carefully selected based on the specific requirements of the project and their professional expertise. The files of domestic consultants must be reviewed by the Ministry of Education and Training's Review Board and officially approved in writing by the Ministry's leadership. The maximum monthly salary for domestic consulting experts shall not exceed 500 USD.

2.2. Procedures for settling special account funds:

The project owner is responsible for completing the procedures to recover capital along with the following documents:

a. Training service contract

b. Consulting service contract

c. Accompanying invoices

+ Payment certificate for the Contractor or payment for goods, equipment, and services providers (Consulting service contract, Sales invoice, consulting invoice). At the same time, the project owner must complete the procedures to request additional funding to be deposited into the Special Account. Upon receiving confirmation from the World Bank, the project owner and the Agricultural Bank must immediately report to the Ministry of Finance.

2.3- Withdrawal procedures and payments according to direct payment methods, commitment procedures... for suppliers of goods are carried out in accordance with Circular No. 18 TC/TCĐN dated March 5, 1994, and Circular No. 67 /TC-ĐTPT dated September 12, 1995 issued by the Ministry of Finance.

Upon receipt of disbursement notification from the World Bank, the project owner must verify and report immediately to the Ministry of Finance to process the recording of state budget revenue and expenditure for the project.

3/ Annually, the project owner is responsible for preparing the budget estimate for counterpart funding: project management costs and 15% of the cost of purchasing equipment and teaching materials for the management work of provincial education departments, teacher training colleges, and primary schools (in cases of domestic purchases), divided by month and quarter, to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance as a basis for planning and disbursing funds.

Based on the project owner's budget estimates and annual counterpart funding plans, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for approving and disbursing project management costs.

4/ Quarterly and annually, the project owner is responsible for reporting and finalizing all expense items with the Ministry of Finance and the project supervising authority.

5/ The independent auditing company selected is responsible for auditing the accounting records, expenditure regulations, vouchers, invoices, service contracts... of the project owner in accordance with state regulations and World Bank requirements, consistent with international practices and standards, and simultaneously reporting to the Ministry of Finance.

6/ The Ministry of Finance will periodically and randomly inspect the management and use of loan funds by the project owner and the Agricultural Bank. In case of misuse of loan funds contrary to current regulations, the Ministry may suspend and recover funds already transferred to the project owner.

ii-    IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

This Circular takes effect from the date of issuance. During implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, they should be reported to the Ministry of Finance for timely supplementation and amendment./.