Joint Circular No. 102/2003/TTLT-BTC-BVHTT guides the content, expenditure levels, and management of funds for implementing the National Target Program on Culture until 2005.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the Content, Budget Allocation, and Management of Funds for Implementing the National Target Program on Culture until 2005

Pursuant to Decision No. 71/2001/QĐ-TTg dated May 4, 2001 of the Government Prime Minister regarding National Target Programs for the period 2001-2005;

Pursuant to Decision No. 42/2002/QĐ-TTg dated March 19, 2002 of the Government Prime Minister on Managing and Directing National Target Programs;

Pursuant to Decision No. 19/2003/QĐ-TTg dated January 28, 2003 of the Government Prime Minister approving the National Target Program on Culture until 2005;

Pursuant to Decision No. 31/2003/QĐ-TTg dated February 26, 2003 of the Government Prime Minister supplementing the project Building Some Cultural Villages, Communes, and Buons in Areas with Special Circumstances into the National Target Program on Culture for the period 2001-2005;

Pursuant to Decision No. 124/2003/QĐ-TTg dated June 17, 2003 of the Government Prime Minister approving the Scheme for the Conservation and Development of Ethnic Minority Cultures in Vietnam;

Pursuant to Decision No. 170/2003/QĐ-TTg dated August 14, 2003 of the Government Prime Minister on Cultural Consumption Incentive Policies;

Pursuant to Circular Jointly Issued by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance No. 01/2003/TTLT/BKH-BTC dated January 6, 2003 guiding the implementation of Decision No. 42/2002/QĐ/TTg dated March 19, 2002 of the Government Prime Minister on managing and directing National Target Programs;

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture and Information jointly issue guidelines on certain contents, budget allocations, and management of funds for projects under the National Target Program on Culture until 2005 as follows:

A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The subjects implementing this Circular are units utilizing funds from the National Target Program on Culture.

2. The funds for implementing the National Target Program on Culture are balanced within the central government's budget estimate and are used according to the program's activity contents.

The issuance, management, settlement, and finalization of accounts for the National Target Program on Culture's funds shall be carried out in accordance with current regulations of the State Budget Law and related implementing documents. Ministries, sectors, and localities have the responsibility to coordinate with financial authorities at all levels to strictly manage the program's funds, inspect expenditures in compliance with the objectives, contents, and prescribed regimes.

3. In addition to the funds allocated by the central government budget to ministries, sectors, and localities, local governments at all levels and heads of agencies and units need to mobilize additional funding sources such as voluntary contributions from individuals, economic and social organizations both domestically and internationally (in cash, goods, labor services...), supplemented from local budgets, and funds from ministries and sectors to implement projects under the National Target Program on Culture.

The management and utilization of additional funding sources shall be implemented in accordance with the guidelines set forth in this Circular and current financial management systems.

B. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

I. GENERAL CONTENT AND BUDGET ALLOCATION FOR PROJECTS

1. Organizing the compilation and translation of specialized professional materials for each project, specific budget allocation as follows:

- Compiling specialized professional materials that pass acceptance inspection. The maximum budget allocation does not exceed 50,000 VND per standard page of 300 words;

- Translating and proofreading materials from Vietnamese to foreign languages. The maximum budget allocation does not exceed 40,000 VND per standard page of 300 words.

- Translating and proofreading materials from foreign languages and ethnic minority languages of Vietnam to Vietnamese. The maximum budget allocation does not exceed 35,000 VND per standard page of 300 words.

2. Training and professional skill enhancement within the country. The budget allocation applies according to Circular No. 105/2001/TT-BTC dated December 27, 2001 of the Ministry of Finance on guiding the management and use of training and capacity-building funds for state civil servants;

3. Training, cooperation, and experience exchange abroad decided by the Program Steering Committee. The budget allocation follows current regulations for officials dispatched abroad;

4. Surveying and collecting materials according to the specialized contents of each approved project, the content and budget allocation apply according to Circular No. 114/2000/TT-BTC dated November 27, 2000 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the management of funds for surveys funded from the state budget;

5. Counterpart capital within the country for projects borrowing ODA and foreign aid (if any) as stipulated in agreements between the Government of Vietnam and the Governments of other countries or international organizations according to current regulations;

6. Other expenses related to the National Target Program on Culture.

II. CONTENT AND SOME KEY BUDGET ALLOCATIONS:

1. Project to Prevent Degradation and Renovate Historical, Revolutionary, and Anti-War Sites:

1.1. Budget allocation for project establishment, design, archaeological research, restoration, preservation, renovation... of historical, revolutionary, and anti-war sites according to the Investment and Construction Regulation, Tendering Regulation, and current guiding documents;

1.2. Budget allocation for purchasing equipment to serve research and preservation of heritage sites according to the decision of the competent authority approving the procurement of assets according to current regulations;

The budget allocation for contents 1.1; 1.2 is determined by the Minister of Culture and Information (for tasks carried out by units directly under the Ministry of Culture and Information) or the People's Committee of the province (for tasks carried out by units directly under the locality) based on current financial standards and rates and in line with actual conditions.

1.3. Budget allocation for chemical preservation of heritage sites according to the approval decision of the Minister of Culture and Information. The budget allocation for each sub-project is determined by the Minister of Culture and Information.

2. Project to Collect, Preserve Representative Intangible Cultural Values and Establish a Database on Intangible Cultural Heritage:

2.1. Budget allocation to support surveys, statistics, systematization, and mapping of intangible cultural heritage of each province and centrally-administered city;

Budget allocation to support comprehensive collection, recording, and preservation of representative intangible cultural heritage of some localities and ethnic minorities in various formats including tapes, discs (both audio and video), written documents, printed books, costumes, and props.

The general support level for each province and centrally governed city shall be a maximum of fifty million dong, with the remainder to be allocated from the local budget. For provinces in mountainous areas facing difficulties or those with many intangible cultural heritages, the specific support level shall be determined by the Minister of Culture and Information but not exceeding one hundred million dong/province.

2.2. Expenditure on drafting outlines, contexts, costumes, props, scripts, directing, makeup, remuneration, royalties, payment for information providers, consulting fees for experts or artisans aimed at researching, restoring, and promoting certain forms of traditional cultural and artistic activities.

2.3. Payment for labor in entering data, compiling catalogues to store collected intangible cultural values, expenditure on purchasing equipment for preserving the data bank.

2.4. Expenditure on publicizing intangible cultural values through mass media (radio stations, television stations, press) and printing books, publications such as tapes, video discs, payment for monthly subscription and communication fees for disseminating intangible cultural heritage on the Internet.

The expenditure levels for items 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4 shall be decided by the Minister of Culture and Information (for tasks carried out by units under the Ministry of Culture and Information) or by the People's Committee of the province (for tasks carried out by units under the provincial administration), based on current financial regulations, standards, and norms, and in accordance with actual conditions.

3. Project for investigating and conserving some exemplary villages and traditional ethnic minority festivals:

3.1. Expenditure on investigating and compiling files on some exemplary villages of ethnic minorities that still retain many characteristics of traditional culture. Expenditure on selecting projects and piloting conservation efforts for two to three particularly exemplary villages according to the decision of the competent authority.

3.2. Support for organizing traditional ethnic minority festivals at a level of fifty to one hundred million dong per festival per year; the specific support level for each festival shall be decided by the Minister of Culture and Information; the remainder shall be allocated from the local budget and mobilized from other sources.

The expenditure levels for items 3.1 and 3.2 shall be decided by the Minister of Culture and Information (for tasks carried out by units under the Ministry of Culture and Information) or by the People's Committee of the province (for tasks carried out by units under the provincial administration), based on current financial regulations, standards, and norms, and in accordance with actual conditions.

4. Construction of grassroots cultural information institutions, building models for cultural information activities in villages and communes:

4.1. One-time support (for the period 2001-2005) for purchasing equipment to serve the operations of cultural houses, village cultural houses, and mobile information teams (sound equipment, lighting, musical instruments, televisions, bookshelves, fire prevention and moisture control devices, etc.). The support level shall not exceed: sixty million dong for a provincial cultural house; thirty million dong for a district-level cultural house and a mobile information team; fifteen million dong for a commune-level cultural house; ten million dong for a village meeting the provincial cultural standard for three consecutive years; fifteen million dong for a particularly difficult commune; one hundred million dong for a provincial library warehouse.

4.2. One-time support not exceeding one hundred million dong (for the period 2001-2005) for constructing a commune-level cultural house.

4.3. Expenditure on purchasing specialized vehicles or cultural boats for mobile information teams in particularly difficult mountainous districts according to tender prices or designated procurement procedures in accordance with current regulations on asset management and procurement using state budget funds.

4.4. Initial support not exceeding two hundred million dong/cluster/border gate for constructing information propaganda clusters at border gates including expenditure on building on-site clusters featuring Vietnamese cultural symbols and provincial cultural characteristics; expenditure on purchasing posters and propaganda paintings for thematic information dissemination at the clusters...

The expenditure levels shall be decided by the Minister of Culture and Information (for tasks carried out by units under the Ministry of Culture and Information) or by the People's Committee of the province (for tasks carried out by units under the provincial administration), based on current financial regulations, standards, and norms, and in accordance with actual conditions.

The expenditures listed above in items 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 shall prioritize highland, deep inland, remote, mountainous, and ethnic minority regions to narrow the gap in cultural enjoyment between different regions.

5. Project to promote the construction of cultural villages and communes:

5.1. Expenditure on researching standards for building, staffing, and ranking for various grassroots units such as cultural houses, libraries, cultural clusters, and cultural villages, and on researching content and methods of operation at various levels and types of grassroots units...

5.2. Expenditure on establishing reward systems for families, villages, communes, and wards that meet cultural standards.

5.3. Expenditure on researching and formulating policies for cultural information staff in highland, deep inland, and remote regions.

The expenditure levels shall be decided by the Minister of Culture and Information (for tasks carried out by units under the Ministry of Culture and Information) or by the People's Committee of the province (for tasks carried out by units under the provincial administration), based on current financial regulations, standards, and norms, and in accordance with actual conditions.

6. Project to provide cultural information products to grassroots units:

6.1. Expenditure on supporting the purchase of cultural information products including books, tapes, and discs with programs for particularly difficult communes and boarding schools for ethnic minorities according to the annual decision of the Minister of Culture and Information.

6.2. Expenditure on supporting the purchase of books for libraries in highland, deep inland, and remote districts according to the quantity and type decided annually by the Minister of Culture and Information; expenditure on piloting mobile book cabinets for provincial libraries to circulate to grassroots libraries.

The expenditure shall be settled at the selling price minus the discount according to current regulations and the price of the order already appraised by the pricing management agency.

7. Project to cooperate with the Border Guard Command to strengthen cultural information activities along borderlines and islands:

7.1. Expenditure on supporting the purchase of sound equipment, lighting, musical instruments, etc., for border guard posts. The one-time support (for the period 2001-2005) shall not exceed thirty million dong/post.

7.2. Expenditure on supporting the purchase of cultural information products and organizing cultural information festivals for border guard posts.

The level of expenditure for payment shall be decided by the Ministry of National Defense based on current financial systems, standards, and norms, and in accordance with actual circumstances.

8. Modernization project for film production stage:

Support costs for purchasing modern and synchronized equipment and technology such as film cameras, sound recording devices, film printing equipment... for some large central film studios to ensure the production of stereophonic sound films according to the decision approved by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The level of expenditure shall be based on the winning bid price or designated bid price in accordance with current regulations on management and procurement of assets using state budget funds.

9. Project to equip modern technical means for film dissemination stage:

9.1. Initial support cost not exceeding 5 billion VND/cinema to purchase stereophonic sound film projectors for some large cinemas capable of generating high revenue, the remaining funding will be arranged from local government budgets or sourced from the units receiving the projectors.

9.2. Additional support cost for purchasing suitable film projectors for mobile projection teams operating in mountainous, remote, border, and island areas: up to 90 million VND for a 35mm film projector or 54 million VND for a 100-inch video projector.

10. Project to train and enhance proficiency in using modern equipment in film production and dissemination:

10.1. Costs for short-term training of specialized technical staff to use modern equipment in film production and storage abroad.

10.2. Costs for hiring foreign experts to teach and enhance the skills of technical workers in using modern equipment in the film industry.

The level of expenditure shall comply with current State regulations or agreed contracts approved by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

11. Project to equip modern specialized equipment for film preservation at the Vietnam Film Institute:

Costs for purchasing modern equipment for film preservation, purchasing film-to-video conversion machines for storage...

The level of expenditure for payment shall be based on the winning bid price in accordance with current regulations on management and procurement of assets using state budget funds.

12. Project to build cultural villages in regions with special conditions:

12.1. Investment support costs for building community cultural centers in 48 villages pursuant to Decision No. 1471/QD-BVHTT dated May 12, 2003 of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism approving the "Project to Build Cultural Villages in Regions with Special Conditions" and implementing according to the Investment Management Regulation, Tendering Regulation, and other current guiding documents.

The specific support amount for each village shall be decided by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, but not exceeding 5 billion VND/village (financed by development investment capital).

12.2. One-time support cost (for the period 2001-2005) for purchasing cultural information products to distribute to 48 villages including books, tapes, discs (both image and sound), decoration kits (images of President Ho Chi Minh, Party flags, national flags) not exceeding 15 million VND/village.

The expenditure levels shall be decided by the Minister of Culture and Information (for tasks carried out by units under the Ministry of Culture and Information) or by the People's Committee of the province (for tasks carried out by units under the provincial administration), based on current financial regulations, standards, and norms, and in accordance with actual conditions.

12.3. Support cost not exceeding 10 million VND/village/year to organize cultural information activities in 48 villages (as mentioned above).

The level of expenditure for each activity shall be decided by the Provincial People's Committee.

III. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT WORK

The management, budget preparation, disbursement, and settlement of funds for the implementation of the National Target Program on Culture until 2005 shall be carried out in accordance with the procedures, contents, timeframes, and forms stipulated in the State Budget Law, guiding documents of the Law, and current regulations.

In the case of providing goods by grant (from the central government budget) to localities, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall notify the Provincial People's Committees about the quantity and unit price of each type of goods provided each time, so that the Provincial People's Committees can distribute, monitor, and manage them. Upon completion of the project, the handover of assets from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to localities must be conducted in accordance with current State regulations. The Provincial People's Committees shall guide units to properly follow, manage, and effectively utilize the granted goods.

Annually, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall be responsible for summarizing and settling the value of goods provided to localities together with the settlement of the Ministry's budget for the program, accompanied by a report summarizing the quantity of each type of goods provided to each locality in the year. Localities receiving goods from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism do not need to settle the value of the provided goods into their local budgets, but they must organize record-keeping to strictly monitor the issuance, use, and inventory of the provided assets.

C. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

This Circular takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

All previous provisions contrary to the content stipulated in this Circular are hereby abolished.

Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be reported to the Joint Ministries for study and appropriate amendments.