Joint Circular No. 142/2010/TTLT-BTC-BTTT guiding the management and use of funds for the development of the information technology industry

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for managing and using funds for developing the information technology industry

industry of information technology

_______________________

       Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003, promulgated by the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on State Budget;

       The Minister of Information and Communications promulgates this Circular amending and supplementing Circular No. 09/2013/TT-BTTTT dated April 8, 2013 of the Minister of Information and Communications on the List of software and hardware, electronic products.

      Pursuant to Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance, and Decree No. 187/2007/NĐ-CP dated December 25, 2007 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Information and Communications;

       Pursuant to Decision No. 75/2007/QĐ-TTg dated May 28, 2007 of the Prime Minister approving the overall plan for the development of the electronics industry in Vietnam until 2010 with a vision until 2020;

      Pursuant to Decision No. 50/2009/QĐ-TTg dated April 3, 2009 of the Prime Minister promulgating the regulations on managing the Program for Developing the Software Industry and the Program for Developing the Digital Content Industry in Vietnam;

        The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Information and Communications hereby issue guidelines for managing and using funds for developing the information technology industry as follows:

PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and Applicability

1. These Circular guides the management and use of funds from state budget capital, aid, and other lawful sources to implement contents, tasks, and projects aimed at supporting and promoting the development of the software industry, the digital content industry, hardware industry, and information technology services (hereinafter collectively referred to as the information technology industry).

2. The subjects to which these provisions apply include state agencies, public service units, organizations using state budget capital, and associations and enterprises participating in programs, projects, and tasks for developing the information technology industry funded by the state budget.

Article 2. Sources of Capital and Principles for Expenditure on Developing the Information Technology Industry

1. Sources of capital for expenditure on developing the information technology industry include:

a) State budget.

b) Aid and official development assistance from international organizations for projects to develop the information technology industry.

c) Other lawful financial resources as prescribed by law.

2. State budget capital for developing the information technology industry includes both recurrent and development investment funds allocated in the annual state budget estimates according to the spending areas of agencies and units. Central agencies' tasks for developing the information technology industry are guaranteed by the central budget; local agencies' tasks for developing the information technology industry are guaranteed by the local budget in accordance with current laws on the decentralization of the state budget.

3. Agencies, units, and individuals managing and using funds for developing the information technology industry must use them for their intended purposes, in accordance with established procedures, ensuring efficiency to effectively serve the enhancement of productivity and quality of specialized work, aligning with development plans for the information technology industry and specific operational conditions of the agencies and units; they are subject to inspection and supervision by competent authorities; they must settle accounts for the funds used and comply with the current regulations on publicizing the budget.

PART II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 3. Contents of expenditures for developing the information technology industry

The contents of expenditures for developing the information technology industry include: expenditures to support the development of enterprises, expand scale, enhance operational capacity and competitiveness; expenditures to support business incubators, research, development and transfer of new standards, technologies, products, key products in the information technology industry; expenditures for investment promotion, trade promotion, market development, building and promoting the national brand in the information technology industry; expenditures to promote the development and application of open-source software; expenditures to build and establish infrastructure supporting the development of the information technology industry, including concentrated information technology zones; expenditures for training and developing human resources in the information technology sector; expenditures to ensure and promote the development of green information technology (Green IT); expenditures for establishing mechanisms and policies, improving the legal environment, and operating environment for the information technology industry. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Information and Communications shall provide detailed guidance on certain specific contents as follows:

1. Expenditures to support enterprises and organizations in building, applying, evaluating, and obtaining certification for production processes according to the CMMI standard (CMMI is an advanced production process for software companies developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of the United States) include:

a) Expenditures for organizing specialized seminars on quality management processes; expenditures for publicizing information through domestic and foreign mass media; expenditures for surveying current conditions to select enterprises; expenditures for studying and learning experiences domestically and internationally; expenditures for organizing domestic training courses; expenditures for sending staff to participate in specialized training courses abroad on advanced quality management processes.

b) Expenditures for hiring consulting experts to support enterprises in building and applying production processes, including: consulting on assessing the current situation and assisting enterprises in planning the implementation of building and applying production processes; consulting on building processes; consulting on checking processes; consulting on applying processes and other consulting experts.

c) Expenditures to support hiring consulting experts to evaluate and obtain certification for production processes, including: trial evaluation consulting; consulting and training the internal assessment team of the enterprise; consulting on adjusting processes; consulting on planning process evaluations; formal evaluation consulting.

2. Expenditures for developing human resources in the information technology sector, including: expenditures to support organizing short-term training courses for enterprises on specialized technical skills, new technologies, and management skills in the information technology industry such as: analysis, design, project management, process improvement, risk management, business skills; expenditures for standardizing the information technology human resource grading system; expenditures for organizing training courses to enhance state management capabilities for civil servants in the information technology field; expenditures for organizing study tours and learning experiences domestically and internationally; expenditures for professional research, scientific research topics serving the development of plans, strategies, mechanisms, and policies.

3. Expenditures for trade promotion and investment promotion in the information technology industry include: expenditures for organizing inbound and outbound delegations; expenditures to support enterprises in organizing and participating in seminars, exhibitions, fairs domestically and internationally; expenditures to support the development of brands; expenditures to build and promote the Vietnamese information technology industry brand through mass media and through printing materials and brochures.

4. Expenditures for compiling white papers, comprehensive reports, and documents introducing legal regulations, investment guidelines in the information technology field; expenditures for compiling and issuing publications aimed at promoting, disseminating, and popularizing advanced standards, technologies, management, and production processes in the information technology industry.

5. Expenditures to support the establishment of information technology infrastructure, support for electricity, water, telecommunications infrastructure for information technology projects, and support for the development of concentrated information technology zones including types such as software parks, concentrated software zones, integrated information technology complexes, and other concentrated information technology zones as prescribed by law.

6. Expenditures to support the development of business incubators, including: expenditures to support initial equipment investment; expenditures to support research and development of new products; expenditures to support technology transfer; expenditures to support the training of human resource teams; expenditures to maintain the operation of business incubators.

7. Expenditures to support research, development, and transfer of new information technology standards, technologies, and products, key information technology products; expenditures for researching and building digital information standards and information exchange standards.

8. Expenditures to support expanding the scale of enterprises, mergers, acquisitions to form large enterprises in the information technology sector, including: expenditures for acquiring part or all of another enterprise to form a larger enterprise; expenditures to support the content and procedures for acquisition or merger of enterprises; expenditures to support the training and development of key human resources; expenditures to support enhancing competitiveness, investment promotion, and market development.

9. Expenditures to promote the development and application of open-source software include: expenditures for organizing training courses; expenditures for converting and using open-source software; expenditures for supplementing, modifying, and perfecting the functions of open-source software products according to usage requirements; expenditures for evaluating and testing open-source software products; expenditures for organizing seminars and conferences on open-source software; expenditures for sending staff to participate in short-term training domestically and internationally on open-source software.

10. Expenditures for building, maintaining, updating, and upgrading websites and establishing databases on the Vietnamese information technology industry.

11. Expenditures for building and operating an electronic portal on the information technology industry.

12. Expenditure for the establishment and maintenance of the Software Industry Development Fund and the Information Technology Human Resources Development Fund of the Ministry of Information and Communications and the People's Committees of centrally governed cities and provinces.

13. Expenditure for the regular activities of the Steering Committee of the Program for Developing the Information Technology Industry established by the Minister of Information and Communications (hereinafter referred to as the Steering Committee), including:

a) Expenditure for research, visits, investigations, surveys, and learning management experiences to support the development of the software industry and digital content both domestically and internationally.

b) Expenditure for organizing meetings chaired by the Steering Committee to handle regular and urgent matters during the implementation of the Program.

c) Expenditure for organizing scientific seminars and specialized conferences to serve professional work; organizing mid-term and final reviews and annual task deployments of the Steering Committee.

d) Expenditure for inspection, supervision, and evaluation activities of the Program at ministries, sectors, and localities.

đ) Expenditure for international cooperation activities: expenditure for overseas missions; welcoming foreign delegations to Vietnam; organizing international conferences and seminars in Vietnam.

e) Expenditure for hiring domestic and foreign consultants.

f) Expenditure for overtime work for the permanent office and supporting units of the Steering Committee.

g) Expenditure for remuneration for members of the Steering Committee, the permanent office, advisory teams, and other supporting units.

h) Other expenditures serving the activities of the Steering Committee: printing and document preparation costs; renting, purchasing, and translating documents to serve professional work; renting, purchasing essential working equipment to serve the work of the Steering Committee; research on special topics, building reports to evaluate, review, and conclude activities within the scope of the Program; communication expenses; other necessary expenditures directly serving the activities of the Steering Committee.

Article 4. Expenditure Levels

Standards, systems, norms, and conditions, procedures for planning, budgeting, managing, and implementing the development of the information technology industry according to current laws.

For contents and tasks not specifically regulated, they may be applied according to the regulations on expenditure systems and norms corresponding to similar contents and tasks related to information technology applications. In cases where there are no provisions in existing documents, it is permissible to base them on average market prices at the time of planning and project implementation (through quotations/budget estimates from at least two contractors).

This Circular provides detailed guidance on additional expenditure levels in the field of information technology industry, specifically as follows:

1. The level of support for enterprises to build and apply production processes according to the CMMI standard from level 3 onwards shall not exceed 475,000,000 VND per enterprise (or 25,000 USD based on the exchange rate at the time of payment). Support shall be provided according to the following principles:

- Expenditure for supporting enterprises determined by the Ministry of Information and Communications to have the necessary conditions and capabilities to implement production processes according to the CMMI standard;

- Support for consulting on building, applying, and adjusting processes: not exceeding 285,000,000 VND per enterprise (or 15,000 USD); if enterprises require additional consulting, they must cover the additional consulting costs themselves;

- Support for certification assessment: not exceeding 190,000,000 VND per enterprise (or 10,000 USD). Any costs above this amount must be covered by the enterprise. If an enterprise has been assessed but does not obtain certification, the enterprise must cover all assessment costs for the consultancy firm.

a) The level of expenditure for hiring foreign experts to provide consulting on building, applying, and adjusting production processes according to the CMMI standard shall not exceed 20,000,000 VND per expert per day (or 1,100 USD). Requirements for the expertise of experts: at least five years of experience in the information technology sector, with at least three years of experience in consulting on building and applying production processes according to the CMMI standard.

b) The level of expenditure for hiring foreign experts to assess production processes according to the CMMI standard shall not exceed 27,000,000 VND per expert per day (or 1,500 USD). Requirements for the expertise of experts: at least five years of experience in the information technology sector; experience in assessing CMMI certifications; holding a CMMI Lead Assessor certificate issued by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of the United States or a unit authorized by the aforementioned institute.

c) The level of expenditure for hiring domestic consultants to act as supervisors or provide other types of consulting shall be implemented according to Circular No. 18/2010/TT-BLDTBXH dated June 10, 2010, of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, which stipulates the salary for domestic consultants implementing consultancy packages and applying time-based contracts under state-funded projects.

2. The level of support for enterprises to build and apply quality assurance processes and other advanced technical standards approved by the Ministry of Information and Communications in specific plans and projects, for each specific standard, based on the actual average cost required for each enterprise to build and apply that standard, but not exceeding the normative support level for building, applying, and evaluating according to the CMMI standard specified in Clause 1, Article 4 of this Circular.

3. Expenditure for organizing training courses shall be carried out according to the provisions in Appendix I attached to this Circular.

4. Expenditure for investigating and surveying information technology enterprises; market and product surveys; surveys on the use of open-source software in government agencies shall be implemented according to the regulations of the Ministry of Finance on managing, using, and settling accounts for the funds for conducting surveys from the state budget's public service fund.

5. Expenses for compiling white papers, comprehensive reports, reports on indices, legal regulations materials, investment guidelines in the field of information technology, printing reference books on production processes and quality management in the field of information technology include: compilation expenses: VND 70,000 per standard page in Vietnamese; editing and overall revision expenses: VND 25,000 per standard page in Vietnamese; review and comment expenses: VND 35,000 per standard page in Vietnamese. In cases where the above publications are printed in foreign languages, additional expenses up to VND 50,000 per standard page for translation costs are permitted.

6. Expenses for converting and using open-source software shall be carried out in accordance with Appendix II attached to this Circular.

7. Expenses for organizing domestic study tours and experience exchanges shall be implemented in accordance with Circular No. 97/2010/TT-BTC dated July 6, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance, stipulating travel expense allowances and expenses for organizing conferences for state agencies and public service units.

8. Expenses for overseas study tours, sending officials, civil servants, and employees to training and development programs at foreign institutions shall be implemented in accordance with the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance regarding travel expense allowances for state officials and civil servants traveling abroad for short-term missions funded by the State Budget.

9. Expenses for specialized research and scientific topics shall be implemented in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology concerning the establishment and allocation of budget funds for scientific and technological projects funded by the State Budget.

10. Expenses for organizing seminars and conferences shall be implemented in accordance with Circular No. 97/2010/TT-BTC dated July 6, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance, stipulating travel expense allowances and expenses for organizing conferences for state agencies and public service units, and Circular No. 01/2010/TT-BTC dated January 6, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance, stipulating expense allowances for receiving foreign guests working in Vietnam, expenses for organizing international conferences and seminars in Vietnam, and expenses for hosting domestic guests.

11. Expenses for building, maintaining, updating, and upgrading electronic information websites and databases on the information technology industry shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Section 2, Part II of Joint Circular No. 43/2008/TTLT-BTC-BTTTT dated May 26, 2008, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Information and Communications, guiding the management and use of funds for the application of information technology in state agency activities.

12. For some activities of the Management Board:

a) Expenses for meetings chaired by the Management Board:

Chairperson: VND 200,000 per person; secretary and members of the Management Board: VND 100,000 per person; consulting experts: VND 200,000 per person (with presentations); other delegates: VND 100,000 per person.

b) Expenses for hiring consultants to write reports: Based on work requirements and financial capacity, the Chairman of the Management Board shall consider and decide on specific expenditure levels that are appropriate and bear responsibility for their decisions but not exceeding the maximum level specified below; while fully implementing the regulations on invoice and receipt management:

- For domestic experts: Maximum not exceeding VND 10,000,000 per report;

- For foreign experts: Maximum not exceeding VND 27,000,000 per report (or US$1,500 calculated based on the exchange rate at the time of payment).

c) Expenses for overtime work for the permanent unit and assisting teams shall be implemented in accordance with the current regulations of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Finance on the implementation of night shift and overtime pay for officials, civil servants, and employees.

d) Fees for responsibility remuneration for members of the Management Board, permanent agencies, advisory teams, and assisting teams as follows:

- For members of the Management Board program: Chairman: coefficient 0.8 times the minimum wage per person per month, members: coefficient 0.6 times the minimum wage per person per month;

- For members of the permanent agency, advisory team, and other assisting teams: Heads and Team Leaders: coefficient 0.6 times the minimum wage per person per month; members: coefficient 0.5 times the minimum wage per person per month.

đ) Expenses for hiring consulting experts for Management Board activities: Based on the necessity of implementing research activities and financial capacity, the Management Board decides on hiring domestic and foreign consulting experts. Among which, the form of contracting work and product delivery should be prioritized. In cases of monthly contracts, the cost paid to the consultant shall be applied according to Circular No. 18/2010/TT-BLDTBXH dated June 10, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, stipulating the salary for domestic consulting experts implementing consultancy contracts and applying time-based contracts under projects funded by state capital.

13. Some expenses are payable under contracts between agencies, units, and suppliers ensuring compliance with invoice and receipt regulations and bidding, procurement, and asset leasing regulations generally, and specifically in the field of information technology, including:

a) Procurement of equipment belonging to the information infrastructure (hardware, network devices, software); purchase of information content; purchase of teaching materials, learning, and research materials; hiring consulting services in the information technology industry.

b) Expenses for internet rental services, electricity, water, etc.; rental services for network connections; rental services for network devices, hardware, and software; cybersecurity and information security services.

c) Expenses for information dissemination, promotion, and publicity: design, printing of flyers, posters, banners, slogans; design of promotional scripts, advertising designs, renting broadcasting through radio and television; promotion and publicity through online information and telecommunications networks.

d) Expenses for designing, printing books, cover layout, publication permits, printing and distribution of materials, books.

đ) Expenses for purchasing books, research materials, market survey and evaluation reports from organizations both domestically and internationally.

e) Expenses for leasing assets serving the activities of the Management Board.

Article 5. Establishment, allocation, implementation, and settlement of the state budget

The establishment, allocation, implementation, and settlement of the state budget for the development of the information technology industry shall be carried out in accordance with the current provisions of the State Budget Law and guiding documents, specifically:

1. Preparation of the budget estimate: Annually, during the time for preparing the state budget estimate as stipulated by the State Budget Law, ministries, central agencies, and localities receiving financial support from the central budget according to the information technology industry development program approved by the Prime Minister shall consolidate their budget estimates for expenditure and submit them to the Ministry of Information and Communications (the leading ministry of the Program) for consolidation, while also submitting to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (for investment expenditures) and the Ministry of Finance (for regular expenditures). The Ministry of Information and Communications will base its budget estimate on the estimates of ministries, sectors, and localities, coordinating with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to include it in the central budget estimate, which will then be submitted to the Prime Minister and the National Assembly for approval in accordance with current regulations.

2. Allocation and assignment of the budget estimate: Based on the budget estimate assigned by the competent authority; the head of the agency or unit is responsible for allocating and assigning the budget estimate to organizations and units implementing tasks (including funds for implementing the task of developing the information technology industry) after obtaining the review opinion of the same-level finance agency.

3. Use and settlement of funds: The use and settlement of funds to ensure the implementation of the task of developing the information technology industry must comply with the provisions of the State Budget Law, guiding documents, and the provisions of this Circular. At year-end, they shall be consolidated in the annual budget settlement of the unit in accordance with regulations.

Article 6. Implementation Organization

1. This Circular shall take effect 45 days from the date of signature.

2. For workloads that ministries, sectors, and localities have implemented before this Circular takes effect, ministries, sectors, and localities shall base their settlement of funds on the provisions of this Circular and valid expenditure vouchers in accordance with the State Budget Law.

3. During the implementation process, if any difficulties arise, they should be promptly reported to the Joint Ministries for study, amendment, and supplementation as appropriate./.