Circular No. 18/2010/TT-BKH guides the special management mechanism for basic construction investment at 11 communes implementing the Pilot Program for New Rural Model during the period of accelerated industrialization and modernization.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for special mechanisms on management of investment in construction at 11 communes implementing the Project "Pilot Program for Building New Rural Models during the Period of Accelerating Industrialization and Modernization"

Pursuant to Resolution No. 26-NQ/TW dated August 5, 2008 of the 7th Plenary Session of the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam on agriculture, farmers, and rural areas;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 24/2008/NQ-CP dated October 28, 2008 of the Government promulgating the Action Program of the Government to implement the Resolution of the 7th Plenary Session of the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam on agriculture, farmers, and rural areas;

Pursuant to Decree No. 116/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 14, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Planning and Investment;

Pursuant to Document No. 238-TB/TW dated April 7, 2009 announcing the conclusion of the Politburo on the Project "Pilot Program for Building New Rural Models during the Period of Accelerating Industrialization and Modernization";

Pursuant to Decision No. 800/QD-TTg dated June 4, 2010 of the Prime Minister approving the National Target Program on Building New Rural Areas for the period 2010-2020;

Pursuant to Notification No. 33-TB/BCĐNTM dated June 7, 2010 of the Central Steering Committee for the Pilot Program for Building New Rural Models;

To facilitate localities in investment in construction, the Ministry of Planning and Investment provides guidelines for special mechanisms on management of investment in construction at 11 pilot communes implementing the Project "Pilot Program for Building New Rural Models during the Period of Accelerating Industrialization and Modernization" as follows:

Part I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and Applicability:

Article 1. This Circular guides procedures for managing investment and construction of new works, renovation, and upgrading of essential infrastructure serving production, cultural-social life, and environmental protection at 11 pilot communes building new rural models under the Project "Pilot Program for Building New Rural Models during the Period of Accelerating Industrialization and Modernization" according to the conclusion of the Politburo in Document No. 238-TB/TW dated April 7, 2009.

Article 2. Specific objects of the works include:

a) Road systems from household to village, electricity systems to households, irrigation systems, internal village roads, and upgrading markets.

b) Commune cultural centers and village cultural houses, commune sports fields, village sports areas, restoration of historical-cultural works, schools from kindergarten to junior high school, health stations, commune post offices.

c) Sewage drainage systems in residential areas, clean water supply systems to households, infrastructure for concentrated livestock breeding areas and small-scale industrial production areas to relocate large-scale livestock breeders and polluting small-scale industries out of residential areas, cemetery infrastructure.

d) Development and improvement of ecological ponds and lakes combined with economic development, planting green trees and ornamental flowers in public places.

Article 3. Principles of guidance:

1. Investment in construction of infrastructure works at pilot communes for building new rural models shall be carried out based primarily on the internal strength of the local community, with partial direct support from the State through the Pilot Investment Program for Building New Rural Models, national target programs, and government-supported programs with specific objectives, while also mobilizing active contributions from the people, businesses, and other organizations to build their own villages.

2. The selection of specific works and the prioritization of investment in each model shall be decided democratically and transparently by the local people based on national standards, investment resource mobilization capacity, and professional advice; Party committees, governments, and political-social organizations at all levels mainly play roles in guiding, supporting capital, technology, resources, organizing planning, implementation, supervision, creating conditions, motivating spirits, and mobilizing people to fulfill their role as masters through community participation.

Part II
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 3. Investors of infrastructure projects in communes

1. The Rural Development Management Board of the commune shall be the investor of construction projects for infrastructure facilities in the commune. The Rural Development Management Board of the commune shall be established by the People's Committee (hereinafter referred to as "PC") of the commune. The provincial PC and the district PC shall have the responsibility to guide and strengthen specialized staff to assist the Rural Development Management Boards of the commune in performing their tasks.

2. The Rural Development Management Board of the commune operates on a part-time basis, under the direct supervision of the commune PC, has legal personality, maintains a separate account, and uses the seal of the commune PC for transactions. Its composition includes: The Chairman of the commune PC (or the Vice-Chairman of the commune PC) working part-time as the Director; Accountant; other members include some representatives from various departments in the commune, village chiefs, and households representing community groups in the commune (nominated by the community groups).

The Rural Development Management Board of the commune is directed by the commune PC and the higher-level Steering Committee regarding policy and direction; specialized agencies at all levels provide guidance on professional matters. The activities of the Rural Development Management Board of the commune are supervised by the commune PC, management levels, communities in villages, and supervisory boards through different methods.

3. The Rural Development Management Board of the commune has the following main responsibilities and powers:

a) Organizing the development of overall plans and annual investment plans to build infrastructure to transform the commune into a new rural commune, soliciting opinions from community groups throughout the commune and submitting them to the competent authority for approval.

b) Organizing community participation in implementing and monitoring the execution of investment construction projects for infrastructure facilities within the commune.

c) Managing and implementing projects, including carrying out steps from investment preparation, implementation, acceptance, handover, and operation of the project.

d) Signing economic contracts with units having legal personality, communities, or individuals providing goods, construction works, and services to implement investment construction projects for infrastructure facilities.

In cases where construction works require high technical standards and specialized expertise that the commune management board lacks capacity and does not undertake as the investor, the district PC assigns a unit with sufficient capacity to be the investor, with the involvement of the commune PC.

Article 4. Work on developing overall plans and annual investment plans for infrastructure development in communes according to new rural commune criteria.

1. After the pilot model construction proposal for new rural communes is approved by the competent authority, the commune PC directs the Rural Development Management Board, with the assistance of consulting staff, to develop an overall investment plan to renovate, upgrade, and develop infrastructure serving production, cultural-social life, and environmental protection in the commune.

2. The content of the overall investment plan must ensure consistency with the pilot model construction proposal for new rural communes and the approved rural commune construction planning, be technically feasible, and have the potential to mobilize investment resources, including the following basic contents: list of new construction or repair and upgrade works; location of construction; scale and technical standards of each work; investment capital; mechanisms and policies for mobilizing investment resources; organization methods for implementing the project, selection methods for contractors for each work/project.

3. The development of the overall investment plan for commune infrastructure must involve community groups in the commune, discussed and agreed upon with the guidance of local authorities.

The process of soliciting public opinion is as follows: After the Rural Development Management Board of the commune drafts the overall investment plan for renovating, upgrading, and developing commune infrastructure, the plan is publicly announced and displayed at the commune PC office and sent to village chiefs for organizing meetings with all households in the village, with the participation of social organizations to discuss and collect opinions. Public opinions are recorded in minutes and submitted to the Rural Development Management Board of the commune and the Commune People's Council. Within 15 days after the plan is publicly announced and after collecting public opinions, the Commune People's Council organizes a meeting to hear representatives from villages, explanations and feedback from the Rural Development Management Board of the commune, and based on this, adopts a resolution to approve the plan or request the Rural Development Management Board of the commune to revise it according to the majority opinion of the local people.

4. After the overall investment plan has been revised according to the resolution of the Commune People's Council meeting, the commune PC approves the overall investment plan for developing infrastructure to build the commune into a new rural commune, publicly announcing it for village communities to organize its implementation. For works not approved in the investment plan, the commune PC must clearly inform the reasons for non-approval to the public.

5. Funding for implementing the infrastructure development investment plan mainly comes from the labor and financial contributions of local residents, donations from benevolent individuals and businesses, other legitimate sources of funds, and central government budget support allocated annually through the pilot investment program for building new rural models.

Along with these funding sources, to quickly shape and expand the model nationwide, the provincial PCs direct the allocation of funds from national target programs, ongoing support programs and projects in rural areas, and continue to implement in subsequent years for the 11 pilot communes.

6. Mechanisms and policies for mobilizing investment funds; policies for supporting investment capital from the state budget for specific types of works are implemented in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 5. Investment preparation work, procedures for submission and approval of projects

1. Based on the investment plan approved by the People's Committee of the commune, the Rural Development Management Board of the commune shall organize the implementation of investment preparation work for construction projects and projects, prioritizing urgent projects that need to be immediately implemented.

2. Infrastructure investment projects in communes, villages, and hamlets with a duration of less than two years or a construction value up to three billion VND only require the preparation of an economic and technical report. The content of the economic and technical report includes: name of the project, investment objectives, location, technical scale of the project, construction period, completion time, investment capital sources and mechanisms for mobilizing investment capital, accompanied by design drawings and budget estimates.

3. The investor may prepare the economic and technical report, design drawings, and budget estimates themselves if they have sufficient capacity and experience; however, for projects with a scale of three billion VND or more or with high technical requirements, such as schools, major roads, large bridges and culverts, markets (as determined by the investment decision maker), the preparation of the economic and technical report, design drawings, and budget estimates must be carried out by a consulting unit with legal personality in accordance with current regulations.

4. During the preparation of the economic and technical report and design drawings and budget estimates for communal infrastructure projects (mentioned above), the investor (if preparing independently) or the consulting unit must consult with the people, seek the participation opinions of the local community (those who directly benefit and are responsible for contributing to the construction of the project) regarding the investment contents as well as the mechanisms for mobilizing investment resources to implement the project. The process of soliciting public opinion follows the provisions set forth in Point 3, Article 4, Part II.

5. Some issues to note in the economic and technical report:

a) Drawings should not be overly complex to facilitate community supervision.

b) Construction methods should be simple so that local residents can undertake them themselves, or if it is necessary to hire a professional organization to construct, there must be a commitment to rehire local residents to perform simpler tasks and pay them according to market rates, using maximum locally sourced materials.

c) Budget estimates should also be prepared simply and clearly. If community contributions are required, the specific values of the contributions (labor, materials, quantities, and specific values) must be clearly divided.

6. Investment decision-making authority:

a) The People's Committee of the district is the authority to make investment decisions and approve economic and technical reports for projects with investment capital of three billion VND or more from the budget and projects with high technical requirements.

b) The People's Committee of the commune is the authority to make investment decisions and approve economic and technical reports for projects with investment capital up to three billion VND from the budget.

7. Review of the economic and technical report:

a) The investment decision-maker is responsible for organizing a review before deciding to approve the economic and technical report of the investment project.

For projects decided by the district, the People's Committee of the district shall establish an Economic and Technical Report Review Board consisting of: District People's Committee leadership, representatives of specialized departments of the district, and if it is a specialized technical project, inviting a specialist engineer to participate in reviewing the project.

For projects decided by the People's Committee of the commune: The People's Committee of the commune shall establish an Economic and Technical Report Review Team consisting of: Commune People's Committee leadership as the Team leader, representatives of the People's Council, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, commune accountant, specialized staff, and community-selected resident experts. In cases where necessary, the commune may invite specialized staff from the district to join the Review Team for support.

b) The review period for the economic and technical report of the project: Not exceeding ten working days from the date of receiving complete valid documents for projects under the jurisdiction of the district People's Committee, and not exceeding seven working days for projects under the jurisdiction of the commune People's Committee.

8. Content of the review of the economic and technical report of the project:

a) The alignment of the project with the overall development plan for communal infrastructure of the commune and district (for projects within the district planning).

b) Technical feasibility, land clearance capability, ability to mobilize funds to meet the project schedule, factors that may affect the project.

c) Examination of whether the calculated project costs are reasonable (comparing with local prices, comparing with similar projects and constructions).

9. Documents for submission for review and approval of the economic and technical report:

a) A request for approval of the project from the Rural Development Management Board of the commune including the following contents: Project name, investor, investment objectives, scale and location of construction, total investment amount, sources of investment capital, funding mobilization plans, start and completion times, other relevant contents (if deemed necessary to explain);

b) Economic and technical report, design drawings, construction drawings, and budget estimates (contents as stipulated in Clause 2 and Clause 5, Article 5 of the Circular);

c) Relevant legal documents.

Article 6. Implementation of investment construction projects:

1. Tendering procedures for construction contractors:

1.1. General principles:

a) The selection of construction contractors for infrastructure projects in pilot communes shall be carried out through three forms: (i) entrusting village communities (those directly benefiting from the project) to implement the construction themselves; (ii) selecting groups of skilled workers or individuals within the commune who have sufficient capacity to construct; (iii) selecting contractors through public tendering in accordance with current regulations.

b) It is encouraged to implement the form of entrusting the beneficiary community to carry out the construction themselves; the form of selecting groups of skilled workers or individuals within the commune, and the form of public tendering for construction projects shall only be applied in cases where the project requires high technical skills, uses complex construction equipment, and the communities cannot undertake the construction themselves, and the investor has proposed entrusting the community to carry out the construction but the community refuses to do so.

c) The process of selecting groups of skilled workers, organizations, and individuals must ensure transparency and openness, providing local residents with full information about decisions related to the selection process.

d) The application of the form of selecting construction contractors for projects directly serving the community shall be discussed and decided upon by the people.

1.2. Procedure for selecting groups of skilled workers or individuals within the commune who have sufficient capacity to construct:

The procedure is as follows:

a) The investor announces the tender on the commune's radio system, posts it at the commune People's Committee office, communal cultural house, and simultaneously disseminates it to village chiefs to inform the residents.

b) The investor (with representatives of the commune's communities) prepares the tender documentation including evaluation criteria and standards for selecting contractors, which are submitted to the commune People's Committee for approval. Evaluation criteria must be appropriate to the nature of each project as well as the specific conditions of the commune and villages.

c) Groups of skilled workers and individuals have a minimum of ten days to prepare and submit their tender documents to the investor.

d) After the tender submission deadline, the investor organizes the opening of tenders, evaluates, and selects groups of skilled workers/organizations/individuals for construction. The evaluation panel includes representatives of the commune People's Committee, social organizations, Community Supervision Board, village chiefs, and representatives of the communities that will build the project.

Based on the evaluation criteria approved by the commune People's Committee, the representatives convene to evaluate and vote to select groups of skilled workers or individuals with sufficient capacity to construct. The results of the meeting are recorded in the Minutes, signed by all participants, and submitted to the commune People's Committee for approval of the contractor selection results.

e) In case only one group/organization/individual participates in the tender after the specified period, the investor negotiates and signs a contract with that group/organization/individual.

2. Approval of the selection results of construction contractors:

The Chairman of the Commune People's Committee approves the selection results of construction units for infrastructure investment projects in pilot communes based on the proposal of the New Rural Construction Management Board.

3. Construction supervision:

a) The investor organizes construction supervision and bears responsibility for its decisions according to regulations.

b) Community supervision: All infrastructure investment projects in pilot communes building new rural models must implement community supervision. The commune People's Committee establishes a Community Supervision Board with the participation of representatives from the People's Council, the Fatherland Front, social organizations, and community representatives elected by village communities. The Supervision Board performs tasks in accordance with Decision No. 80/2005/QĐ-TTg dated May 14, 2005 of the Government Prime Minister on the regulation of community investment supervision.

Article 7. Acceptance, handover, operation, and maintenance:

1. Acceptance and handover of works:

a) The investor shall organize the acceptance of completed works. The participants in the acceptance include:

+ Representative of the Rural Development Management Board of the commune;

+ Representative of the work crew, construction organization, or individual;

+ Representative of the investor's supervision team, representative of the community oversight board;

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

+ Representative of the beneficiary community selected by the village.

Depending on specific circumstances, the investor may invite additional relevant parties to participate in the acceptance.

b) After acceptance, the investor shall hand over the works to the People's Committee of the commune for transfer to the organization or individual responsible for managing and using them (Three-way handover: Investor - Contractor - Beneficiary) and hand over all related documents and files to the People's Committee of the commune.

2. Management, operation, and maintenance of works

- Infrastructure works serving the common benefit of the entire commune (inter-village roads, schools, health stations, transformer substations, main canals...) shall be managed, operated, and maintained by the commune. Annually, the People's Committee of the commune shall direct the preparation of plans for the repair and maintenance of works under its management, mobilizing the labor of local residents and other legitimate resources to invest in the repair and maintenance of the works. The state budget will not invest.

- Works (remaining) serving the benefit of households and community groups shall be managed, operated, and self-maintained by the households and community groups directly benefiting from them with the inspection of the commune authority.

Part III
IMPLEMENTATION

Article 8. This Circular takes effect from the date of signature and replaces Circular No. 6867/BKH-KTNN dated September 8, 2009, issued by the Ministry of Planning and Investment regarding guidance on special mechanisms for investment and construction management at 11 pilot communes for the new rural model. During implementation, if there are any issues arising or difficulties encountered, agencies and organizations shall report to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for timely supplementation and amendment./.