Circular No. 18 TC/NLN guiding the implementation of Directive No. 317-TTg dated July 15, 1978 of the Prime Minister on strengthening labor forces for northern border provinces.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Implementing Directive No. 317-TTg dated July 15, 1978 of the Prime Minister on Strengthening Labor Forces for Northern Border Provinces

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In implementing Directive No. 371-TTg dated July 15, 1978, after consulting relevant sectors, the Ministry of Finance hereby provides the following guidelines for the allocation and management of funds to ensure the transportation of laborers to border provinces for construction and defense purposes.

I. Scope of Capital Allocation Recipients

Directive No. 371-TTg of the Prime Minister clearly states: "Border provinces shall primarily allocate these laborers to state-owned enterprises (old and new forestry and agricultural farms) in border districts, applying the recruitment system for workers and civil servants at forestry and agricultural farms. However, depending on specific circumstances, they may also supplement existing agricultural and forestry cooperatives or establish new cooperatives..." Therefore, the recipients of capital allocation include two categories:

- State-owned enterprises (old and new forestry and agricultural farms) managed by local authorities or central ministries.

- Existing or newly established agricultural and forestry cooperatives in areas receiving laborers.

Depending on the labor allocation targets for state-owned enterprises or cooperatives, the capital allocation will follow the principles as follows:

a) If laborers are allocated to central state-owned enterprises (forestry, agricultural farms, transportation), the competent ministry is the investor and the central budget will cover the costs.

b) If laborers are allocated to local state-owned enterprises, the People's Committee of the province receiving the laborers is the investor and the local government budget will cover the costs. If additional capital is needed due to increased labor force to expand production and the local budget is insufficient, it will be supplemented by the central budget.

c) For provinces tasked with dispatching laborers to state-owned enterprises, all expenses related to organizing the dispatch of laborers such as initial allowances before departure, training and education costs, transportation, etc., will be subsidized by the central budget to the local budget of the sending province.

d) In cases where laborers are allocated to agricultural and forestry cooperatives under the policy of relocating people to open up new economic zones (Decision No. 272/CP dated October 5, 1977 of the Council of Ministers), all expenses will be subsidized by the central budget to the provincial budget of the sending province and the receiving province, according to current regulations.

For the year 1978, due to the urgent plan for labor dispatch, the state has not yet included funding for this work in the financial plan, and localities have temporarily used their local budgets or funds allocated for opening up new economic zones to cover these expenses. It is now necessary to clearly define the scope, recipients, and sources of capital allocation as stipulated above to ensure that planning and allocation of funds for transporting laborers to border districts proceed in accordance with current regulations.

II. Regarding the System and Procedures for Planning Capital

Based on current systems and the characteristics of the work of dispatching laborers to strengthen border provinces, the following unified provisions should be implemented:

1. For provinces responsible for dispatching laborers:

The following types of expenditures will be recorded in the supplementary budget for 1978, which will be subsidized by the central budget to the provincial budget of the sending province:

- A one-time allowance of 70 dong per laborer dispatched.

- Expenditures for organizing pre-departure training and education at 1 dong per person per day, with a maximum duration of 20 days.

- Transportation costs for laborers from their place of residence to the assembly point and from the assembly point to the destination assembly point, based on the state-set fare rates.

- Medical expenses during travel at 0.01 vnd per person per day.

- Food expenses during travel at 1 dong per person per day, with a maximum duration of 5 days.

- Recruitment expenses for each laborer according to current regulations at 3 dong per person.

All initial expenses for dispatched laborers, whether allocated to central state-owned enterprises, local state-owned enterprises, or cooperatives, will be recorded in the supplementary economic budget of the sending province (subsidized by the central budget to the provincial budget) and managed and allocated by the Financial Company.

Note: In addition to the aforementioned supplementary budget, some provinces sending laborers, at the request of the receiving province, temporarily use their own budget to purchase necessary living and production tools for the laborers before departure. The cost of these purchases will be settled by the receiving province (Financial Company) using appropriate sources such as production capital or basic construction capital.

The sending province does not record these items in its supplementary budget for 1978.

2. For border provinces receiving laborers:

a) If laborers are allocated to existing state-owned enterprises in the locality:

There are two cases:

- State-owned enterprises already have investment capital plans for 1978: If the additional laborers do not increase the need for investment capital for construction, the enterprise uses existing funds to cover necessary expenses for the new laborers.

- Existing state-owned enterprises but require additional investment capital for construction due to receiving new laborers to build shelters, housing, and equipment, the enterprise prepares a supplementary plan, reports to the Provincial People's Committee for review, and reports to the competent ministry and the State Planning Commission for approval by the Council of Ministers to supplement the investment capital for construction.

b) If laborers are allocated to newly established local state-owned enterprises:

Pursuant to the decision on establishing units by the Provincial People's Committee, plans for equipment, materials, and initial capital shall be reported to the competent ministry and the State Planning Commission for approval by the Council of Ministers to supplement new construction investment capital for each province. In the construction investment plan: apart from construction and equipment costs, sufficient basic construction capital must be allocated so that enterprises have funds to spend on recruiting new workers such as housing, temporary camps, wells, beds, etc., ensuring organizational stability for production and combat readiness to protect the border.

In addition to the aforementioned construction investment capital, if new enterprises have the task of both constructing and producing, they must prepare financial income and expenditure plans, receiving working capital and non-cost expenses from local budgets to cover necessary needs with appropriate types of capital according to current regulations.

c) If labor is assigned to existing cooperatives or newly established ones at the locality.

Provinces receiving labor shall prepare supplementary public expenditure funds and construction investment capital in accordance with the subsidy policy and regulations stipulated in Decision No. 272/CP dated October 3, 1997 of the Council of Ministers and Circular No. 18/TTLB dated December 21, 1997 of the Ministry of Finance and Agriculture.

+ Construction investment capital includes:

Capital invested and supported by the state budget for land reclamation, building paddy fields for agricultural production, planting and caring for forests. Building houses, wells, and public welfare facilities such as kindergartens, office buildings, etc.

+ Public expenditure funds.

Expenditures for surveying, planning, designing new economic zones, subsidies for pioneering workers; subsidies for collective dining utensils, bedding, and expenditures for activities of land reclamation and new economic zone construction teams. This plan is prepared by the receiving provinces and submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture (General Department of Land Reclamation and New Economic Zone Construction) for review and agreement with the State Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance to record additional central budget subsidies for local budgets in 1978.

d) For other expenses outside production and business operations and construction tasks.

The increased labor force for border provinces mainly serves economic purposes but also forms organized forces to participate in combat when necessary, especially when deployed to economic units near the border with defense requirements. All costs related to defensive works, combat works, and expenses for organizations such as squads, companies... engaged in regular patrols and guarding will be borne by the national defense budget or the local budget according to the provisions of Circulars No. 117-TC/TDT dated February 21, 1961 of the Ministry of Finance, Circular No. 1Q-TT-LB dated February 29, 1964, and the supplementary circular No. 10/LB-TCQT dated August 3, 1978 of the Ministry of Finance and National Defense.

All expenses for state-owned enterprise workers mobilized for regular patrol and protection duties belong to non-cost expenses and are covered by the budget.

All expenses for cooperative members mobilized for combat service and regular patrol and guarding duties are covered by the local budget according to current regulations.

3- For central sectors with labor assigned to state-owned enterprises:

Competent ministries (Agriculture, Forestry...) shall be responsible for preparing supplementary capital plans for 1978 for:

- Existing state-owned agricultural and forestry farms.

- Establishing new agricultural and forestry farms (if applicable).

- All planning, recording, and spending shall be carried out strictly in accordance with current regulations and principles as stipulated in Article a, Section 2, Part II above.

III. Some issues regarding capital allocation and management procedures.

Due to various sources of capital and funds, the following guidelines outline some essential points concerning capital allocation, loans, and management:

1- For existing state-owned enterprises:

Generally, these are old central and local agricultural and forestry farms with legal personality and operating capital; now being supplemented with new labor to expand production, capital allocation must follow current regulations using suitable types of capital: production capital and construction investment capital.

- Working capital: 50% provided by the budget, 50% loaned by the State Bank.

- Construction investment capital: if the unit has a need for construction investment capital and has been notified of additional capital by the State Planning Commission for the province or ministry, it will be loaned by the State Bank under the investment credit regulations (as stipulated in Joint Circular No. 21-TT/LB dated February 18, 1978). If the enterprise is currently receiving capital from the budget in 1978, the budget will continue to provide funding.

2- For newly established state-owned agricultural and forestry farms:

Due to the characteristics and nature of the first wave of labor deployment to the border and the urgent need to accept labor while conducting site determination, surveys, design tasks, and completing initial procedures to plan investment capital, materials, and equipment, although some border provinces have decisions to establish new agricultural and forestry farms, with labor quotas, leadership frameworks, and management structures, they have only received temporary notifications of additional construction investment capital for 1978 for initial tasks, lacking conditions to operate economically according to accounting regulations. Therefore, capital allocation or application of investment credit policies must take into account the actual situation and be applied as follows: /budget/

- For newly established state-owned enterprises near the border: initially funded by the budget.

- For new state-owned enterprises established deep inland that do not yet have the necessary conditions to borrow investment credit funds, such funds shall be allocated from the budget. In this case, reference shall be made to the capital index announced by the State Planning Commission, and the budget will transfer the capital to the Construction Bank for allocation and management oversight of its use according to the current construction capital management system.

In special cases: If there is a need to urgently dispatch labor to mountainous regions while the enterprise has not yet completed initial procedures and the state has not recorded the capital expenditure plan, the provincial budget may temporarily allocate capital and transfer it to the local Construction Bank for lending, creating conditions for grassroots economic units to meet some immediate needs without affecting work implementation. Upon notification of additional investment construction capital plans, these economic units must use this capital to settle accounts clearly with the Finance Department and the Construction Bank.

The above provisions are temporary measures aimed at addressing the difficulties faced by units in 1978 in establishing basic construction procedures. Units must expedite the completion of investment preparation work to ensure they quickly have all necessary conditions and legal status to commence production and business operations according to the economic accounting system. When conditions permit, they must switch to borrowing investment credit funds according to the current regulations (Circular No. 21/TT-LB dated February 18, 1978).

3- For existing cooperatives or newly established ones.

These units are supported with two types of capital: construction capital and operating expenses recorded in the supplementary capital plan for 1978 of the new economic development bureaus in provinces receiving labor.

Both types of capital are allocated by the Construction Bank according to the current regulations stipulated in Joint Circular No. 18/TT-LB dated December 21, 1977 issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture.

4- Regarding management and control of expenditures

a) Units must manage and use funds and settle accounts for capital spent on increasing labor force for northern border provinces as prescribed, strictly adhering to the current regulations and appropriate sources of funding without mixing funds from different sources.

b) Agricultural, forestry, and transportation companies must maintain separate records for this fund to settle accounts with the local budget and separately account for costs related to sending labor to the border.

Provinces sending labor as well as those receiving labor must comply with the regulations on preparing budgets and plans, capital, and settlement procedures with the state budget for provincial economic unit expenditures as stipulated in this circular. If urgent needs required provisional allocations between provinces sending labor and those receiving it, between localities and central sectors, and between units using different sources of funds, then upon approval of additional state capital plans and notifications, units must use planned capital to settle accounts clearly.

c) Financial Companies and Construction Supply Departments serve as functional agencies supporting the leadership of the Party Committee and People's Committees, assisting them in reviewing capital plans and settling accounts for capital use according to current regulations, allocating capital, and regularly overseeing provincial budget expenditures.

The Ministry of Finance hereby provides guidance on the establishment, allocation, and management of funds for the dispatch of labor to strengthen northern border provinces. Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry for study and resolution./.