Joint Circular No. 22/2005/TTLT/BNG-BNV guiding the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of specialized agencies assisting provincial People's Committees and municipal people's committees under the central government in managing state affairs related to foreign activities at the local level.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines on functions, tasks, authorities, and organizational structure of specialized agencies assisting provincial People's Committees under the direct control of the Central Government in managing state affairs related to foreign activities at the local level.

assist the People's Committee of the province or centrally governed city

in the state management of external activities in the locality

Pursuant to Decree No. 21/2003/NĐ-CP dated March 10, 2003 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, authorities, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

Pursuant to Decree No. 45/2003/NĐ-CP dated May 9, 2003 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Home Affairs;

Pursuant to Decree No. 171/2004/NĐ-CP dated September 29, 2004 of the Government stipulating the organization of specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees directly controlled by the Central Government;

Pursuant to Decision No. 28/2005/QĐ-TTg dated February 1, 2005 of the Prime Minister promulgating the Regulation on unified management of foreign activities of provinces and centrally governed cities;

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs issue guidelines on the functions, tasks, authorities, and organizational structure of specialized agencies assisting provincial People's Committees in managing state affairs related to foreign activities at the local level as follows:

I. FOREIGN AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT

1. Position and Functions

1.1. The Foreign Affairs Department is a specialized agency under the provincial People's Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Provincial People's Committee) providing advisory services and assisting the Provincial People's Committee in implementing state management functions over foreign activities in the locality and performing certain tasks and authorities delegated by the Provincial People's Committee and as prescribed by law;

1.2. The Foreign Affairs Department is subject to the direction and management of the Provincial People's Committee regarding organization, staffing, and operations, and to the direction, guidance, and inspection of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding professional matters;

1.3. In provinces and centrally governed cities where the Foreign Affairs Department has not been established according to the Government's regulations, the Provincial People's Committee Office shall assume the function of assisting the Provincial People's Committee in managing state affairs related to foreign activities.

2. Tasks and Authorities

2.1. Submitting to the Provincial People's Committee for approval the overall long-term and annual plans for foreign activities, programs, and projects within the scope of management of the Department that are consistent with the local socio-economic development strategy;

2.2. Assisting the Provincial People's Committee in drafting the annual foreign activity program of the province to be reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for consolidation and submission to the Prime Minister for approval;

2.3. Submitting to the Provincial People's Committee for issuance decisions, directives, and documents assigning and decentralizing state management over foreign activities in the province and being responsible for the contents of such documents;

2.4. Implementing relevant legal regulations and the overall plan for foreign activities of the locality that have been approved; disseminating, publicizing, and educating about areas within the scope of management of the Department;

2.5. Organizing and managing outbound and inbound delegations

2.5.1. Assisting the Provincial People's Committee in uniformly managing outbound and inbound delegations;

2.5.2. Organizing receptions for international delegations visiting and working with the Provincial People's Committee; organizing outbound delegations for provincial leaders; assisting the Provincial People's Committee in monitoring and managing outbound delegations of officials and civil servants under its jurisdiction;

2.6. Consular work

2.6.1. Cooperating with relevant departments to implement entry-exit procedures for Vietnamese citizens and foreigners in the province;

2.6.2. Cooperating with relevant agencies to handle sensitive and complex issues arising in consular work at the local level;

2.6.3. Directing and managing the activities of foreign individuals and organizations related to personal status, property, travel, business, residence, study, work, tourism, trade, investment in the province in accordance with Vietnamese laws;

2.7. Work with non-governmental organizations and foreign individuals

2.7.1. Cooperating with relevant agencies to assist the Provincial People's Committee in managing the activities of non-governmental organizations and foreign individuals in the locality in accordance with the law;

2.7.2. Receiving and implementing humanitarian aid projects from non-governmental organizations and foreign individuals in accordance with the law;

2.8. Border and territorial work

2.8.1. Serving as the permanent agency of the Provincial People's Committee for border and territorial work; assisting the Provincial People's Committee in assessing the situation of border and territorial management, proposing opinions and appropriate management measures; participating in building solutions to border issues with related countries;

2.8.2. Taking the lead and coordinating with relevant agencies to develop plans and organize unilateral and bilateral surveys as assigned by the Provincial People's Committee; coordinating with relevant agencies to carry out boundary delimitation and marker placement as required by the provincial Boundary Delimitation and Marker Placement Steering Committee;

2.8.3. Monitoring, summarizing, and reporting to the Provincial People's Committee and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the implementation of international treaties on national borders, border management regulations, and disputes arising on land and sea within the province;

2.8.4. Organizing training sessions, disseminating laws, policies, and guidelines of the Party and State on border and territorial issues; guiding, inspecting, and managing documents, maps, and files on borders within the scope of local management;

2.9. Foreign economic work

2.9.1. Assisting the Provincial People's Committee in developing foreign activity programs to serve local economic development;

2.9.2. Cooperating with relevant agencies to select and review foreign partners for business and investment in the locality as assigned by the Provincial People's Committee;

2.9.3. Participating in trade promotion, tourism development, and creating a suitable investment environment based on the characteristics of the locality;

2.10. Work with overseas Vietnamese

2.10.1. Assisting the Provincial People's Committee in researching and evaluating the implementation of policies on overseas Vietnamese in the locality in accordance with the guidance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Overseas Vietnamese Commission);

2.10.2. Cooperate with provincial departments, agencies, and sectors in providing support, guidance, information dissemination, advocacy, and implementation of policies concerning overseas Vietnamese and their relatives who have relations with the locality;

2.11. Organize conferences, seminars, sign and implement international agreements

Assist the provincial People's Committee to uniformly manage activities related to organizing conferences, seminars, signing, and implementing international agreements in accordance with the law; report and seek directives from higher authorities when issues arise that relate to foreign political affairs;

2.12. Coordinate and facilitate conditions for ministries, agencies, and sectors to conduct foreign activities within the province upon request;

2.13. Coordinate with relevant departments, agencies in collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing information on political-security and economic situations both internationally and regionally that affect the locality, and propose directions and solutions to the provincial People's Committee;

2.14. Implement the administrative reform program according to the goals and contents approved by the provincial People's Committee;

2.15. Define the functions, tasks, and powers of the departments and affiliated public service units under the Department; manage staffing, implement salary systems and incentive policies, rewards, and disciplinary measures for state civil servants and officials within the Department's jurisdiction and delegated authority by the provincial People's Committee; organize training and professional development for staff involved in foreign affairs at the local level;

2.16. Aggregate, statistically analyze, and periodically and urgently report to the provincial People's Committee and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the implementation of assigned foreign affairs tasks in the locality as stipulated by law;

2.17. Conduct inspection work, handle complaints, accusations, anti-corruption, and deal with violations of laws related to foreign activities within the Department's jurisdiction as prescribed by law;

2.18. Manage financial resources and assets allocated and organize the implementation of the budget distributed in accordance with the law and delegated authority by the provincial People's Committee;

2.19. Perform other tasks as prescribed by law and assigned by the provincial People's Committee;

3. Organization and Staffing

3.1. Department Leadership

3.1.1. The Department of Foreign Affairs has a Director and no more than three Deputy Directors. The Director of the Department is responsible before the provincial People's Committee and the law for all activities of the Department;

Deputy Directors assist the Director in managing one or several areas of work; they are responsible before the Director and the law for the tasks assigned to them;

3.1.2. The Director and Deputy Directors of the Department are appointed by the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee in accordance with national regulations on cadre work and professional standards issued by competent authorities;

The removal, commendation, and disciplinary actions against the Director and Deputy Directors of the Department are carried out in accordance with the law;

3.2. Organizational Structure of the Department

3.2.1. Structure

- Office;

- Inspection;

- Professional and operational departments;

- Public service organizations;

3.2.2. The establishment of professional and operational departments is based on the principle of ensuring comprehensive coverage of the Department's work areas; the functions and responsibilities of each department must be clear, non-overlapping, suitable to the nature, characteristics, and actual workload of the locality; ensuring simplicity in administrative procedures and convenience in handling requests from organizations and citizens;

3.2.3. The Department shall not have more than four professional and operational departments. The number and names of these departments are determined by the Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs in coordination with the Director of the Department of Personnel after reporting to the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee for decision;

3.2.4. The Chairman of the provincial People's Committee decides to establish public service organizations under the Department based on the specific characteristics, situation, requirements, and tasks related to foreign affairs in the locality, and upon the proposal of the Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Director of the Department of Personnel;

3.2.5. The Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs specifies the functions, tasks, and powers of the Office, Inspection, professional and operational departments, and public service organizations under the Department;

3.3. Staffing

3.3.1. The staffing of the Office, Inspection, and professional and operational departments is state management staffing and is decided by the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee upon the proposal of the Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs after coordinating with the Director of the Department of Personnel;

3.3.2. The Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs assigns and uses cadres, civil servants, and officials in accordance with the professional standards prescribed by law.

II. STATE MANAGEMENT OF FOREIGN ACTIVITIES IN PROVINCES WITHOUT A DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

1. For provinces that do not yet meet the conditions to establish a Department of Foreign Affairs, a Foreign Affairs Office under the Provincial People's Committee Office shall be established; the Foreign Affairs Office is established by the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee upon the proposal of the Head of the Provincial People's Committee Office and the Director of the Department of Personnel;

2. The Foreign Affairs Office has the function of advising and assisting the Head of the Provincial People's Committee Office in organizing and implementing foreign affairs tasks in the province; based on the tasks specified in Article 2 - Part I of this Circular, the Head of the Provincial People's Committee Office defines the specific tasks and powers of the Foreign Affairs Office;

3. The Foreign Affairs Office has a Director and no more than two Deputy Directors, appointed by the Head of the Provincial People's Committee Office in accordance with regulations on cadre work and professional standards prescribed by law;

4. The Head of the Provincial People's Committee Office is responsible before the provincial People's Committee and the law for the implementation of foreign affairs activities in the locality; the Director of the Foreign Affairs Office is responsible before the Head of the Provincial People's Committee Office and the law for the tasks assigned to him/her;

5. The staffing of the Foreign Affairs Office is included in the state management staffing of the Provincial People's Committee Office. The number of staff in the Foreign Affairs Office must be appropriate to its nature, characteristics, and actual workload;

6. The assignment and use of cadres, civil servants, and officials in the Foreign Affairs Office must comply with the professional standards prescribed by law.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

1. This Circular shall take effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette, replacing Circular Joint No. 03/TTLB dated May 5, 1993 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Organization and Cadre Management Agency of the Government guiding the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure for foreign affairs work in provinces and centrally governed cities, and Circular Joint No. 178/TTLB dated October 19, 1994 of the Organization and Cadre Management Agency of the Government - Border Management Board of the Government guiding the functions, tasks, powers, organizational structure, conditions, and procedures for establishing border management organizations in provinces and centrally governed cities with borders and coastal areas;

2. On the basis of this Circular, the Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs (or the Head of the People's Committee Office at the provincial level) shall coordinate with the Director of the Department of Home Affairs to submit to the Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level for decision on specific contents, measures for implementation, and guidance on organization and implementation. Any issues arising during the implementation process should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs for study and resolution./.