Circular No. 25 TC/HCVX stipulates the regulations on expenditure for welcoming foreign experts working in Vietnam.

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the expenditure for receiving foreign experts working in our country

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 Pursuant to Directive No. 257/CT dated October 1, 1983 of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers on inviting, utilizing, managing, and serving foreign experts working in our country.

To unify the expenditure regulations for receiving foreign experts, after exchanging and reaching consensus with the Expert Bureau (as per Expert Bureau's Circular No. 337/CCG dated May 19, 1984), the Ministry of Finance stipulates the expenditure regulations for receiving foreign experts working at agencies and enterprises under central and local sectors as follows:

I. REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS OF EXPENDITURE

1/ Receiving and seeing off experts at airports, railway stations, and ports

When experts arrive and depart from the country, the reception and farewell at airports, railway stations, or ports should be meticulous, simple, and immediately escort the experts to their designated accommodation.

In cases where it is truly necessary due to long waiting times for procedures, up to a maximum of 20đ/person can be spent on refreshments for the experts and Vietnamese staff involved in the reception. When receiving and seeing off experts, flowers should not be presented, and airport lounges should not be rented. If experts send goods back home exceeding the weight limit specified for each category, the experts must bear the excess shipping costs themselves, and the agency or enterprise shall not cover this expense (since covering these excess fees essentially means that our country will have to pay additional foreign currency when settling accounts with foreign airlines).

2/ Drinking water during working hours for experts

Depending on the specific conditions at the workplace of the experts, sufficient drinking water such as tea or boiled water should be provided. It is important to understand that this is a daily drinking water provision, not to be confused with supplementary allowances or hospitality provisions.

The expenditure for drinking water during working hours for experts should not exceed 50đ/month/expert. For experts working outdoors or in hot environments, the expenditure may be increased by 50%, i.e., 75đ/month/expert.

3/ Hospitality for experts at the agency

Units directly employing experts or higher-level agencies if they need to host experts at the agency may spend as follows in the following situations:

a) Hosting the first time at the agency or enterprise when the expert starts work, the expenditure is 30đ/person. For large groups of experts, the hosting should be organized based on specific circumstances, inviting only necessary representatives.

b) Organizing ceremonies to present medals, awards, or certificates of merit given by our state to experts; organizing formal document signing ceremonies between us and experts hosted by ministries, general bureaus, provincial or city people's committees (such as project handover ceremonies, major project phase handovers, the start or end of cooperation phases, signing agreements or annual competition summaries)... The expenditure is 40đ/person.

c) Organizing intimate meetings or farewells for experts completing their tasks and returning home, hosted by the units directly using the experts, the expenditure is 50đ/person.

In cases b and c mentioned above, if multiple agencies within the country jointly use one expert or a group of experts, only one main agency using the expert will organize and invite representatives from other agencies using those experts to attend.

In cases a, b, and c mentioned above, the number of Vietnamese staff participating should be strictly limited and should be those who directly work with the experts.

4/ Congratulating experts on major holidays and New Year's Day of your country:

On major holidays and New Year's Day of your country, the head of the unit directly using the expert should, based on guidance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Expert Bureau, and considering the relationship between our country and the expert's country, as well as the characteristics of the expert group, send greeting cards or give flowers to congratulate them. However, for our country's major holidays, agencies do not need to congratulate the experts. If the expert initiatively comes to congratulate us, the expenditure for receiving the expert will apply as stipulated in point a, section 3 above.

5/ Visiting experts who are ill and hospitalized

Generally, experts who are hospitalized due to illness usually do not stay more than one month (if over one month, the expert will return home for treatment). Therefore, during the period the expert is hospitalized, the expenditure for the head of the unit to buy fruits to visit the expert is 50đ/visit. (During the period the expert is hospitalized, the number of visits to the expert should not exceed two.)

Visiting the spouse of an ill expert hospitalized is treated the same as visiting the expert.

6/ Giving souvenirs to experts:

The practice of giving souvenirs to experts should not be widespread but only applied in special cases (such as experts who have performed exceptionally well or have worked for two years or more). The unit directly using the expert may spend up to 300đ to give gifts before the expert departs. Souvenirs should be commemorative items mainly consisting of light, compact handicrafts or cultural products produced in our country; no items prohibited from export by our laws or from import by the expert's country should be given.

7/ Organizing banquets and intimate dinners for experts

Generally, banquets or intimate dinners for experts (including upon arrival, departure, and during holidays...) should not be organized.

In the following truly special cases, the unit directly using the expert may organize banquets or intimate dinners for the expert (or report to higher leadership for approval to host or invite the expert to dinner) before the expert leaves the country:

- Experts with outstanding achievements eligible for awarding medals.

- Leaders of the expert delegation or experts holding high positions (equivalent to Deputy Director-General level or above).

- Experts who have worked in Vietnam for three years or more or have come to work in Vietnam multiple times.

- The number of participants from our side should be strictly limited, mainly representing the unit at the leadership level and the department directly using the expert. The expenditure for banquets and intimate dinners should not exceed 300đ/person (including drinks and service fees). In exceptional cases, if it is not possible to organize the event at a specialized hotel and it must be organized at a tourist hotel (with approval from the Expert Bureau), the expenditure can be based on the Class C reception standard for foreign delegations.

For National Day on September 2nd and other special occasions, if it is necessary to organize receptions for foreign experts, the Bureau of Experts shall request instructions from the Office of the Council of Ministers and provide specific guidelines for each year. Units must strictly follow the guidance of the Bureau of Experts and absolutely must not organize receptions on their own initiative.

II. PRINCIPLES OF EXPENSE MANAGEMENT.

1/ The funds allocated for hosting foreign experts as stipulated above shall be directly used and accounted for by the agencies and enterprises employing the experts as follows:

a) For administrative and public service units: Accounted under item XIX of the state budget classification according to type, sub-item, and category.

b) For production and business units, including basic construction projects: Accounted for in the cost of production or circulation expenses (management costs).

2/ Agencies and enterprises directly employing experts must plan annual, quarterly reception expenses based on planned indicators, the number of experts invited annually approved by the Council of Ministers, and can only spend within the approved budget estimate.

3/ Financial authorities at all levels are responsible for rigorously inspecting the implementation of the standards and norms for reception expenses within their total budget estimates.

When reviewing budgets, final accounts, or during the spending process, if violations of regulations and standards are discovered, financial authorities at all levels, finance departments of sectoral ministries, and finance sections of agencies and enterprises have the right to refuse disbursement or accounting of expenditures that do not comply with the regulations and standards set forth in this circular.

4/ The expense standards prescribed in this circular represent the maximum expenditure level, based on current prices in major cities and industrial zones. Other localities may establish lower expenditure levels appropriate to local conditions, based on the prescribed standards and local prices.

III. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1/ The reception expense standards prescribed in this Circular apply to all foreign expert delegations invited to work in our country.

These provisions do not apply to Soviet advisors, international friendship delegations invited to visit, international conferences or regional world conferences held in our country, and foreign students studying in Vietnam.

2/ This Circular takes effect from July 1, 1984, and replaces Circular No. 24-TC/TNVT dated October 10, 1981, issued by the Ministry of Finance./.