Decision No. 28/2005/QD-TTg Issuing the Regulation on Uniform Management of Foreign Affairs Activities of Provinces and Central City Municipalities

Pursuant to …;

Issuing the Regulation on Uniform Management of Foreign Activities

of Provinces and Central Cities

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Law on the Organization of People's Councils and People's Committees dated November 26, 2003;

Based on the Government's Working Regulations issued together with Decree No. 23/2003/NĐ-CP dated March 12, 2003 of the Government;

At the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs,

DECISION:

Article 1. This Decision issues the Regulation on Uniform Management of Foreign Activities of Provinces and Central Cities.

Article 2. This Decision takes effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 3. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities are responsible for implementing this Decision./.

REGULATIONS

Uniform management of foreign activities

of provinces and central cities

(Issued together with Decision No. 28/2005/QĐ-TTg

dated February 1, 2005 of the Prime Minister)

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of application

This Regulation stipulates the uniform management of foreign activities of Provincial People's Committees and Central City People's Committees (hereinafter referred to collectively as provinces).

Article 2. Contents of foreign activities

The foreign activities specified in this Regulation include the following contents:

1. Activities involving exchanges with foreign countries in politics, economy, culture, education, health care, sports.

2. Management of delegations traveling abroad (outbound delegations) and welcoming foreign delegations and international delegations to Vietnam (inbound delegations).

3. Signing and implementing international agreements.

4. Organizing international conferences and seminars.

5. Accepting medals, awards, or other honors from foreign organizations, individuals, or international organizations.

6. Foreign economic activities, including receiving foreign projects.

7. Economic foreign relations, including receiving foreign projects.

8. Compiling information and propaganda related to foreign affairs.

9. Managing foreign organizations and individuals residing in the locality.

10. Training in foreign affairs.

Article 3. Principles of foreign activities

1. Ensuring strict leadership by the Party, unified management and operation by the State regarding local foreign affairs work, smooth coordination between localities and the central government, contributing to effectively implementing the Party and State's foreign policy.

2. Closely combining politics, economy, national defense, security, and information related to foreign affairs in provinces.

3. Clearly dividing responsibilities, emphasizing the responsibility and proactive role of sectors and levels at the local level in performing functions and tasks related to foreign affairs, ensuring synchronization, and strictly monitoring and supervising.

4. Foreign activities shall be carried out according to the annual program approved, ensuring strict reporting and seeking opinions in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Chapter II

AUTHORITY AND PROCEDURES FOR DECISIONS

ON FOREIGN ACTIVITIES

Article 4. Authority to decide on foreign activities

1. The Prime Minister decides to approve the annual foreign activity program of the Provincial People's Committee, including the following specific contents:

a) Traveling abroad by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee;

b) Welcoming high-level foreign delegations visiting Vietnam at the invitation of the Provincial People's Committee from the level of Ministers, Governors of foreign countries and above;

c) Organizing international conferences and seminars of the Provincial People's Committee as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 3 of Decision No. 122/2001/QĐ-TTg dated August 21, 2001 of the Prime Minister on organizing and managing international conferences and seminars in Vietnam;

d) Signing and implementing international agreements of the Provincial People's Committee as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree No. 20/2002/NĐ-CP dated February 20, 2002 of the Government on signing and implementing international agreements of provinces and centrally-administered cities, political-social organizations, social organizations, and social-professional organizations of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

đ) Receiving medals, awards, and other honors from foreign countries by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Council and the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

e) Other foreign activities within the authority to decide of the Prime Minister as prescribed by current laws.

2. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee decides independently and takes responsibility for the following foreign activities of the locality:

a) Dispatching officials under his/her management to travel abroad as prescribed in Clause 2 and Clause 3, Article 15 of Decree No. 05/2000/NĐ-CP dated March 3, 2000 of the Government on exit and entry of Vietnamese citizens;

b) Inviting foreign delegations to visit and work with the province from the level of Deputy Ministers, Deputy Governors of foreign countries and below;

c) Organizing international conferences and seminars as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 3 of Decision No. 122/2001/QĐ-TTg dated August 21, 2001 of the Prime Minister on organizing and managing international conferences and seminars in Vietnam;

d) Signing and implementing international agreements as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 4 of Decree No. 20/2002/NĐ-CP dated February 20, 2002 of the Government on signing and implementing international agreements of provinces and centrally-administered cities, political-social organizations, social organizations, and social-professional organizations of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

đ) Receiving, signing, and implementing projects of non-governmental organizations and foreign individuals based on the Regulation on Management and Utilization of Non-Governmental Foreign Aid issued together with Decision No. 64/2001/QĐ-TTg dated April 26, 2001 of the Prime Minister and other relevant laws.

e) Receiving medals, awards, and other honors from foreign organizations, individuals, or international organizations presented to officials under his/her management in state agencies, organizations, and enterprises.

3. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee may delegate decision-making powers for matters mentioned in Clause 2 of this Article to the Chairmen of provincial departments, agencies, and sectors. Delegation must be done in writing, clearly defining the scope of delegation, signature of the delegatee, and stamp introduction. The delegation document must be sent to the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

4. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee proactively decides on emerging foreign activities within his/her authority and seeks opinions from the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other relevant ministries and agencies in foreign activities related to sensitive and complex issues such as religion, ethnicity, and foreign relations with certain foreign partners.

5. The travel abroad of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Council shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Clause 2, Article 42 of the Government Work Regulation issued together with Decree No. 23/2003/NĐ-CP dated March 12, 2003 of the Government.

Article 5. Building and Approving the Foreign Affairs Program

1. In the last quarter of each year, the Provincial People's Committee shall proactively draft the foreign affairs program for the following year of their locality. For complex and sensitive foreign affairs issues, the Provincial People's Committee must seek the opinions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant ministries and sectors.

2. The Provincial People's Committee is responsible for sending the draft foreign affairs program to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before November 5th of each year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will compile the foreign affairs programs of all provinces and submit them to the Prime Minister for approval at the latest by the end of November each year.

3. The content of the provincial people's committee's foreign affairs program submitted to the Prime Minister for approval through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be based on Clause 1, Article 4 of this Regulation.

4. Regarding the amendment and supplementation of the approved foreign affairs program, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee:

a) Shall submit to the Prime Minister for approval the foreign affairs activities as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 4 of this Regulation;

b) Shall proactively decide to implement foreign affairs activities within their authority as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 4 of this Regulation.

Article 6. Implementing the Approved Foreign Affairs Program

The Provincial People's Committee shall proactively implement the annual foreign affairs program that has been approved by the Prime Minister. Specifically, for delegations going out and coming in as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 4 of this Regulation, two weeks prior to implementation, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee needs to notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the specific implementation plan so that the Ministry can provide comments for updates before implementation. In special cases where it is necessary to change the plan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall submit to the Prime Minister for decision.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING SPECIFIC FOREIGN AFFAIRS ACTIVITIES

Article 7. Organizing and Managing Delegations Traveling Abroad.

The Provincial People's Committee is responsible for monitoring and managing the travel abroad of cadres and civil servants under their management; guiding delegations to contact and seek the opinions of domestic agencies related to and Vietnamese representative offices abroad before and during the period of activity abroad; promptly coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies to handle sensitive and complex issues arising during the delegation's travel abroad.

Article 8. Organizing and Managing International Delegations Visiting the Local Area

1. The Provincial People's Committee is responsible for building specific plans and closely coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant ministries and sectors to welcome international delegations visiting the local area.

2. The Provincial People's Committee shall proactively implement reception plans; monitor, tally, and report through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister on the activities of international delegations in the local area.

Article 9. Foreign Affairs Activities Related to National Border Management

Provinces with national border areas are responsible for researching, compiling, and evaluating the situation of border management and directly coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant ministries and sectors in all activities related to the national border in accordance with laws on national border management.

Article 10. Foreign Affairs Activities Related to Overseas Vietnamese Affairs

The Provincial People's Committee is responsible for directing the research, evaluation of overseas Vietnamese affairs in their local area, coordinating with the Overseas Vietnamese Affairs Committee (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to propose and build policies on this matter; directly participating in supporting, guiding, informing, publicizing, mobilizing, and implementing policies towards overseas Vietnamese and their relatives who have relations with the locality.

Article 11. Managing the Activities of Foreign Individuals and Organizations

The Provincial People's Committee is responsible for guiding and managing the activities of foreign individuals and organizations in their local area; protecting, supporting, and guiding them to comply with Vietnamese laws related to business operations, living, studying, working, tourism, trade, investment... in Vietnam; handling situations arising from the activities of foreign individuals and organizations.

Article 12. Summarizing the Situation and Information for Foreign Affairs Propaganda

1. The Provincial People's Committee assigns responsibility to the provincial foreign affairs agency and relevant institutions, departments, or directly or cooperatively with central agencies to collect, analyze, and compile information on political-security, economic international and regional situations affecting the locality and about the province's foreign affairs activities, reporting and proposing directions and solutions to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

2. The Provincial People's Committee implements foreign affairs propaganda work based on Directive No. 10/2000/CT-TTg dated April 26, 2000 of the Prime Minister on strengthening management and promoting foreign affairs propaganda and other related legal documents.

3. The Provincial People's Committee is responsible for exchanging and coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies in receiving foreign news agencies and journalists interviewing local Party and government leaders.

Article 13. Economic Foreign Affairs Activities.

1. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee is responsible to the Prime Minister for all economic foreign affairs activities in the province.

2. The Provincial People's Committee is responsible for grasping the economic situation both domestically and internationally that affects the locality; selecting foreign partners, and if necessary, may request the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies to assist in vetting these partners; directly participating in trade promotion, investment, and tourism work; proactively in building an investment environment suitable for the characteristics of the locality.

3. The Provincial People's Committee is responsible for consulting with relevant ministries, sectors, and agencies on particularly complex economic foreign affairs issues before submitting to the Prime Minister.

Article 14. Organizing conferences, seminars, signing and implementing international agreements, and accepting foreign projects.

The People's Committee of the province strictly implements current laws regarding the organization of international conferences and seminars, the signing and implementation of international agreements, and the acceptance of projects funded by foreign sources as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 4 of this Regulation. For issues related to foreign policy, the People's Committee of the province needs to seek the opinions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Central Party Foreign Relations Board.

Article 15. Training in foreign affairs

The People's Committee of the province is responsible for developing training programs on foreign affairs knowledge at the local level; coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to train staff for foreign affairs work in the locality.

Article 16. Reporting on the implementation of foreign affairs activities

1. On a semi-annual and annual basis, and in cases of urgency, the People's Committee of the province is responsible for submitting reports on the implementation of foreign affairs activities in the locality to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister. The aforementioned periodic reports must be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before June 1 (for the six-month report) and before December 1 (for the annual report) for consolidation and presentation to the Prime Minister.

2. Upon completion of each foreign affairs activity in the locality, the People's Committee of the province is responsible for reporting to the competent authority that made the decision on the foreign affairs activity, while simultaneously informing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies of the results, and proposing policies and solutions of the province for related issues.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 17. Responsibilities of Ministries and Relevant Agencies and Localities

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs leads and coordinates with relevant Ministries and agencies to guide, direct, and inspect localities in implementing this Regulation.

2. Ministries, agencies equivalent to Ministries, and agencies under the Government within their functions and responsibilities, are responsible for guiding and directing the People's Committees of provinces to develop and effectively implement foreign affairs programs at the local level.

3. Based on this Regulation, the People's Committee of the province shall establish regulations on organizing and implementing foreign affairs activities at the local level.

4. In accordance with Article 9 of Decree No. 171/2004/NĐ-CP dated September 29, 2004, which stipulates the organization of specialized agencies under the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities, the People's Committee of the province shall proactively organize the provincial foreign affairs agency and assign it the responsibility for carrying out foreign affairs tasks of the locality.

Article 18. Effective Date

During the implementation of this Regulation, if there are any difficulties or obstacles, the People's Committee of the province shall promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision. All previous provisions contrary to this Regulation are hereby abolished./.