Joint Circular No. 416/1999/TTLT/BKH-UBDTMN-BTC-BXD guiding the management of investment and construction of infrastructure projects in particularly difficult communes in mountainous areas and remote regions under Government Decision No. 135/1998/QĐ-TTg dated July 31, 1998 of the Prime Minister.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for managing investment and construction of infrastructure projects in particularly difficult communes in mountainous areas and remote regions (in accordance with Decision No. 135/1998/QĐ-TTg dated July 31, 1998 of the Prime Minister)

in particularly difficult communes in mountainous areas and remote regions (as per Decision No.

135/1998/QD-TTg dated July 31, 1998 of the Government Prime Minister)

^{(In accordance with Decision No. 135/1998/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister)}

^{________________________________________}

^{Based on Decision No. 135/1998/QĐ-TTg dated July 31, 1998 of the Prime Minister approving the Program for Socio-Economic Development of Particularly Difficult Communes in Mountainous Areas and Remote Regions (referred to as the 135 Program);}

^{Decision No. 01/1999/QĐ-TTg dated January 4, 1999 of the Prime Minister on the issuance of regulations governing the operation of the Steering Committee implementing the 135 Program;}

^{Circular No. 234/CP-NN dated March 9, 1999 of the Government on the issuance of management mechanisms for investment and construction of projects under the 135 Program;}

^{Decree No. 24/1999/NĐ-CP dated April 16, 1999 on the regulations for organizing the mobilization, management, and utilization of voluntary contributions from the people to build infrastructure in communes and towns; taking into account the opinions of localities at the Training Conference on the 135 Program held on April 27-28, 1999,}

^{The Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Construction, State Committee for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas provide guidelines for managing investment and construction of infrastructure projects in particularly difficult communes (hereinafter referred to as "difficult communes") as follows:}

I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES:

^{Article 1. This Circular applies to the management of investment and construction of infrastructure projects in difficult communes according to Decision No. 135/1998/QĐ-TTg dated July 31, 1998 of the Prime Minister.}

^{Article 2. This Circular mainly guides the management mechanism for investment and construction of infrastructure projects in small-scale difficult communes where construction is not complex, requiring rapid implementation, carried out under special mechanisms to suit the actual capabilities of cadres and people in localities within the 135 Program.}

^{Article 3. The 135 Program is funded by various sources as stipulated in Decision 135. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee is responsible for mobilizing resources at the provincial level, including capital, materials, labor contributed by sectors, levels, economic agencies, social organizations, and all layers of the population in the province to support the investment in building infrastructure and training cadres in communes within the 135 Program of the province.}

^{Article 4. All sources of funds must be included in the plan for unified management, reaching each commune, being invested in accordance with purpose and target, ensuring quality, and preventing loss. At the same time, the maximum resources of the people in the commune within the program must be mobilized, linking the rights, responsibilities, and emotions of the local people to the effective long-term investment, exploitation, and use of the project.}

^{Article 5. The allocation of state budget funds (central and provincial) to support annually must ensure that all communes within the 135 Program are invested in, but not equally distributed, depending on the degree of need and the investment preparation capacity of each commune, allocating reasonably. Projects recorded in the plan should only be implemented within one year, completing one project before starting another.}

^{Article 6. Investment in infrastructure construction in difficult communes needs to achieve two benefits: The commune has facilities to serve the people; The people have jobs and increased income from labor constructing communal facilities.}

^{Article 7. The selection of investment projects in communes must be conducted openly and democratically, decided by the Commune People's Council, determining the scale, priority order of investment, and the ability to mobilize resources within the commune for construction.}

II. INVESTMENT PLAN:

^{To ensure synchronized investment consistent with short-term and long-term planning as prescribed, the investment plan must be based on approved projects.}

^{Chapter 1. Investment Projects and Project Investors:}

^{Article 1.1. Investment Projects: Include infrastructure projects defined in Decision 135. Depending on the specific conditions of the locality, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee decides on the scale of the project at either district or commune level.}

^{In the near term, due to the limited capacity of cadres in communes, projects will primarily be constructed at the district level.}

^{District-level projects include communes within the 135 Program in the district, each commune being a component project, each component project includes investment works such as roads, small irrigation systems, water supply, electricity, schools, health stations, etc.}

^{For communes with relatively capable cadres who can independently manage and implement projects, commune-level projects will be established. This decision is made by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.}

^{Therefore, in the near term, most projects will be at the district level, so this Circular emphasizes the role of the district in managing and organizing the investment in infrastructure in difficult communes.}

^{Article 1.2. Project Investor: The Chairman of the District People's Committee.}

^{Article 1.3. Project Management Board:}

^{To assist the project investor in organizing and managing the construction of projects in communes, the project investor establishes a Project Management Board.}

^{- The Project Management Board consists of a Director and some specialized staff. Depending on the specific situation of each locality, existing Construction Management Boards or New Economic Zone Management Boards of the district may be utilized.}

^{- The Project Management Board has legal personality, can open an account at the National Treasury of the district, and has its own seal.}

^{- The Director of the Project Management Board is proposed by the Chairman of the District People's Committee and decided upon by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.}

^{- The Chairmen of the Commune People's Committees of component projects are members of the Project Management Board.}

^{- The Project Management Board assists the Project Investor in directing the implementation of tasks:}

^{+ Preparing the investment project.}

^{+ Preparing the investment report, design, and budget estimate for the project.}

^{+ Preparing plans for using resources mobilized at the commune and district level for the project.}

^{+ Organizing and supervising the construction of commune projects.}

^{+ Managing materials, assets, and investment capital for the project.}

^{+ Disbursing funds from the National Treasury to implement the project.}

^{+ Inspecting and settling accounts for the project within the specified timeframe.}

^{- Costs for these tasks are covered by the local budget, and cannot be funded from the central government budget allocated for the 135 Program.}

^{Chapter 2. Construction, Review, and Approval of Investment Projects:}

^{- The content of constructing infrastructure project planning for difficult communes follows the guidance of the Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas Department (attached to this Circular).}

^{- Infrastructure construction investment projects in difficult communes are carried out by specialized agencies with legal personality. The Chairman of the District People's Committee selects the agency to prepare the project and proposes it to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee for approval, or the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee selects specialized agencies to assist the district.}

^{- The project shall be submitted for approval by the Chairman of the People's Committee of the district, with the Department of Planning and Investment, the Department of Finance and Prices, and the Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas Board of the province responsible for reviewing and submitting to the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province for decision.}

^{- After being approved, the People's Committee of the province shall send the project back to the Standing Board of the Steering Committee of Program 135 (UDBT&MN) for consolidation and notification to the members of the Steering Committee as a basis for annual planning and implementation guidance.}

^{3. Investment preparation work:}

^{- Construction projects included in the investment preparation plan must be selected based on the overall planning of the district that has been approved and must follow the priority order arranged in the project for implementation.}

^{- Investment preparation work for construction projects in communes shall include the following steps: preparing an investment report, designing, and budgeting.}

^{- Investment preparation work shall be carried out as follows:}

^{+ For large-scale projects with complex technical requirements, the Project Investor shall sign contracts or authorize the Project Management Board Chair to sign contracts with specialized agencies, mainly provincial consulting companies, to prepare investment reports, designs, and budgets, which will be reviewed by relevant provincial departments and decided upon by the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province.}

^{+ For small-scale projects with simple technical requirements that can be handled by the county's specialized forces, the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province shall delegate the decision-making and implementation of the investment to the Chairman of the People's Committee of the district.}

^{- The project budget must clearly specify the portion of materials and labor undertaken by the commune.}

^{- The price for calculating the budget shall be uniformly set by the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province for each region within the province.}

^{- For construction projects such as classrooms, health stations, etc., typical designs (standard designs) issued by the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province should be applied to suit local customs and conditions. The budget for these projects includes the typical design plus the foundation cost calculated at the specific location.}

^{- The costs for investment preparation work for any project shall be included in the project's budget.}

^{4. Sources of investment capital for the program and allocation principles:}

^{4.1. Sources of investment capital for the program include:}

^{(A). Local resources mobilized from the people, primarily materials and labor.}

^{(B). Support from various economic sectors, social organizations, and other localities contributing funds, materials, and labor (as per Decision 135/1998/QĐ-TTg).}

^{a) If the support is provided to the district as a whole, it shall be integrated into the project's budget for allocation to individual projects.}

^{b) If the support is directly provided to the commune or a specific project, it shall be delivered directly to the commune or project according to the sponsor's request.}

^{(C). State budget capital, divided into:}

^{(a). Central Government Budget (NSTW) invested directly into communes under Program 135.}

^{(b). Provincial Government Budget (NSDP) invested directly into communes under Program 135.}

^{(D). International organization support.}

^{a) If the support is provided to the district as a whole, it shall be integrated into the project's budget for allocation to individual projects.}

^{b) If the support is directly provided to the commune or a specific project in the form of money or materials, it shall be delivered directly to the commune or project according to the sponsor's request.}

^{(E). Additionally, there is state budget capital invested through National Target Programs and other integrated investment programs and projects in the area.}

^{Therefore, the sources of investment capital for the project to build communal infrastructure in disadvantaged communes that the project investor needs and may consider allocating plans include: A+B (a)+C+D(a).}

^{4.2. Utilization of central government budget support:}

^{Central government budget support shall only be invested in six types of essential infrastructure projects: roads, small irrigation works, water supply, electricity - including small hydropower plants, schools, and health clinics within a commune. This funding shall not be used for other projects outside the aforementioned essential ones. Allocation principles are as follows:}

^{Central level: A portion of the annual central government budget support fund shall be retained and allocated to UDBT&MN to carry out the following tasks:}

^{* Purchasing road construction equipment for districts.}

^{* Costs for the operation of the Steering Committee.}

^{* Surveying and investigating to develop mechanisms and policies for implementing the program, training human resources for communes and districts.}

^{The amount of this funding shall be proposed by the Steering Committee of Program 135 at the Central level according to the annual plan and submitted to the Prime Minister for decision.}

^{The remaining total investment capital after deducting the aforementioned expenses shall be allocated to communes under the program.}

^{Operating costs of the Steering Committee of Program 135 at the provincial level and the Project Management Board shall be budgeted by the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province and counted towards the annual provincial budget.}

^{5. Construction, compilation, assignment, and reporting of annual plans:}

^{- The process of compiling and assigning plans for Program 135 shall be conducted concurrently with the general planning process of the province, but must be reported and assigned as a separate item in the annual plan.}

^{- Annually, based on the guidance for plan preparation from higher levels, the district shall compile reports on infrastructure projects in the communal infrastructure development project that have been approved and submit them to the province; the province shall report to the Steering Committee of Program 135 at the Central level to serve as a basis for allocating state investment support capital. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall balance the central government budget support for the program and submit it to the Government. After the State Budget estimate for the planning year is approved by the National Assembly, the Steering Committee of Program 135 at the Central level shall quickly inform the average investment support capacity for each commune in the coming year. Based on the central government budget support capacity, the project investor, the Project Management Board Chair shall organize discussions with the people in the commune to select projects and determine the level of contributions from the people in the communes, prepare necessary conditions so that implementation can begin immediately when the plan is available.}

^{- Assignment of plans: The investment plan for communal infrastructure in disadvantaged communes shall be assigned by the Prime Minister as a separate item in the province's general plan. The Chairman of the People's Committee of the province shall allocate support funds for Program 135, local mobilized funds, and integrated national programs for each project. The Chairman of the People's Committee of the district shall base the plan assigned by the province and combine with local mobilized resources to specifically allocate to each project.}

^{- The project investor, the Project Management Board, and the Provincial Steering Committee of the program shall implement regular reporting systems (quarterly, semi-annually, annually) to the Standing Board of the Steering Committee of Program 135 at the Central level. The report content must reflect the workload assigned in the annual plan, results including volume, quality, progress, mobilization of investment resources, completed projects,...}

^{6. Implementation of investment:}

^{- The Project Management Board shall prepare plans for the construction of works in communes and submit them to the Chairman of the People's Committee of the district for decision. The organization of construction work shall be regulated as follows:}

^{- For works that communes organize the construction of themselves, the Project Management Board shall provide guidance.}

^{- For works that communes cannot undertake themselves, they shall be divided into two levels as follows:}

^{+ Works with investment capital supported by the Central Budget exceeding 500 million dong shall be implemented according to the current mechanism.}

^{+ Works with investment capital supported by the Central Budget up to 500 million dong shall be decided by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee on direct contracting or determining the capital amount to authorize the Chairman of the District People's Committee to conduct direct contracting.}

^{- The project investor shall coordinate and create conditions for other labor forces such as border guard troops, troops stationed in the locality, volunteer units, etc., to participate in the construction of infrastructure works and economic and cultural development in communes under the Program.}

^{When selecting construction units, priority should be given to units that maximize local labor.}

^{7. Acceptance and handover of works for use:}

^{Upon completion of the works, all parties shall carry out the acceptance of the works. The acceptance team shall include: the project investor, the Head of the Project Management Board, design and construction units, and representatives of the commune Supervisory Board.}

^{After completing the acceptance of the works, the Project Management Board shall transfer all relevant files and documents to the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee. The handover document must comply with current regulations.}

^{* Special note for the 1999 plan:}

^{1. The project investor must develop a master plan for the construction of infrastructure systems in communes under the Program 135 and complete it within the 1999 plan to serve as the basis for the 2000 investment plan and subsequent years.}

^{2. The Chairman of the District People's Committee shall propose to the Head of the Project Management Board to have the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee issue a decision.}

^{3. Since there was no planning project in 1999, based on the aggregated investment needs of the communes, the province shall decide the list of works, notify the capital amount to the district so that the district can proactively allocate for each work.}

^{4. Allocate and assign the annual investment capital from the Central Budget in 1999 to support each commune, ensuring that each commune under the program receives at least 200 million dong (according to the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the Program Steering Committee meeting on September 30, 1998) and completes at least one work in the year.}

^{5. The Chairman of the Commune People's Committee shall convene meetings with the people, disseminate the contents of the program, the level of support capital, and the direction of investment to enable the people to participate.}

^{6. Develop an investment report, construction drawings, and prepare a budget estimate for the selected work, which has been approved by the competent authority to implement.}

^{7. For works undertaken by the commune itself, the Project Management Board shall direct and organize the workforce, mainly using local labor, while coordinating with the military and other labor forces currently present in the locality to jointly implement, aiming to provide technical support and accelerate the construction progress.}

^{For works that the commune cannot undertake itself, they shall be implemented according to Article 6, Part II of this Circular but still prioritize the use of local labor.}

^{8. If the works invested in 1999 fail to complete the plan in the year, they may continue construction until the end of the first quarter of 2000 and must complete payment and settlement by April 2000.}

III. MECHANISM FOR DISBURSEMENT AND SETTLEMENT OF INVESTMENT FUNDS:

^{1. Management of investment capital for construction of infrastructure systems:}

^{- All sources of investment for the Program 135 must be centrally managed through the State Treasury to disburse funds for each work according to the approved project.}

^{The District State Treasury directly disburses funds to the project investors.}

^{- The Project Management Board shall open an account at the District State Treasury where transactions take place to monitor and manage investment capital for each work and project according to the current financial management system.}

^{- Investment support capital for the construction of infrastructure systems for communes under the Program 135 shall not be used for other purposes.}

^{2. Mechanism for disbursement, settlement, and final accounting of works:}

^{The disbursement, settlement, and final accounting of works for the construction of infrastructure systems for communes shall be divided into two types:}

^{- For large-scale works with complex technology as specified in Article 3, Part II, disbursement, settlement, and final accounting shall be carried out according to the current investment capital management system.}

^{- For small-scale works with simple technical requirements, the following provisions shall apply:}

^{+ Conditions for disbursement of capital: The project investor shall submit to the District State Treasury (where the account is opened) the main documents:}

^{* The project and the decision approving the project by the competent authority.}

^{* The decision appointing the Head of the Project Management Board.}

^{* The capital allocation plan, detailing according to the announced source.}

^{* Other related documents as required by the disbursement agency but must ensure simplicity and ease of implementation for the commune.}

^{+ Implementation of disbursement and payment:}

^{* For works constructed by the people in the commune, a provisional advance of 50% of the annual plan of the work shall be provided and paid according to the quantity completed and accepted.}

^{* For works constructed by enterprises, disbursement shall be made according to the quantity completed and accepted.}

^{- The total amount of payments shall not exceed the approved budget estimate or the announced capital allocation index.}

^{- Annually, the Project Management Board shall prepare a final accounting report on the use of disbursed capital and send it to the superior management agency, simultaneously sending it to the District State Treasury to report to the higher-level State Treasury and the finance department where the transferred capital was disbursed.}

^{At the end of the works, the Project Management Boards shall prepare final accounting reports and submit them to the Program 135 Steering Committee of the province. The Program 135 Steering Committee of the province shall lead and coordinate with relevant agencies such as the Department of Finance and Prices, the Provincial State Treasury to review, compile, and report the final accounting of the project to the Provincial People's Committee for approval and report to the Standing Committee of the Program 135 Steering Committee at the central level.}

^{- The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall be responsible for directing provincial functional departments to inspect compliance with investment and construction management regulations, disbursement, settlement, and final accounting of infrastructure construction works in communes.}

^{3. Annual financial reporting and final accounting:}

^{- Quarterly, the Project Management Board, the State Treasury at the district level shall report financial statements to their respective vertical management systems and relevant provincial consolidation agencies regarding the results of capital disbursement for infrastructure construction projects in communes.}

^{- At the end of the plan year, the Project Management Board shall submit financial reports (including annual settlement and settlement of completed projects) in accordance with current regulations.}

^{These reports shall be sent to the Standing Committee of Program 135 (People's Committee and Ethnic Minorities) for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister.}

^{The Ministry of Finance will issue detailed guidelines on the disbursement and settlement of investment capital for projects under Program 135.}

IV. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS:

^{- Based on this Circular, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall develop detailed plans, establish mechanisms, and policies that are suitable to the characteristics and circumstances of the locality to mobilize all local resources effectively for the implementation of Program 135.}

^{- Each sector and level, within their respective functions, shall be responsible for directing, inspecting, supervising, and urging compliance with this Joint Circular.}

^{- This Circular takes effect from the date of issuance. Any issues arising during implementation that are not appropriate should be reported to the Standing Committee of Program 135 (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) for study and supplementation.}