JOINT CIRCULAR No. 42/LB-TT guiding the management of capital for loans from Commercial Joint Stock Maritime Bank invested in National Highway 14, National Highway 51, and Lang-Hoa Lac Road projects.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for managing the capital loan from the Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Shipping to invest in three projects

National Highway 14, 51, and La Long - Hoa Lac Road

Pursuant to the Investment Management and Construction Regulation issued under Decree No. 42/CP dated July 16, 1996 of the Government;

Pursuant to Decision No. 441/TTg dated July 2, 1996 of the Prime Minister on the financial plan for the projects of National Highway 14; 51 and La Long - Hoa Lac Road, and pursuant to document No. 1877-KTN dated April 18, 1997 of the Prime Minister approving the investment sub-project Chon Thanh - Dong Xoai with the same financial mechanism as the Dong Xoai - Buon Ma Thuot project;

Pursuant to the opinion of the Prime Minister at Notification No. 16/TB dated February 26, 1997 of the Government Office regarding the capital structure for the projects of National Highway 14; 51 and La Long - Hoa Lac Road;

In order to promptly meet the demand for managing the capital investment in construction using the loan capital from the Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Shipping (abbreviated as NHTMCPHH) for the projects of restoring and upgrading National Highway 14 from Chon Thanh to Buon Ma Thuot; reconstructing and upgrading National Highway 51 from Km 5 to Km 73 + 600; and constructing the new La Long - Hoa Lac Road, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport hereby guide the management, use, and repayment of the loan capital from NHTMCPHH for these projects as follows:

 I. GENERAL PROVISIONS:

1. The projects of restoring and upgrading National Highway 14 from Chon Thanh to Buon Ma Thuot; reconstructing and upgrading National Highway 51 from Km 5 to Km 73 + 600; and constructing the new La Long - Hoa Lac Road shall be invested with mixed capital including state budget capital (40%) and loan capital from NHTMCPHH (60%, including interest charged by the bank).

2. Upon completion and operation of the projects, traffic fees will be collected to repay the loan capital to NHTMCPHH according to the regulations stipulated by the Ministry of Finance on fee collection and management applicable to the three projects after agreement with the Ministry of Transport. Priority shall be given to repaying the loan capital to NHTMCPHH after deducting the costs of the fee collection department.

3. The Vietnam Highway Administration under the Ministry of Transport, as the principal investor, is responsible for organizing the entire process from investment and construction to fee collection and capital repayment; and simultaneously instructs the project management boards to strictly comply with reporting and settlement procedures to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport, and the funding and lending agencies according to current investment and construction management regulations.

4. NHTMCPHH has the responsibility to provide sufficient loan capital in accordance with the schedule agreed upon in the credit contracts signed with the Vietnam Highway Administration for the three projects of National Highway 14; 51 and La Long - Hoa Lac Road.

5. The General Department of Investment and Development is responsible for inspecting and providing comments on the volume of basic construction work completed as the basis for withdrawing loan capital for payment to contractors.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

1. Based on the plans approved by the Prime Minister for the projects, the Ministry of Transport assigns the plans for the projects to the Vietnam Highway Administration in accordance with the investment plans and capital structure specified by the Prime Minister. After receiving notification from the Ministry of Transport, the Vietnam Highway Administration assigns the investment capital plans for each project to the project management boards.

2. The Vietnam Highway Administration, as the direct principal investor, signs credit contracts to borrow funds from NHTMCPHH without collateral to restore and upgrade National Highway 14 from Chon Thanh to Buon Ma Thuot; reconstruct and upgrade National Highway 51 from Km 5 to Km 73 + 600; and construct the new La Long - Hoa Lac Road. - The maximum loan amount is 60% of the approved total investment cost of each project.

- The fixed interest rate (including fees) is 5.5% per year calculated in US dollars (USD). When disbursing and repaying (principal and interest) is calculated in Vietnamese dong (VND), the exchange rate between VND and USD is based on the rate published by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of disbursement and payment.

- Loan term: 10 years, including two years of grace period.

3. The contents of the credit contract include:

+ Total approved investment amount for the three projects according to the investment decision.

+ Annual credit investment plan using loan capital.

+ Investment content.

+ Loan amount.

+ Interest rate on borrowed capital.

+ Loan term, repayment term (principal and interest), start date of repayment (principal and interest), repayment period and repayment amount per period.

+ The loan and repayment amounts are calculated in VND and converted to USD based on the exchange rate published by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of payment.

+ Responsibilities and commitments to implement the loan contract of the borrowing entity and the lending authority.

The credit contract is made in six copies and sent to:

- NHTMCPHH.

- Vietnam Highway Administration.

- The Investment Development Bureau where the project account is opened.

4. Withdrawal of capital and payment:

- The Vietnam Highway Administration issues a mandate letter to the project management boards to directly handle the procedures for withdrawing loan capital from NHTMCPHH within the annual loan capital plan to timely pay contractors.

- The project management boards can borrow funds from NHTMCPHH to make advance payments and settle capital with contractors according to Section 2 of Part VII of Circular No. 60-TC/TĐPT dated October 23, 1996 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the management of preferential state credit loans.

- When there is actual work volume, the project management boards promptly send:

The acceptance record of the volume and quality of the works, detailed calculation tables of materials, labor, and machinery, along with the summary cost sheet and payment voucher to the Investment Development Bureau where the project management board opens its account.

- Upon receipt of the above documents within five to seven working days, the Investment Development Bureau reviews and provides a written confirmation of the volume eligible for withdrawal of loan capital, which is then returned to the project management board to proceed with the loan withdrawal procedures with NHTMCPHH.

- Based on the signed credit contract with the Vietnam Highway Administration and the Investment Development Bureau's confirmation of the volume eligible for payment, NHTMCPHH processes the loan capital disbursement and payment to contractors according to the requirements of the project management boards.

NHTMCPHH informs the Investment Development Bureau and the Vietnam Highway Administration of the amount of capital disbursed for each project for monitoring and management.

- Borrowing, repayment, and accounting are conducted in Vietnamese dong (VND) and converted to USD based on the exchange rate published by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of payment and repayment.

5. Source of funds for debt repayment:

The Vietnam Highway Administration is responsible for organizing the collection of traffic fees for the three projects according to state regulations. Daily collected traffic fees are deposited into the Vietnam Highway Administration's deposit account at the local Treasury.

At the monthly repayment due date, the Vietnam Highway Administration requests the Treasury to withdraw funds from the deposit account to repay NHTMCPHH. Upon receiving the repayment funds, NHTMCPHH is responsible for informing the Vietnam Highway Administration for monitoring and management.

All collected traffic fees, after fully repaying the principal and interest to NHTMCPHH, must be remitted to the State Budget according to current regulations.

In the event that at the end of the loan repayment period, the traffic fee revenue from the three projects is insufficient to repay the principal and interest to the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development (NHTMCPHH), the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance shall examine and submit to the Government for a decision on the source of funds for repayment.

III. MONITORING AND REPORTING ON FINAL ACCOUNTS:

- Upon completion of the payment files, the Project Management Board shall compile and report monthly on the implementation and use of the loan capital to the Vietnam Highway Administration for overall monitoring of the loan capital.

- Monthly, the project sponsor shall report on the progress of the project implementation, the use of and sources of the loan capital from the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development (NHTMCPHH) for each project to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport.

- Periodically or urgently, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport will inspect the use of capital by the project sponsor and the Project Management Board.

- Annually and upon project completion, the project sponsor shall settle the investment capital for the project according to Circular No. 66-TC/ĐTPT dated November 2, 1996 of the Ministry of Finance on guiding the settlement of investment capital for construction and development works.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION CLAUSE:

This Circular takes effect from the date of signature. During its implementation, if there are any difficulties, please promptly send your opinions to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport for timely review, amendment, and supplementation.