Decision No. 585/QD-TTg Approves the Inter-Ministerial Legal Support Program for Enterprises for the Period 2010-2014

Pursuant to …;

Approving the inter-sectoral legal support program for enterprises for the period 2010-2014 To approve the inter-sectoral legal support program for enterprises for the period 2010-2014 (annexed to this Decision).

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PRIME MINISTER

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

Pursuant to Decree No. 66/2008/NĐ-CP dated May 28, 2008 of the Government on legal support for enterprises;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Justice,

Pursuant to …;:

Article 1. Inter-sectoral legal support program for enterprises for the period 2010-2014

Article 2. This Decision shall take effect from the date of signing.

Article 3. THE MINISTERS, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL MINISTRIES, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL AGENCIES, AND CHAIRMEN OF PROVINCE AND CITY PEOPLE'S COMMITTEES DIRECTLY UNDER THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENFORCING THIS DECISION./.

 

PROGRAM

(Annexed to Decision No. 585/QĐ-TTg dated May 5, 2010 of the Prime Minister) The inter-sectoral legal support program for enterprises aims to implement comprehensively various activities supporting legal assistance for enterprises, creating fundamental changes in legal awareness, legal consciousness, and habits of compliance with laws among enterprises; establishing necessary conditions to serve the enforcement of laws to help enterprises operate effectively; preventing legal risks and enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises; contributing to improving state management by law over enterprises.

- Overcoming fundamentally the situation where enterprises face difficulties in accessing legal information. In the first phase of the Program, select some localities to pilot the Program, ensuring that 95% of enterprises have regular access to legal information through appropriate forms.

- Meeting basically the requirements for training business law knowledge for enterprise managers and skills, expertise for enterprise legal officers. During the implementation of the Program, strive to organize training for 65,000 enterprise managers; 9,700 enterprise legal officers.

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I. OBJECTIVES

1. General objectives

- Forming a network of legal advisory services comprising lawyers, legal advisors, and legal advisory volunteers for enterprises in economically disadvantaged areas and particularly disadvantaged areas. Ensuring that 80% of small and medium-sized enterprises in economically disadvantaged and particularly disadvantaged localities are supported with advice on basic aspects of business law.

2. Specific objectives

- Establishing a model for organizing legal support activities for enterprises in selected localities.

- Enhancing the capacity of agencies and organizations implementing legal support activities for enterprises. In the first phase of the Program, the selected localities will be strengthened in capacity to meet the requirements of organizing legal support activities for enterprises according to Decree No. 66/2008/NĐ-CP dated May 28, 2008 of the Government on legal support for enterprises (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 66/2008/NĐ-CP). Based on the results of piloting in the first phase, replicate the results in other localities during the second phase.

II. CONTENT OF THE PROGRAM

1. Developing contents, identifying specific priority activities, and detailed implementation plans for the Program.

2. Providing legal information to enterprises through various forms, ensuring comprehensive, timely, and systematic information on relevant regulatory legal documents related to production and business activities, practical legal issues in business for enterprises.

3. Organizing and implementing programs to disseminate basic knowledge about business law to enterprises via mass media.

4. Implementing programs to train basic knowledge about business law for enterprise managers.

5. Organizing training and enhancing professional skills for enterprise legal officers.

6. Establishing a network of legal advisory services for enterprises in economically and socially disadvantaged areas, particularly disadvantaged areas.

7. Developing and implementing pilot projects on legal support for enterprises in representative localities across regions.

8. Implementing activities to enhance the capacity of agencies and organizations responsible for legal support for enterprises according to Decree No. 66/2008/NĐ-CP.

9. Monitoring, evaluating, and summarizing the implementation of the Program to propose activities to promote the results of the Program and replicate successful models.

These activities will be organized and implemented under the following three projects:

Project 1

: Supporting the enhancement of the quality of legal information activities for enterprises.

Project 2

: Legal support for enterprises on certain specific activities.: Strengthening the capacity of agencies and organizations performing legal support functions for enterprises.

(The above projects are described in detail in Appendix I of the Program).III. IMPLEMENTATION SOLUTIONS FOR THE PROGRAM

OR COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVE1. Policy solutions

- Encouraging lawyers, legal experts, legal advisors, and legal advisory volunteers to participate in legal support activities for enterprises in economically and socially disadvantaged areas, particularly disadvantaged areas.

- Supporting business representative organizations to enhance their capacity in implementing legal support activities for member enterprises.

- Encouraging individuals, organizations, and enterprises to participate in legal support activities for enterprises.

- Mobilizing mass media to publicize business law for enterprises.

2. Mechanism solutions

a) Mechanism for mobilizing resources to support legal assistance for enterprises:

- Concentrating state funds to implement key and prioritized activities of the Program;

- Encouraging contributions from business representative organizations and enterprises to implement Program activities;

- Mobilizing financial support from domestic and international organizations and individuals.

b) Implementation organization mechanism:

- Establishing a multi-sector steering committee comprising representatives of relevant agencies to implement the Program;

- The Program Steering Committee assigns responsibilities for implementing Program activities to specific agencies.

c) Coordination mechanism:

- The Program Steering Committee clearly defines the main responsibility and coordination roles of central agencies and localities in organizing Program activities.

- The Steering Committee of the Program assigns responsibilities for implementing the Program's activities to specific agencies.

c) Coordination mechanism:

- The Steering Committee of the Program specifically determines the leading and coordinating responsibilities of central agencies and localities' organizations in organizing and implementing the Program's activities.

- Enhance coordination in work among state agencies assigned the task of providing legal support to businesses and organizations representing businesses participating in implementing the program.

d) Supervision and evaluation mechanism:

- The Steering Committee of the Program will supervise and evaluate the activities of the Program.

- Relevant ministries, sectors, and business representative organizations within their functions and tasks will carry out supervision and evaluation of the Program's activities.

3. Professional solutions

- Train and update legal knowledge and procedural skills for the team responsible for providing legal support to businesses according to Decree No. 66/2008/NĐ-CP.

- Provide information and train basic knowledge of commercial law for businesses targeting different groups and types of enterprises and industries.

- Innovate and improve the effectiveness of forms and methods of legal support for businesses: combining traditional methods with modern ones, applying appropriate information technology suitable for each content, target group, and region.

- Combine the establishment of model projects with the replication of exemplary cases, promptly recognizing and encouraging outstanding examples in the implementation of laws by businesses while warning businesses about potential legal risks in business operations.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAM

1. Scope and Timeframe

- Scope: The Program will be implemented nationwide, with focused implementation at seven selected localities: Can Tho, Dak Lak, Dong Nai, Quang Binh, Tuyen Quang, Vinh Phuc, and Hanoi.

- Implementation period: From 2010 to 2014 to carry out activities supporting legal assistance to businesses under the Program and to outline activities supporting legal assistance to businesses until 2020 to ensure sustainability and long-term impact of the Program's results.

2. Organizational Management of the Program

- Establish a Steering Committee for the Program headed by the leadership of the Ministry of Justice, with members being representatives from relevant agencies and organizations: the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Vietnam Federation of Trade Unions, the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, the Vietnam Bar Federation, the Corporate Legal Club, and representatives from the People's Committees of some provinces and centrally-run cities.

- The Steering Committee will develop plans to implement the Program's activities and delegate responsibilities to agencies, organizations, and provincial People's Committees to lead or coordinate in implementing the Program's activities.

- A Secretariat assisting the Steering Committee will be established by the Chairman's decision, comprising representatives from agencies that are members of the Steering Committee.

- Agencies and organizations tasked with implementing the Program's activities will establish working groups or designate staff to organize the implementation of the Program's activities.

3. Assignment of Responsibilities:

a) The Ministry of Justice is responsible for organizing the implementation of the Program; establishing the Steering Committee for the Program; issuing regulations on management and implementation of the Program; developing a detailed plan for the Program's implementation; directing, monitoring, and supervising the Program's implementation; and annually compiling and reporting to the Prime Minister on the Program's results.

b) The Ministry of Finance will guide budget planning, utilization, and settlement for the Program's implementation.

c) The Ministry of Planning and Investment will cooperate with the Ministry of Justice to integrate the Program's activities into related programs and projects and assist in mobilizing funding to implement the Program in accordance with the law.

d) The Ministry of Information and Communications will direct media outlets to introduce and promote the Program's activities to expand its results.

đ) Ministries and provincial People's Committees are responsible for coordinating with the Ministry of Justice to implement the Program's activities.

e) The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, the Vietnam Federation of Trade Unions, the Vietnam Bar Federation, and the Corporate Legal Club within their respective functions and tasks as stipulated in Decree No. 66/2008/NĐ-CP will cooperate with the Ministry of Justice to implement the Program's legal support activities for businesses.

4. Progress of the Program

a) Phase 1 (2010-2011)

- Establish the Steering Committee for the Program;

- Develop management regulations and direct the implementation of the Program;

- Develop a detailed plan for organizing the Program's activities;

- Implement activities of Project 1; activity a of Project 2; activity a of Project 3. Pilot these activities in three projects.

b) Phase 2 (2012-2014)

- Implement remaining Program activities. Organize the expansion of results in other localities.

- Summarize and evaluate the Program's results, propose directions for legal support activities for businesses until 2020 to report to the Prime Minister.

5. Budget

a) Budget for Program Implementation:

The total budget for Program implementation is VND 190 billion (details in Appendix II), including:

- State budget contribution is VND 170 billion, including central budget allocation of VND 135 billion (including regular operating expenses of ministries and sectors and supplementary funds for Program activities); local budgets of participating localities contribute VND 35 billion.

- Contributions from participating agencies, organizations, and businesses amount to VND 20 billion.

b) Principles for Mobilizing and Using Funds to Implement the Program:

- The central budget is allocated to ensure the organization of common activities of the Program; to develop legal information materials for businesses; to support the development of some electronic information pages of ministries, sectors, localities, and organizations representing businesses, including the establishment of an official legal support page for businesses; to organize seminars, forums, and roundtables on business-related legal topics to exchange experiences and advise businesses on the implementation of laws; to pilot certain activities to enhance the capacity of agencies and organizations responsible for providing legal support to businesses; to provide business law training for enterprises and train skills and expertise for corporate legal officers in some localities with the aim of building effective models applicable nationwide and to organize a network of legal advisory services for businesses in localities with difficult socio-economic conditions, particularly extremely difficult ones.

- The local budget is allocated to ensure participation in coordinating the implementation of legal support programs for businesses at the local level; to coordinate the implementation of pilot activities in selected provinces and cities; to provide business law training for enterprises; to train skills and expertise for corporate legal officers; to support the establishment of a network of legal advisory services for businesses at the local level.

- Contributions from participating agencies, organizations, and businesses are used to cover costs for individuals and organizations involved in providing business law training for enterprises; to train skills and expertise for corporate legal officers; and to participate in activities utilizing the network of legal advisory services for businesses.

c) Allocation of funds for implementing the Program: Funds for the inter-ministerial legal support program for businesses are allocated within the annual budget estimates of central ministries and sectors leading the Program's activities. Annually, based on the implementation plan of the Program established by the Steering Committee within the scope of the Program's activities, which has been approved by the Prime Minister, the leading agency of the Program prepares detailed budget estimates for implementation and consolidates them into its own annual budget estimate, submitting it to the competent authority in accordance with the State Budget Law and guiding documents.