Circular No. 85/2006/TT-BTC guides the management and use of funds to ensure the implementation of the National Action Program on Tourism for the period 2006-2010.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for managing and using funds to ensure the implementation ofthe National Action Program on Tourism for the period 2006-2010

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Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on State Budget;

Pursuant to Decision No. 121/2006/QĐ-TTg dated May 29, 2006 of the Prime Minister approving the National Action Program on Tourism for the period 2006-2010;

This technical regulation sets out technical requirements, testing methods, sampling procedures; management requirements; responsibilities of organizations and individuals producing, trading, and importing cigarettes.

1. Scope and Applicability:

These Circulars guide the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of accounts for funds guaranteed by the state budget, capital raised from tourism enterprises, and other sources of funding outside the state budget managed by the General Department of Tourism, localities, and enterprises to implement the National Action Program on Tourism for the period 2006-2010 approved by Decision No. 121/2006/QĐ-TTg dated May 29, 2006 of The Prime Minister.

2. Funds to ensure the implementation of the National Action Program on Tourism for the period 2006-2010 at each level shall be guaranteed by the corresponding budget and incorporated into the annual budget estimates of the agencies and units assigned the tasks.

3. Sources of funds for implementing the National Action Program on Tourism for the period 2006-2010 include:

a) Central budget: Allocated to the General Department of Tourism according to the total amount of funds provided

b) Local budget: Ensuring the contents of work carried out by localities.

c) Tourism enterprises: Implementing the contents of work related to enterprises.

d) Other mobilized funds (grants, sponsorships...).

4. The General Department of Tourism is the leading agency coordinating the implementation of the Program and is responsible for summarizing and evaluating the implementation of the Program's objectives, contents, and the effectiveness of fund usage.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

1. Content of expenditure:

a) Contents of expenditure from the central budget:

- Expenditure on publishing and transporting promotional and advertising materials about Vietnamese tourism domestically and internationally.

- Expenditure on organizing conferences and seminars on tourism promotion; specialized seminars on tourism development across the country or regionally based on exploiting regional tourism resources.

- Expenditure on developing opening and closing scripts for festivals and events to build them into tourism products.

- Expenditure on organizing Vietnam Tourism Year and hosting international travel fairs in Vietnam.

- Expenditure supporting large-scale tourism years with inter-sectoral and inter-regional characteristics that cannot be guaranteed by local budgets.

- Expenditure on promoting and advertising Vietnamese tourism through domestic mass media and foreign information systems and press.

- Expenditure on hiring foreign organizations and individuals to promote tourism.

- Expenditure on welcoming foreign press delegations, tour operators, and tourism professionals for visits and surveys to write articles promoting Vietnamese tourism.

- Expenditure on launching market campaigns and promoting Vietnamese tourism in key markets; participating in international trade fairs and organizing tourism events abroad.

- Expenditure on building a tourism information system: Purchasing and replacing information equipment, maintenance, leasing transmission lines, maintaining and upgrading the Vietnamtourism.com website, improving and maintaining the electronic tourism newspaper, and supporting operating costs for four tourist information rooms established at four international airports.

- Expenditure on repairing, replacing signs and titles of existing tourism advertisements and constructing new Vietnamese tourism advertisements at traffic junctions, international border gates, and major tourist centers.

- Expenditure on investigating, surveying, and researching to develop and improve the quality of tourism products, including: Cultural tourism products linked to festivals and traditional culture; ethnic minority cultural tourism products; national special tourism products; inter-regional tourism routes.

- Expenditure on organizing competitions: Tour guides, hotel receptionists, ethnic cooking, and other specialized competitions held nationwide or regionally.

- Expenditure on reviewing, revising, supplementing, and drafting new regulatory documents related to tourism activities to reform and strengthen policies for tourism development, encourage economic sectors to invest in tourism, and promote international integration.

- Expenditure on developing standard training programs and curricula for vocational schools, junior colleges, colleges, universities, and continuous education in tourism.

- In addition to the above expenditures from the National Action Program on Tourism funds, for managing the Program such as office supplies; expenditure on mid-year and final reviews, inspections, and evaluations of the Program; travel expenses; communication expenses; material and equipment expenses, and other administrative expenses serving the Program, the General Department of Tourism will use the regular activity funds allocated in the annual budget estimate.

b) Contents of expenditure from the local budget:

- Expenditure on publishing and transporting promotional and advertising materials about local tourism domestically and internationally.

- Expenditure on organizing conferences and seminars on local tourism promotion and specialized seminars on local tourism development.

- Expenditure on organizing local tourism years, local festivals, and events.

- Expenditure on promoting and advertising local tourism through domestic mass media and foreign information systems and press.

- Expenditure on welcoming foreign press delegations and tour operators for visits and surveys to write articles promoting local tourism.

- Expenditure on participating in trade fairs, conferences, and organizing tourism events abroad.

- Expenditure on diversifying and improving the quality of local tourism products.

- Expenditure on organizing competitions: Tour guides, hotel receptionists, ethnic cooking, and other specialized competitions held locally.

- Other expenditures for implementing the Program (if any).

c) Contents of expenditure from enterprise funds:

- Expenditure on printing publications introducing the business operations of enterprises.

- Expenses for advertising and promoting tourism products of travel enterprises on mass media.

- Expenses for participating directly in domestic and international trade fairs and exhibitions related to tourism, and participating in market promotion campaigns.

- Expenses for building tourism information systems, international card-based tourism systems, and reservation systems serving tourism business operations.

- Expenses for training and improving the professional skills of staff at domestic and foreign travel enterprises.

- Other expenses directly related to the business activities of the travel enterprise (if any).

2. Expenditure levels:

The implementation of the National Action Program on Tourism for the period 2006-2010 mentioned above shall be carried out according to the financial expenditure standards and regulations issued by the competent authority, specifically as follows:

a) Meeting and travel expenses for officials traveling domestically in accordance with the provisions of Circular No. 118/2004/TT-BTC dated December 8, 2004, issued by the Ministry of Finance, detailing the travel expense and meeting regulations for administrative agencies and public service units throughout the country.

b) Travel expenses for officials traveling abroad in accordance with Circular No. 91/2005/TT-BTC dated October 18, 2005, issued by the Ministry of Finance, detailing the travel expense regulations for state officials traveling short-term abroad funded by the state budget.

c) Expenses for hosting foreign guests and organizing international conferences and seminars in accordance with Circular No. 100/2000/TT-BTC dated October 16, 2000, issued by the Ministry of Finance, detailing the regulations on hospitality expenses and expenses for organizing international conferences and seminars in Vietnam.

d) Expenses for organizing training courses and capacity-building programs in accordance with Circular No. 79/2005/TT-BTC dated September 15, 2005, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding the management and use of training and capacity-building funds for state officials.

e) Expenses for establishing databases and tourism information systems in accordance with Circular No. 111/1998/TT-BTC dated August 3, 1998, issued by the Ministry of Finance, detailing the cost of creating electronic information under information technology.

f) Expenses for developing programs and textbooks in accordance with Circular No. 87/2001/TT-BTC dated October 29, 2001, issued by the Ministry of Finance, detailing the content and level of expenses for compiling framework programs and subject textbooks.

g) Expenses for organizing competitions: Tour guides, hotel receptionists, national cuisine cooking, and other specialized competitions:

- Expenses for preparing examination questions (including marking schemes): Maximum not exceeding VND 500,000 per examination (each examination must have at least 10 questions).

- Expenses for marking examinations and announcing results: Maximum not exceeding VND 100,000 per person per day.

- Expenses for compensating members of the competition organizing committee: Maximum not exceeding VND 100,000 per person per day.

- Expenditure for prizes:

+ Team awards: From VND 200,000 per award – VND 2,000,000 per award

+ Individual awards: From VND 100,000 per award – VND 1,000,000 per award

Depending on the scale of the competition (central, provincial, grassroots level) and the level of the award (first prize, second prize, third prize...), the head of the agency or unit organizing the competition shall decide the specific amount of award expenses.

h) For special nature expenses of the Program such as printing publications, books, paintings, photographs; film production; signboard advertising; publicity activities on domestic and foreign mass media; organizing or supporting the organization of domestic and international tourism events...the basis for preparing budgets and managing these expenses is the state regulations, norms, and unit prices of relevant sectors with similar tasks. These expense items must be approved by the leadership of the Tourism Administration (for central level); the head of the agency assigned to implement the Program (for local level) before implementation.

i) For expenses that must be tendered according to the provisions, the provisions of the Law on Bidding and guiding documents for the Law shall apply.

k) For other expenses, they shall be based on valid and lawful invoices and payment vouchers in accordance with current regulations.

3. Budget preparation, management, utilization, and settlement of funds for implementing the Program:

The preparation of budgets, management, utilization, and settlement of funds for implementing the Program shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law and guiding documents. This Circular provides additional guidance on specific matters regarding the preparation of budgets, management, utilization, and settlement of funds for implementing the Program as follows:

a) For centrally guaranteed budget funds:

- Budget preparation: Based on the content of the Program and the budget from the central budget already approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 121/2006/QĐ-TTg dated May 29, 2006, the Tourism Administration shall prepare detailed annual budget estimates for implementing the Program together with the annual budget estimates of the agency and submit them to the Ministry of Finance for review and approval by the competent authority in accordance with the State Budget Law and guiding documents.

- Budget allocation: Based on the allocated budget, the Tourism Administration shall allocate and assign the budget for implementing the Program to subordinate budget-using units, detailing each project and strictly adhering to the content and objectives of the Program already approved and after being reviewed by the Ministry of Finance in accordance with regulations.

- Budget adjustment: During the implementation process, if it is necessary to adjust the Program's expenditure items, the adjustment shall be made as follows:

+ The Director of the Tourism Administration shall decide on adjustments within the same event and the same work content according to the Program implementation budget already approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 121/2006/QĐ-TTg dated May 29, 2006, based on the proposal of the Ministry of Finance in Circular No. 5506/BTC-HCSN dated April 27, 2006.

+ For remaining adjustment cases, the Tourism Administration shall make adjustments after obtaining written agreement from the Ministry of Finance.

- Settlement:

By the end of the year, the settlement of the program's budget will be summarized in the General Department of Tourism's final settlement report.

At the conclusion of the National Action Program on Tourism for the period 2006-2010, the General Department of Tourism shall be responsible for compiling, reporting, and evaluating the use and settlement of the entire program's budget according to each project's objectives, contents, and approved budget estimates as per Decision No. 121/2006/QĐ-TTg dated May 29, 2006, issued by the Prime Minister.

For expenditure items under the central government's budget but implemented at local levels, if the General Department of Tourism does not directly implement them and instead delegates them to localities, then the supporting documents for settlement purposes retained by the General Department of Tourism shall include: contracts for implementing tasks, acceptance certificates for products, liquidation records of contracts with localities, payment vouchers, detailed budgets approved by the General Department of Tourism as the basis for signing contracts, and other relevant documents...

b) For local government budget funds:

Based on the objectives and content of the Program approved by the Prime Minister, the General Department of Tourism shall issue guidelines for localities to implement the Program.

Based on the expenditure items and amounts specified in this Circular, and based on the annual implementation plan of the Program guided by the General Department of Tourism and the financial capacity of the local budget, localities shall prioritize allocating their budgets and mobilizing non-budgetary resources to implement the Program.

c) For assistance funds allocated to the Program (if any), they must be managed and utilized in accordance with Decree No. 17/2001/NĐ-CP dated May 4, 2001, of the Government on the management and use of official development assistance (ODA) funds and related documents.

d) For other revenues (if any), the General Department of Tourism and localities may use them for activities within the Program's scope and must comply with the expenditure items and amounts stipulated in this Circular, annually consolidating and settling these revenues together with the annual final settlement report as prescribed.

đ) For expenses directly incurred by enterprises to fulfill their tasks within the Program, such costs shall be considered reasonable deductible expenses for calculating taxable income in accordance with Circular No. 128/2003/TT-BTC dated December 22, 2003, issued by the Ministry of Finance to guide the implementation of Decree No. 164/2003/NĐ-CP dated December 22, 2003, of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Corporate Income Tax, and Circular No. 88/2004/TT-BTC dated September 1, 2004, issued by the Ministry of Finance amending and supplementing Circular No. 128/2003/TT-BTC dated December 22, 2003.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

This Circular shall take effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

In the course of implementation, if there are difficulties, units are requested to report to the Ministry of Finance for study, amendment, and supplementation to make them appropriate./.