Circular No. 149/2007/TT-BTC dated December 14, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the management and use of state budget funds for activities of competent state agencies in managing investment projects in the form of Build-Operate-Transfer, Build-Transfer-Operate or Build- Transfer contracts

CIRCULAR

GUIDING THE MANAGEMENT AND USE OF STATE BUDGET FUNDS FOR ACTIVITIES OF COMPETENT STATE AGENCIES IN MANAGING INVESTMENT PROJECTS IN THE FORM OF BUILD-OPERATE-TRANSFER, BUILD-TRANSFER-OPERATE OR BUILD-TRANSFER CONTRACTS

Pursuant to State Budget Law No. 01/2002/QH11 of December 16, 2002;

Pursuant to the Governments Decree No. 78/2002/ND-CP of May 11, 2007, on investment in the form of Build-Operate-Transfer, Build-Transfer-Operate or Build-Transfer contracts;

The Ministry of Finance guides the management and use of state budget funds for activities of competent state agencies in managing investment projects in the form of Build-Operate-Transfer, Build-Transfer-Operate or Build- Transfer contracts (below referred to as BOT, BTO or BT contracts for short) as follows;

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. This Circular details the management and use of state budget funds for activities of competent state agencies in managing investment projects in the form of BOT, BTO or BT contracts defined in the Governments Decree No. 78/2007/ND-CP of May 11, 2007.

2. Competent state agencies governed by this Circular are ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies. Peoples Committees of provinces or centrally run cities or their attached agencies which are authorized to conclude project contracts.

3. Expenses for the above competent state agencies are all necessary expenses for them to perform specific jobs of managing the execution of BOT, BTO or BT projects and fulfilling other obligations defined in project contracts in accordance with law.

4. State budget funds for competent state agencies activities shall be incorporated in annual plans on state management expenditures of ministries, ministerial agencies, government-attached agencies, Peoples Committees of provinces and centrally run cities (below referred to as ministries and provincial-level Peoples Committees) that have BOT, BTO or BT projects.

5. The State Treasury shall control expenses; competent state agencies shall ensure that state budget funds are used for proper purposes, economically and effectively according to state regulations on financial management and the provisions of this Circular.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. Competent state agencies activities in managing the execution of BOT, BTO or BT investment projects and fulfilling other obligations include:

- Making and promulgating lists of projects.

- Making project proposals and bidding dossiers to select investors.

- Organizing bidding to select investors and negotiating project contracts.

- Evaluating the quality of works.

- Activities to fulfill other responsibilities and obligations, including activities of interdisciplinary working groups.

2. Making and approval of expense estimates for activities of competent state agencies:

2.1. Basis for making expense estimates:

+ Expense estimates shall be made annually together with regular expenditure estimates of ministries and provincial-level Peoples Committees.

+ The list of projects approved by a competent authority or proposal for adding a project to the approved list.

+ Project execution plans approved by a competent authority.

2.2. Expenses for activities of competent state agencies:

- Expense for making and promulgating the list of projects to be published on three consecutive issues of a central or local newspaper.

- Expense for hiring consultants to make project proposals and bidding dossiers to select investors.

- Expense for organizing bidding to select investors. If having any revenue from selling bidding dossiers, this expense shall be covered with this revenue under the Finance Ministrys Circular No. 118/2007TT-BTC of October 2, 2007, guiding the management and use of investment project management expenses of state budget-funded projects.

- Expense for office supplies.

- Expense for communication.

- Expense for meetings and workshops.

- Expense for site inspection and supervision

- Expense for hiring workers or experts in cases of necessity.

- Expense for evaluating the quality of works before handing them over under contractual terms.

- Other expenses.

2.3. Levels of these expenses shall be determined based on estimates made under regulations and state- prescribed norms and approved by competent authorities on the following principles:

- Expenses identified as construction investment expenses, including expenses for hiring consultants to make project proposals and bidding dossiers, expenses for evaluating the quality of works, etc., shall be formulated according to state regulations on making estimates of construction investment expenses.

- Other expenses which belong to non-business administrative expenses must comply with state regulations on non-business administrative expenses.

2.4. Making and approving expense estimates:

- Competent state agencies shall make expense estimates and submit them to persons competent to approve regular expenditure estimates for approval.

- A copy of the approved estimate shall be sent to the State Treasury where a competent state agency opens its transaction account for control.

3. Payment: Expenses for competent state agencies activities shall be paid under current regulations on state management administrative expenses applicable to budget-estimating units.

4. Inspection and finalization

- Annually, regularly or extraordinarily, ministries, provincial-level Peoples Committees and finance agencies shall inspect the management and use of funds for activities of competent state agencies in managing BOT, BTO or BT projects under their management in order to promptly discover and handle violations of any agencies in the management process.

- Finalization: At the end of a plan year, ministries and provincial-level Peoples Committees shall finalize the use of suite budget funds or managing the execution of BOT, BTO or BT projects according to regulations applicable to non-business administrative expenses.

5. Responsibilities of concerned agencies

5.1. Ministries, provincial-level Peoples Committees:

- To arrange annual budget funds to cover expenses for competent state agencies to perform their assigned tasks.

- To approve estimates, and sum up annual finalization reports of competent state agencies in order send them to finance agencies of the same level.

5.2. Responsibilities of competent state agencies:

- To make and manage expense estimates and finalize expenses for their activities in managing the execution of BOT, BTO or BT projects in accordance with regulations and requirements on management tasks.

- To fully observe regulations on financial management of expenses for their activities.

- To cross-check paid amounts together with paying agencies.

- To finalize expenses for the performance of the above tasks.

5.3. Responsibilities of paying agencies:

- To control the allocation and payment of funds for activities of competent state agencies in managing BOT, BTO or BT projects according to estimates approved by competent authorities.

- To inspect, check and certify paid amounts at the request of competent agencies.

III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

This Circular takes effect 15 days after its publication in CONG BAO. Agencies, organizations, project owners, consultancy organizations and concerned agencies shall implement this Circular.

For ongoing BOT, BTO or BT projects with their contracts not terminated yet, competent stale agencies shall, pursuant to the provisions of this Circular and based on practical project execution conditions, make and implement estimates for to-be-executed jobs.

Any problems arising in the course of implementation should promptly be reported to the Ministry of Finance for study and settlement.