Decree 242/2025/ND-CP on management and use of official development assistance and foreign concessional loans

DECREE

On the management and use of official development assistance and foreign concessional loans^[1]

Pursuant to Law No. 63/2025/QH15 on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to Law No. 72/2025/QH15 on Organization of Local Administration;

Pursuant to Law No. 83/2015/QH13 on the State Budget and Law No. 89/2025/QH15 on the State Budget;

Pursuant to Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15;

Pursuant to Law No. 50/2014/QH13 on Construction, which is amended and supplemented by Law No. 62/2020/QH14;

Pursuant to Law No. 68/2025/QH15 on Management and Investment of State Capital in Enterprises;

Pursuant to Law No. 108/2016/QH13 on Treaties;

Pursuant to Law No. 15/2017/QH14 on Management and Use of Public Assets;

Pursuant to Law No. 20/2017/QH14 on Public Debt Management;

Pursuant to Law No. 61/2020/QH14 on Investment;

Pursuant to Law No. 59/2020/QH14 on Enterprises, which is amended and supplemented by Law No. 76/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to Law No. 64/2020/QH14 on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership;

Pursuant to Law No. 72/2020/QH14 on Environmental Protection;

Pursuant to Law No. 93/2025/QH15 on Science, Technology and Innovation;

Pursuant to Law No. 57/2024/QH15 Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Planning Law, the Law on Investment, the Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership, and the Bidding Law;

Pursuant to Law No. 58/2024/QH15 on Public Investment;

Pursuant to Law No. 90/2025/QH15 Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Bidding Law, the Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership, the Customs Law, the Law on Value-Added Tax, the Law on Import Duty and Export Duty, the Law on Investment, the Law on Public Investment, and the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets;

At the proposal of the Minister of Finance;

The Government promulgates the Decree on the management and use of official development assistance and foreign concessional loans.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Decree provides the management and use of official development assistance (ODA) and concessional loans provided by foreign governments, international organizations, inter-governmental or inter-state organizations, or governmental organizations authorized by foreign governments (below collectively referred to as foreign donors) to the State or the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Decree applies to agencies, organizations and individuals engaged or involved in the management and use of ODA, foreign concessional loans and counterpart funds of Vietnamese partners.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Decree, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Steering Committee of an ODA- or foreign concessional loan-funded program or project (below referred to as Steering Committee) means an organization established by the managing agency of an ODA- or concessional loan-funded program or project (below referred to as program or project) and composed of competent representatives of related agencies to direct, coordinate and supervise the implementation of the program or project. In case of necessity, the Steering Committee may, as agreed upon with the foreign donor, have a representative of the foreign donor.

2. Management unit of an ODA- or foreign concessional loan-funded program or project (below referred to as project management unit) means an organization established to assist the managing agency or the project owner in managing the implementation of one or more than one program or project.

3. Program means a combination of ODA- or concessional loan-funded activities or projects that are interrelated and may be related to one or more than one sector, field, geographical area or stakeholder, and are aimed at achieving one or several of specified objectives and carried out in one phase or multiple phases.

4. Program accompanied by policy framework means a program subject to conditions on disbursement of ODA or concessional loans of the foreign donor associated with the Vietnamese Government’s commitments on formulation and implementation of socio-economic development policies, institutions and solutions on a scale and according to a roadmap agreed upon between the stakeholders.

5. Regional or global program or project (below collectively referred to as regional program or project) means a program or project financed on a global scale or for a group of countries in one or more than one region for performance of cooperation activities aimed at achieving specified objectives for the sake of stakeholders and for common benefit of the region or the globe. Vietnam’s participation in a regional program or project may take either of the following forms:

a/ Participation in carrying out one or several of activities pre-designed by the foreign donor in the regional program or project;

b/ Performance of financing activities for Vietnam to formulate and implement programs or projects within the framework of the regional program or project.

6. Sector-wide approach program means an ODA- or concessional loan-funded program under which the foreign donor relies on the development program of a sector or field to provide comprehensive assistance to ensure the sustainable and effective development of that sector or field.

7. Managing agency of an ODA- or concessional loan-funded program, project or non-project activity (below referred to as managing agency) means the central body of a political organization; the Supreme People’s Procuracy; the Supreme People’s Court; a National Assembly agency; the Office of the National Assembly; the State Audit Office of Vietnam; the Office of the President; a ministry, ministerial-level agency, government-attached agency, or People’s Committee of a province or centrally run city (below collectively referred to as provincial-level People’s Committee); the central body of the Vietnam Fatherland Front or of a socio-political organization; socio-politico-professional organization, social organization or socio-professional organization that performs tasks assigned by a competent state agency; or a state enterprise, an agency, an organization or another enterprise that is assigned in writing by a competent state agency to perform public investment tasks or projects.

8. Project owner means an agency or organization assigned to directly manage a program, an investment project, a technical assistance project or a non-project activity funded by ODA or foreign concessional loans.

9. Domestic financial mechanism applicable to ODA- or concessional loan-funded programs and projects (below referred to as domestic financial mechanism) means a set of regulations on the use of ODA and concessional loans allocated from the state budget for programs and projects, including:

a/ Whole allocation of funds;

b/ Allocation of funds and pro rata partial on-lending of loans;

c/ Whole on-lending of loans.

10. Project means a combination of interrelated proposals aimed to achieve one or several of certain objectives and implemented in a specific locality within a specified period and based on specified resources.

Technical assistance project means a project aimed at assisting policy and institution research, professional qualifications improvement and capacity building through such activities as supplying domestic and international experts, providing training, materials and documents, organizing field visits, surveys and seminars at home and abroad, providing some equipment, building demonstration models, preparing investment projects, and assisting the implementation of investment projects. Technical assistance projects include independent technical assistance projects and technical assistance projects for preparation of investment projects.

11. Treaty on ODA or concessional loans means a treaty defined in the Law on Treaties and concerning the receipt, management and use of ODA or concessional loans; it may be:

a/ Framework treaty on ODA or concessional loans, which is a treaty concerning cooperation strategies, policies and frame and priority fields; binding principles and conditions for the provision and use of ODA or concessional loans; ODA or concessional loan commitments for one year or multiple years, and other contents as agreed upon by the signatories; or,

b/ Specific treaty on ODA or concessional loans, which is a treaty on specific contents related to objectives, activities, implementation period, and expected outcomes; financing conditions, loans, loan structure, financial conditions of loans, and loan repayment schedule; management mode; obligations, responsibilities and powers of stakeholders in the management of implementation of ODA- or concessional loan-funded programs or projects, and other contents as agreed upon by the signatories. 

12. Agreement on ODA or concessional loans means a written agreement on ODA or concessional loans concluded with a foreign partner in the name of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which is not a treaty; it may be:

a/ Framework agreement, which is an agreement concerning cooperation strategies, policies and frame and priority fields; binding principles and conditions for the provision and use of ODA or concessional loans; ODA or concessional loan commitments for one year or multiple years, and other contents as agreed upon by the signatories; or,

b/ Specific agreement, which is an agreement on ODA or concessional loans related to objectives, activities, implementation period, and expected outcomes; financing conditions, loans, loan structure, financial conditions of loans, and loan repayment schedule; management mode; obligations, responsibilities and powers of stakeholders in the management of implementation of ODA- or concessional loan-funded programs or projects, and other contents as agreed upon by the signatories.

13. Budget support means a method of providing ODA or concessional loans by which the support amount shall be directly remitted into the state budget, and managed and used in accordance with state budget regulations and procedures in order to achieve set objectives on the basis of reaching agreement with the foreign donor. Budget supports include general budget support and central budget support for national target programs approved by competent authorities.

14. Serving bank means a bank selected to conduct transactions for ODA- or concessional loan-funded projects.

15. Non-project aid means a separate aid amount provided once in cash, in kind, in commodity or in manpower (including also volunteer experts), providing inputs for the organization of conferences, seminars, coaching, research, survey and training.

16. Document approving policy for participation in regional program or project means a document notifying the competent authority’s approval of the policy for participation in a regional program or project, which has the following principal contents: name of the program or project; foreign donor or co-donors; and name of the managing agency. The document approving policy for participation in regional program or project serves as a basis for the managing agency to approve the contents reserved for Vietnam (if any) in the documentation of the regional program or project.

17. Documentation of a technical assistance project or non-project activity funded by non-refundable ODA (below referred to as project documentation) means documents presenting the context, necessity, objectives, contents, main activities, expected outcomes, implementation period, economic, social and environmental efficiency, total capital amount, funding sources and structure of funding sources, other resources, financing mode, conditions (if any) set by the foreign donor, and form of implementation management that are approved by the managing agency for use as a basis for the implementation of that technical assistance project or non-project activity.

18. ODA or concessional loan means a capital amount provided by a foreign donor to the State or the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to support development activities and ensure social welfare and security, including:

a/ Non-refundable ODA, which is an ODA amount that is not required to be refunded to the foreign donor and is provided in the form of an independent project or a project in combination with ODA- or concessional loan-funded investment projects; or a non-project activity;

b/ ODA loan, which is a foreign loan with the grant element of at least 35%, for binding loans related to goods procurement and service provision under regulations of the foreign donor, or of at least 25%, for non-binding loans. The method of calculating the grant element is provided in Appendix I to this Decree;

c/ Concessional loan, which is a foreign loan with more preferential conditions than those of a commercial loan but having the grant element not yet satisfying the criterion of an ODA loan as specified at Point b of this Clause.

19. Counterpart fund means an amount contributed by the Vietnamese partner (in kind or in cash) to an ODA- or concessional loan-funded program or project aimed at preparing, implementing and managing the program or project, which is allocated from the central budget or local budget, provided by the project owner or contributed by beneficiaries, or allocated from other lawful funding sources.

20. Capital under blended finance mechanism means a capital amount allocated from multiple sources of ODA or concessional loans with different levels of grant to support the building of technical and financial capacity in different forms for increasing the concessionality of a loan for a program or project.

21. Surplus amount means an ODA amount or a foreign concessional loan amount provided in the course of implementation of a program or project. Surplus amounts include an amount left after bidding, a surplus amount as a result of exchange rate fluctuation, contingencies not yet used up, and other surplus amounts.

22. Emergency aid means an ODA amount or a concessional loan amount provided by a foreign donor to Vietnam in order to provide relief and remediate disaster consequences that is not governed by the Government’s regulations on the receipt, management and use of emergency international aid for provision of relief and remediation of disaster consequences; provision of relief in case of catastrophes or for epidemic prevention and control; or performance of urgent tasks to ensure national defense, security and external activities under decisions of competent authorities.

Article 4. Methods of providing ODA or concessional loans 

Methods of providing ODA or concessional loans include:

1. Provision under programs.

2. Provision under projects.

3. Provision under non-project activities. 

4. Provision as budget supports.

Article 5. Priorities for use of ODA or concessional loans 

1. Non-refundable ODA shall be used first of all for the implementation of programs and projects on socio-economic infrastructure development; capacity building; disaster preparedness and risk reduction, relief for catastrophe victims, and epidemic prevention and control; climate change response and adaptation; green growth; science-technology, innovation and digital transformation; social security; and preparation of investment projects or co-financing for concessional loan-funded projects with a view to increasing the grant element of a loan.

2. ODA loans shall be used first of all for programs and projects in the fields of health, education, vocational education, climate change adaptation, environmental protection, and construction of essential economic infrastructure facilities, which are incapable of directly recovering loans.

3. Concessional loans shall be used first of all for programs and projects that use loans for on-lending under regulations on on-lending of ODA loans or foreign concessional loans of the Government; and programs and projects to be covered by state budget expenditures in the field of socio-economic infrastructure development.

4. Special public investment projects; major and key programs and projects that can help change the situation or status; and other cases of priority must comply with the Prime Minister’s decision on orientations for the attraction, management and use of ODA or concessional loans of foreign donors in each period.

Article 6. Contents and basic principles in the state management of ODA or concessional loans

1. Contents of state management of ODA or concessional loans:

a/ Formulating, promulgating, and organizing the implementation of, legal documents on the management and use of ODA or concessional loans;

b/ Formulating, and organizing the implementation of, orientations for the attraction, management and use of ODA or concessional loans in each period to support the implementation of 5-year socio-economic development plans; and solutions and policies for the management and efficient use of these funding sources;

c/ Monitoring, and providing information about, the management and use of ODA or concessional loans;

d/ Supervising, evaluating and inspecting the management and use of ODA or concessional loans and results thereof in accordance with law.

2. Basic principles in the state management of ODA or concessional loans:

a/ ODA loans or concessional loans shall be used for payment of development investment expenditures other than recurrent expenditures. It is not permitted to use foreign loans for training and coaching activities for capacity building, except cases in which they are used to serve technology transfer and improvement of equipment and machinery operation skills; field surveys; payment of taxes, charges or loan interests; auditing expenses; procurement of cars, except special-use cars as decided by competent authorities; standby supplies and equipment for the operation of projects after they are completed, except special standby supplies and equipment as decided by competent authorities in accordance with law; expenses for compensation, support and resettlement; and expenses for operation of project management units;

b/ The Government shall perform the unified state management of ODA or concessional loans on the basis of ensuring loan use efficiency and repayment capacity; delegate powers in association with responsibilities, powers and capacity to ministries, central agencies and local administrations; and ensure coordination among related agencies in management, monitoring and evaluation activities under current regulations;

c/ To ensure publicity and transparency and uphold accountability for policies on and order and procedures for mobilization, management and use of ODA or concessional loans in sectors and fields and among localities, and regarding the implementation and use of ODA or concessional loans;

d/ To disclose information about cooperation policies, priority fields and loan borrowing conditions of foreign donors on the Government Portal system (chinhphu.vn and mof.gov.vn);

dd/ To prevent and combat corruption, loss and waste practices in the management and use of ODA or concessional loans, and prevent and handle these practices in accordance with law;

e/ Method of determining the state budget-covered items of development investment expenditures: Specific items of development investment expenditures shall be determined in accordance with the Law on Public Investment, the Law on the State Budget, the Law on Construction, and relevant legal documents.

Article 7. Principles of application of the domestic financial mechanism to ODA or concessional loans

1. For programs and projects to be covered by the central budget’s expenditures: ODA loans or foreign concessional loans shall be wholly allocated from the central budget.

2. For programs and projects to be covered by local budgets’ expenditures: ODA loans or foreign concessional loans shall be partially or wholly on-lent under the regulations on on-lending of ODA loans or foreign concessional loans.

For programs and projects to be covered by local budgets’ expenditures with the use of ODA loans or foreign concessional loans as the State’s capital contributions to public-private partnership (PPP) projects: ODA loans or foreign concessional loans shall be wholly on-lent under the regulations on on-lending of ODA loans or foreign concessional loans.

3. For programs and projects capable of wholly or partly recovering loans: ODA loans or foreign concessional loans shall be partially or wholly on-lent under the regulations on on-lending of ODA loans or foreign concessional loans.

4. For non-refundable ODA, including also non-refundable ODA associated with loans or non-refundable ODA for investment projects or technical assistance projects (as independent projects in the preparation of or provision of support for the implementation of investment projects) or non-project activities: These amounts shall be wholly allocated.  

Article 8. Order and procedures for management and use of ODA or concessional loans

1. For a program or project funded by ODA or concessional loans:

a/ Formulating, approving, and deciding on investment policy for, the program or project;

b/ Officially notifying the foreign donor of investment policy decision for the program or project;

c/ Formulating, appraising, and deciding on investment in, the program or project;

d/ Concluding a treaty or an agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans, depending on the donor’s regulations;

dd/ Performing implementation management and financial management;

e/ Completing the program or project and handing over its outcomes. 

2. For a technical assistance project or non-project activity funded by non-refundable ODA:

a/ Making documentation of the project or non-project activity;

b/ Appraising and approving documentation of the project or non-project activity;

c/ Officially notifying the foreign donor of the approval of the documentation of the project or non-project activity and requesting the donation consideration;

d/ Concluding a treaty or an agreement on non-refundable ODA; or signing exchange documents (letters of commitment, letters of intent, discussion minutes, memoranda of understanding, etc.) on the non-refundable ODA-funded project, technical assistance project or non-project activity, depending on the foreign donor’s regulations;

dd/ Performing implementation management and financial management;

e/ Completing the project or non-project activity and handing over its outcomes. 

3. For a regional program or project:

a/ Submitting for approval the policy for participation in the regional program or project under Article 10 of this Decree;

b/ Formulating, appraising and approving contents reserved for the Vietnamese partners (if any) in the documentation of the regional program or project;

c/ Concluding a treaty or an agreement on non-refundable ODA; concluding an agreement on non-refundable ODA; or signing exchange documents (letters of commitment, letters of intent, discussion minutes, memoranda of understanding, etc.) on the technical assistance project or non-project activity, depending on the foreign donor’s regulations;

d/ Performing implementation management and financial management;

dd/ Completing the program or project and handing over its outcomes.

4. For a budget support amount:

a/ Making dossiers and documents on the budget support amount;

b/ Deciding on the policy to receive the budget support amount;

c/ Concluding a treaty or an agreement on ODA or concessional loans for the budget support amount;

d/ Performing implementation management and financial management;

dd/ Completing the budget support amount and handing over its outcomes (applicable to budget supports for national target programs).

5. For a program or project using capital under the blended finance mechanism: The managing agency shall carry out the order and procedures applicable to the ODA loan- or concessional loan-funded program or project specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

6. For an investment project funded by non-refundable ODA:

a/ Formulating, appraising, and deciding on investment in, projects;

b/ Officially notifying the foreign donor of the decision on investment in the project and requesting donation consideration;

c/ Concluding a treaty or an agreement on non-refundable ODA; or signing exchange documents (letters of commitment, letters of intent, discussion minutes, memoranda of understanding, etc.) on the project, depending on the foreign donor’s regulations;

d/ Performing implementation management and financial management;

dd/ Completing the program or project and handing over its outcomes.

Article 9. Policy to receive budget support amounts

1. Order and procedures for deciding on policy to receive a general budget support amount:

a/ The Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for preparing documents on the budget support amount, which must clearly state information on the balancing of central budget funds, and a tentative plan on offsetting the budget deficit, ensuring the adherence to the principle of taking budget support amounts to cover development investment expenditures, and solicit opinions of related agencies;

b/ After summarizing opinions of related agencies, the Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for reporting to the Prime Minister on the necessity, objectives, socio-economic efficiency, total amount, funding sources and structure of funding sources, conditions for receipt of the budget support amount, benefits and obligations, financing method, and form of management organization;

c/ The Prime Minister shall consider and decide on policy to receive the budget support amount for use as a basis for signing of documents on and receipt of the general budget support amounts under regulations;

d/ Based on the Prime Minister’s decision, the Minister of Finance shall approve documents on the budget support amount (program documentation of the budget support amount).

2. Order and procedures for deciding on policy to receive the central budget’s support amount for a national target program approved by a competent authority:

a/ Based on the competent authority’s decision approving investment policy for the national target program, the agency in charge of the national target program shall send a request to the Ministry of Finance, together with documents on the budget support amount, which must clearly state the context, necessity, objectives, total amount, funding sources and structure of funding sources, and other resources; conditions for receipt of the budget support amount, benefits and obligations; financing method and form of management organization, and a tentative plan on use of the support amount to achieve the objectives of the national target program; principles and criteria for, and a list of, projects to be covered by the budget support amount, and tentative plan on allocation of funds for ministries, sectors and localities as a basis for the allocation of medium-term and annual public investment capital;

b/ After summarizing opinions of related agencies, the Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for evaluating the capacity to receive the budget support amount for achievement of objectives of the national target program; conditions for receipt of the budget support amount, and report thereon to the Prime Minister for approving the policy to receive the central budget’s support amount for the national target program, covering principles, criteria, financial mechanism, list of projects to be covered by the budget support amount, and tentative plan on allocation of funds to ministries, sectors and localities. The processing time limit is 60 working days from the date of receipt of a complete and valid dossier;

c/ The Prime Minister shall consider and approve the policy to receive the budget support amount, principles, criteria, financial mechanism, a list of specific projects, and a tentative plan on allocation of funds for ministries, sectors and localities;

d/ Based on the Prime Minister’s decision, the managing agency shall carry out procedures for appraisal and investment decision for specific projects to be covered by the budget support amount under the national target program in accordance with relevant regulations.

Article 10. Participation in regional programs or projects

1. The Prime Minister shall consider and approve the policy on participation in regional programs or projects in the fields of security, national defense and religion.

2. Heads of managing agencies shall consider and approve the policy on participation in regional programs or projects for cases other than those specified in Clause 1 of this Article and take responsibility for their decision.

3. In case it is not yet possible to identify the managing agency of a regional program or project: Based on the foreign donor’s proposal for participation in a regional program or project, the Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, submitting the policy on Vietnam’s participation in the regional program or project and the managing agency of that program or project to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

4. Order and procedures for submission of the policy on participation in a regional program or project to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval:

a/ The managing agency shall send a request, enclosed with documents on the foreign donor’s regional program or project, to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies. Such request must have the following principal contents: name of the regional program or project; donor and co-donors (if any); benefits and obligations of the Vietnamese partner participating in the regional program or project; names of countries participating in the regional program or project; implementation duration; evaluation of the ability to fulfill the participant’s obligations, and activities expected to be carried out in Vietnam;

b/ The managing agency shall summarize opinions of Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies, and submit the policy on participation in the regional program or project to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

5. For regional programs or projects other than those specified in Clause 1 of this Article, heads of managing agencies shall consider and decide on the policy on participation in regional programs or projects on the basis of summarizing opinions of Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies, and take responsibility for their decision.

6. In case a foreign donor provides ODA or concessional loans for the formulation and implementation of programs or projects within the framework of a regional program or project: Based on the competent authority’s decision on the policy on Vietnam’s participation in a regional program or project as specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, the managing agency shall formulate, appraise, and decide to approve, project documentation for technical assistance projects to be funded by non-refundable ODA in accordance with Chapter III of this Decree; formulate, appraise, and submit to the competent authority for the latter to decide on investment policy for and decide on investment in, programs or investment projects to be funded by ODA or concessional loans in accordance with Chapter II of this Decree; and formulate, appraise, and decide on investment in, programs or investment projects to be funded by non-refundable ODA in accordance with Chapter II of this Decree.

7. Principal contents of the document approving the policy on participation in a regional program or project:

a/ Name of the program or project;

b/ Donor and co-donors (if any);

c/ Managing agency of the Vietnamese partner participating in the program or project.

Article 11. The private sector’s access to ODA or concessional loans

1. The private sector may access ODA or concessional loans in accordance with policies of foreign donors on provision of ODA or concessional loans.

2. Forms of access to and use of ODA or concessional loans by the private sector:

a/ Access to ODA or concessional loans that are used by ministries, central agencies or provincial-level People’s Committees as capital for the project preparation and support for bidding for investor selection, or as the State’s capital contributions to PPP projects under current regulations on PPP and specific treaties or specific agreements on ODA or concessional loans;

b/ Access to and use of ODA or concessional loans through managing agencies’ participation in the implementation of programs or projects on support for the private sector;

c/ Implementation of public investment tasks and projects as assigned by competent state agencies under Clause 4, Article 4 of the Law on Public Investment.

Chapter II

FORMULATION AND APPRAISAL OF, AND INVESTMENT POLICY DECISION AND INVESTMENT DECISION FOR, PUBLIC INVESTMENT PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED BY ODA LOANS OR FOREIGN CONCESSIONAL LOANS; PROGRAMS AND INVESTMENT PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED BY NON-REFUNDABLE ODA, AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED BY NON-REFUNDABLE ODA IN THE PREPARATION OF INVESTMENT PROJECTS

Section 1

FORMULATION AND APPRAISAL OF, AND INVESTMENT POLICY DECISION FOR, PUBLIC INVESTMENT PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 

Article 12. Competence to decide on investment policy for programs and projects to be funded by ODA or foreign concessional loans 

The competence to decide on investment policy for programs and projects must comply with Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7, Article 18 of the Law on Public Investment.

Article 13. Dossiers, contents, and time limit for appraisal, of prefeasibility study reports or investment policy proposal reports for programs and projects to be funded by ODA or concessional loans

1. A dossier for appraisal of the prefeasibility study report or investment policy proposal report for a program or project to be funded by ODA or concessional loans must:

a/ Comply with the Government’s regulations detailing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment; and comprise the request for investment policy decision for the public investment program/project, made according to Form No. 01 provided in Appendix II; the prefeasibility study report or investment policy proposal report, made according to Form No. 02 or Form No. 03 provided in Appendix II; and the request for appraisal of the prefeasibility study report or investment policy proposal report, made according to Form No. 04 provided in Appendix II, to this Decree;

b/ The donor’s letter of expression of interest or donation commitment;

c/ Documents on opinions of the Ministry of Finance and related agencies;

d/ Other relevant documents (if any).

2. The quantity of dossier sets for appraisal to be submitted to the appraisal council or the agency in charge of appraisal is 10.

3. The contents of appraisal of investment policy for a public investment program or project to be funded by ODA or concessional loans must comply with:

a/ The Government’s regulations detailing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment;

b/ Clause 5, Article 36 of the Law on Public Investment and the Government’s regulations detailing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment, with regard to funding sources and the capacity to balance ODA or concessional loans.

4. The time limit for appraisal of the investment policy proposal report or prefeasibility study report for a program or project, counting from the date the appraisal council or the agency in charge of appraisal receives a complete and valid dossier, is:

a/ Forty working days, for national target programs;

b/ Thirty working days, for public investment programs (except national target programs);

c/ Thirty working days, for group-A projects;

d/ Twenty working days, for projects other than those specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause.

In case the dossier is invalid or contents of the program’s or project’s prefeasibility study report or investment policy proposal report are not compliant with Articles 33, 34 and 35 of the Law on Public Investment, the appraisal council or the agency in charge of appraisal shall, within 10 days after receiving the dossier, send its written opinions to the agency submitting the report for appraisal for the latter to supplement the dossier or complete the report.

5. The appraisal council or the agency in charge of appraisal of prefeasibility study reports of group-A projects or investment policy proposal reports for programs and projects shall send the appraisal report:

a/ To the managing agency and the authority competent to decide on investment policy, for public investment programs;

b/ In accordance with the Government’s regulations detailing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment, for projects falling within the Prime Minister’s competence;

c/ To the agency that has submitted the report for appraisal and the authority competent to decide on investment policy, for projects other than those specified at Points a and b of this Clause.

Article 14. Dossiers to be submitted to competent authorities and time limits for deciding on investment policy for programs and projects to be funded by ODA or concessional loans

1. A dossier of request to be submitted to the competent authority for deciding on investment policy for a program or project to be funded by ODA or concessional loans must comprise:

a/ The documents specified in Clause 1, Article 13 of this Decree, of which the contents in the request and the prefeasibility study report or investment policy proposal report specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 13 of this Decree are those already completed based on the appraisal report of the appraisal council or the agency in charge of appraisal;

b/ The appraisal report on investment policy for the program or project, prepared by the appraisal council or the agency in charge of appraisal according to Form No. 05 provided in Appendix II to this Decree.

2. The quantity of dossier sets to be submitted to the competent authority for deciding on investment policy for the program or project specified in Clause 1 of this Article is 5.

3. The time limit for deciding on investment policy for a program or project, counting from the date the competent authority receives a complete and valid dossier, is:

a/ Twenty working days, for public investment programs (except national target programs);

b/ Fifteen working days, for group-A projects;

c/ Ten working days, for projects other than those specified at Points a and b of this Clause.

4. Within 15 working days after the competent authority approves the decision on investment policy for the program or project, the managing agency shall send such decision to the Ministry of Finance.

Article 15. Activities to be carried out in advance

1. After a project’s investment policy is approved and before the treaty or agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans is concluded, activities to be carried out in advance include formulating, submitting, appraising and approving the contractor selection plan, dossier of invitation for expression of interest, dossier of invitation to prequalification, bidding dossier and dossier of requirements, and determining the shortlist.

A contract may only be signed after the project investment is approved.

2. Bases for the formulation, appraisal and approval of a contractor selection plan for activities to be carried out in advance:

a/ Decision approving the project investment policy;

b/ The donor’s non-objection to the formulation, appraisal and approval of the contractor selection plan for activities to be carried out in advance.

3. For a bidding package put for advance bidding, the contractor is not required to make a bid security but shall make a commitment on bidding participation responsibility in the bid dossier.

4. The contractors participating in the stages of expressing interest, participating in the prequalification and participating in the bidding shall bear all costs relating to the preparation and submission of dossiers of expression of interest, dossiers of participation in the prequalification and bid dossiers. In case the shortlist has been selected but the treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans for the project is not concluded, the project owner shall notify the shortlisted contractors of non-organization of bidding. In case the bid-winning contractor has been selected but the treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans for the project is not concluded, the project owner shall cancel the bidding and is not required to refund costs relating to the contractors’ participation in the bidding.

5. Dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, dossiers of invitation to prequalification and bidding dossiers must clearly define the responsibilities of contractors and project owners in carrying out advance bidding referred to in this Article.

Article 16. Principal contents of an investment policy decision for a program or project to be funded by ODA or foreign concessional loans

1. As specified in Clause 5, Article 20; Clause 4, Article 23; Clause 2, Article 25; Clause 2, Article 26; Clause 2, Article 27; Clause 2, Article 28; and Clause 2, Article 29, of the Law on Public Investment.

2. Name(s) of the foreign donor or co-donors.

3. Name of the managing agency.

4. Total investment amount and structure of funding sources (calculated in Vietnam dong and converted from foreign currency(ies) and US dollar), including:

a/ Non-refundable ODA, ODA loans or concessional loans;

b/ Counterpart funds.

5. Domestic financial mechanism.

Article 17. Adjustment of investment policy for programs or projects to be funded by ODA or concessional loans

1. The competence to decide on adjustment of investment policy for programs or projects must comply with Clause 1, Article 37 of the Law on Public Investment.

2. For public investment programs and national important projects:

a/ In case the adjustment of a public investment program leads to a change in the contents specified in Clause 2, Article 37 of the Law on Public Investment and the principal contents of the investment policy decision specified in Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5, Article 16 of this Decree: The competence to decide on adjustment of investment policy must comply with Clause 3, Article 37 of the Law on Public Investment;

b/ In case the adjustment of a national important project leads to a change in the contents specified in Clause 2, Article 37 of the Law on Public Investment and the principal contents of the investment policy decision specified in Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5, Article 16 of this Decree: The competence to decide on adjustment of investment policy must comply with Clause 3, Article 37 of the Law on Public Investment and the Government’s Decree on the order and procedures for appraisal of national important projects, and investment monitoring and evaluation.

3. For projects subject to investment policy approval by the Prime Minister: In case the adjustment of a project leads to a change in the contents specified in Clause 2, Article 37 of the Law on Public Investment and the principal contents of the investment policy decision specified in Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5, Article 16 of this Decree: The competence to decide on adjustment of investment policy must comply with the Government’s regulations detailing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment.

4. For projects subject to investment policy decision by ministers, heads of managing agencies, or provincial-level People’s Committees of People’s Councils: In case the adjustment of a project leads to a change in the contents specified in Clause 2, Article 37 of the Law on Public Investment and the principal contents of the investment policy decision specified in Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5, Article 16 of this Decree: The managing agency shall adjust investment policy according to the order and procedures specified in Clause 3, Article 37 of the Law on Public Investment.

Section 2

FORMULATION AND APPRAISAL OF, AND DECISION ON INVESTMENT IN, PROGRAMS OR PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED BY ODA OR CONCESSIONAL LOANS

Article 18. Competence to decide on investment in programs and projects to be funded by ODA or concessional loans

To comply with Article 38 of the Law on Public Investment.

Article 19. Procedures for formulation and appraisal of, and decision on investment in, programs and projects to be funded by ODA or concessional loans

1. To comply with Articles 40 thru 43 of the Law on Public Investment.

2. Feasibility study reports of programs and projects shall be formulated under Article 47 of the Law on Public Investment and relevant regulations, taking into account the contents specified in forms provided by foreign donors, ensuring their consistency with contents of investment policy decision and harmony between the process and procedures applied by Vietnam and those by foreign donors.

3. Dossiers, contents, and time limits for appraisal of, and decision on investment in, programs or projects must comply with Article 48 of the Law on Public Investment and the Government’s regulations detailing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment, specifically as follows:

a/ For programs or projects wholly or partially funded by loans on-lent from the state budget, their owners shall enclose dossiers with documents proving their financial capacity, repayment plans and other documents as required by the law on public debt management; 

b/ Foreign-language documents relating to programs and projects shall be enclosed with their Vietnamese translations.

4. Within 15 working days after a competent authority issues a decision on investment in a program or project, the managing agency shall notify the foreign donor and the project or program owner of such investment decision and, at the same time, send such decision (the original or a notarized copy), enclosed with the approved feasibility study report of the program or project, and affixed with the managing agency’s seal on adjoining pages, to the Ministry of Finance and related agencies for supervision and coordinated implementation.

Article 20. Adjustment of ODA- or concessional loan-funded programs and projects

1. The competence to decide on adjustment of programs or projects must comply with Clause 3, Article 46 of the Law on Public Investment.

2. Programs or projects shall be adjusted in the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 46 of the Law on Public Investment.

3. For national important projects, the adjustment must comply with Article 43 of the Law on Public Investment and the Government’s Decree on the order and procedures for appraisal of national important projects, and investment monitoring and evaluation.

4. For projects subject to investment policy decision by the Prime Minister, the adjustment must comply with Article 46 of the Law on Public Investment and the Government’s Decree detailing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment.

5. For programs or group-A, group-B or group-C projects:

a/ Contents, order and procedures for formulation and appraisal of adjustments to these programs or projects must comply with Article 46 of the Law on Public Investment and the Government’s Decree detailing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment;

b/ In case the adjustment of a program or project in the course of implementation leads to a change in the principal contents of the investment policy decision, thus changing one of the contents specified in Clause 2, Article 37 of the Law on Public Investment and the contents specified in Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5, Article 16 of this Decree, the managing agency shall adjust investment policy under Article 17 of this Decree before carrying out the order and procedures for program or project adjustment.

5. In case the adjustment of a program or project in the course of implementation leads to modification, supplementation or extension of a specific treaty or specific agreement on ODA or concessional loans: 

a/ Based on the program’s or project’s investment policy decision or investment decision with adjustments approved by a competent authority, the managing agency shall send a request to the agency that has proposed the conclusion of the treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans for modifying, supplementing or extending such treaty or agreement;

b/ In case the adjustment of the program or project does not lead to a change in the principal contents of the investment policy decision, the managing agency shall modify the investment decision on the basis of summarizing opinions of the Ministry of Finance and related agencies for use as a basis for modification, supplementation or extension of the specific treaty or specific agreement on ODA or concessional loans. 

Section 3

CESSATION OF THE USE OF ODA OR FOREIGN CONCESSIONAL LOANS

Article 21. Cases subject to cessation of the use of ODA or foreign concessional loans

1. The continued implementation of the concerned program or project might cause socio-economic, national defense, security, foreign affairs or environmental consequences.

2. The emergence of inappropriate factors or force majeure events with regard to funding sources, institutions or policies, or other reasons makes it impossible to continue implementing the program or project.

Article 22. Cessation of the use of ODA or concessional loans before a program or project is implemented

1. The order and procedures for terminating the investment policy or terminating an investment project must comply with Article 37, and Clause 1, Article 66, of the Law on Public Investment and the Government’s regulations detailing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment.

2. Dossier, contents, and time limit for deciding on the cessation of the use of ODA or concessional loans:

a/ A request for the competent agency to decide on cessation of the use of capital for the program or project, which must have the following contents: reason for the cessation, assessment of impacts of the cessation of investment and use of ODA or concessional loans, plan on handling of performed work volumes, arising expenses, and other related contents;

b/ Written opinions of related agencies;

c/ Other relevant documents (if any);

d/ Number of dossier sets to be submitted to the competent authority: 5;

dd/ Within 15 working days after receiving a complete dossier, the agency competent to decide on investment policy shall decide on cessation of investment policy for the program or project;

e/ The agency that decides to cease the program or project shall report to the agency that has decided on investment policy and the Prime Minister within 10 working days after deciding to cease the program or project.

3. At the request of the program’s or project’s managing agency, the Ministry of Finance shall notify the donor of the cessation of the use of ODA or concessional loans for the program or project.

Article 23. Cessation of the use of ODA or concessional loans for programs or projects during implementation

1. The managing agency shall report to the Prime Minister for the latter to decide on cessation of the use of ODA or foreign concessional loans for the program or project during implementation according to the order and procedures specified in Clause 2, Article 66 of the Law on Public Investment.

2. The Ministry of Finance shall officially notify the donor of the competent authority’s decision on cessation of the use of ODA or concessional loans for the program or project and carry out procedures for ceasing the use of ODA or concessional loans with the foreign donor.

3. Dossier, contents, and time limit for deciding on the cessation of the use of ODA or concessional loans:

a/ A request for the Prime Minister to cease the use of ODA or concessional loans for the program or project, which must have the following principal contents: reason for the cessation; invested amounts, arising expenses; assessment of economic, social, environmental, political and diplomatic impacts of the cessation; report on inspection and assessment of the investment volume compared to the tentative investment plan; plan on handling of invested volumes and amounts; plan on investment and completion of the program or project with other funding sources; opinions and solutions of the donor; plan on the use of other funding sources to continue the investment (if any); and other related contents;

b/ Written opinions of the Ministry of Finance and related agencies;

c/ Other relevant documents (if any);

d/ Number of dossier sets to be submitted to the competent authority: 5;

dd/ Within 15 working days after receiving a complete and valid dossier, the Prime Minister shall decide on cessation of the use of ODA or foreign concessional loans for the program or project.

Chapter III

FORMULATION, APPRAISAL, DECISION ON APPROVAL OF DOCUMENTATION OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECTS OR NON-PROJECT ACTIVITIES FUNDED BY NON-REFUNDABLE ODA

Article 24. Competence to approve documentation of technical assistance projects or non-project activities

Heads of managing agencies shall approve documentation of technical assistance projects or non-project activities funded by non-refundable ODA; documentation of technical assistance projects funded by non-refundable ODA for the preparation of investment projects; documentation of technical assistance projects or non-project activities funded by non-refundable ODA based on the competent authority’s written approval of the policy to participate in regional programs or projects as specified in Article 10 of this Decree.

Article 25. Preparation of documentation of technical assistance projects or non-project activities

Managing agencies shall coordinate with foreign donors in preparing documentation of technical assistance projects or non-project activities according to Form No. 07 or Form No. 08 provided in Appendix II to this Decree.

Article 26. Order and procedures for, and contents of appraisal, and decision on approval of documentation of technical assistance projects or non-project activities

1. The managing agency in charge of appraisal shall send a consultation request, enclosed with documentation of the project or non-project activity and other relevant documents (if any), to the Ministry of Finance and related agencies.

2. Within 10 days after receiving a complete and valid dossier, the consulted agencies shall give written opinions on contents of documentation of the project or non-project activity, including: necessity, objectives, major results; funding sources, financial mechanism; conditions proposed by the foreign donor (if any), the Vietnamese partner’s capacity to satisfy such conditions, and related necessary matters.

3. Contents of appraisal of the project or non-project activity include: conformity of the project or non-project activity with specific development objectives of the ministry, sector or locality, implementing and benefiting units; appropriateness of the implementation organization method; capital and capital-balancing capacity, and financial mechanism; reasonability of the budget structure for major items; commitments, prerequisites, and other conditions from the foreign donor and participating partners (if any); efficiency and practical applicability of outcomes, and sustainability after completion of the project or non-project activity; opinions already agreed upon or remaining divergent between the parties.

4. A dossier for appraisal of the project or non-project activity must comprise: the project owner’s request for approval of documentation of the project or non-project activity; draft documentation of the project or non-project activity; written opinions of related agencies; and other relevant documents (if any), such as the donor’s written agreement with contents of the project or non-project activity, notification or commitment to consider providing donation, memorandum of understanding with the donor, and report of the appraisal expert team carried out at the donor’s request.

5. Based on appraisal results, the head of the managing agency shall decide on approval of documentation of the project or non-project activity.

6. The time limit for appraising documentation of the project or non-project activity is 20 days from the date a complete and valid dossier is received.

7. For a project or non-project activity with a non-refundable ODA not exceeding USD 500,000, the head of the managing agency shall approve documentation of the project or non-project activity without having to consult related agencies and shall take responsibility for his/her decision.

8. The managing agency shall send to the Ministry of Finance and related agencies a notice, enclosed with approved documentation of the project or non-project activity bearing the managing agency’s seal on adjoining pages, and related documents, for monitoring and coordinated implementation.

9. Principal contents of a decision approving documentation of a technical assistance project or non-project activity:

a/ Name of the project or non-project activity;

b/ Name(s) of the foreign donor and co-donor(s) (if any);

c/ Names of the managing agency and the project owner;

d/ Implementation period and location;

dd/ Objectives, activities and expected outcomes;

e/ Management organization;

g/ Implementation method;

h/ Total capital and capital structure, consisting of non-refundable ODA (in original currency and converted into Vietnam dong) and counterpart funds (in Vietnam dong);

i/ Other contents.

10. The Ministry of Finance shall send an official notice to the foreign donor and request consideration of providing donation.

Article 27. Adjustment of decisions on approval of documentation of a technical assistance project or non-project activity

1. A decision on approval of documentation of a technical assistance project or non-project activity shall be adjusted when there is a change to the contents specified in Clause 9, Article 26 of this Decree. The managing agency shall appraise and decide on adjustment of a decision on approval of documentation of the technical assistance project or non-project activity and take responsibility for its decision.

2. In case a change leads to an increase in the counterpart funds or non-refundable ODA by USD 500,000 or more:

a/ The managing agency shall send a consultation request to the Ministry of Finance and related agencies with regard to the change compared to the contents of the decision on approval of documentation of the technical assistance project or non-project activity, enclosed with the adjusted documentation of the project or non-project activity;

b/ Based on opinions of the Ministry of Finance and related agencies (if any), the head of the managing agency shall decide on approval of the adjusted documentation of the project or non-project activity.

Chapter IV

CONCLUSION OF TREATIES AND AGREEMENTS ON ODA OR CONCESSIONAL LOANS

Section 1

CONCLUSION OF TREATIES ON ODA OR CONCESSIONAL LOANS

Article 28. Grounds for proposing the conclusion of treaties on ODA or concessional loans

1. The grounds for proposing the conclusion of a framework treaty on ODA or concessional loans include mobilization results, development cooperation strategies and policies, areas prioritized for use of ODA or concessional loans of Vietnam and the foreign donor, or the decision on investment policy for a program or project if such treaty is linked to a specific program or project.

2. Grounds for proposing the conclusion of a specific treaty on ODA or concessional loans:

a/ For a program or project funded by ODA loans or concessional loans, or an investment program or project funded by non-refundable ODA: the approved feasibility study report of the program or project; the program or project investment decision; and the Prime Minister’s decision approving on-lending of loans (for programs or projects eligible for on-lending of loans);

b/ For a technical assistance project or non-project activity funded by non-refundable ODA: documentation of the project or non-project activity and the decision on approval of documentation of the project or non-project activity.

Article 29. Agencies proposing the conclusion of treaties on ODA or concessional loans

1. The Ministry of Finance shall act as the agency proposing to the Government the conclusion of framework treaties and specific treaties on ODA loans or concessional loans; and framework treaties and specific treaties on non-refundable ODA for programs or projects, except the cases specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.

2. The Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Audit Office of Vietnam, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and government-attached agencies shall act as agencies proposing to the Government the conclusion of specific treaties on non-refundable ODA for programs or projects under their management, except the case specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

3. The State Bank of Vietnam shall act as the agency proposing to the Government the conclusion of specific treaties on non-refundable ODA not linked to loans from international financial and monetary institutions and banks for which the State Bank of Vietnam acts as the representative, except the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article 30. Order and procedures for conclusion, amendment, supplementation and extension of treaties on ODA or concessional loans

1. The order and procedures for conclusion, amendment, supplementation and extension of treaties on ODA or concessional loans must comply with the Law on Treaties.

2. In case it is required to conclude a treaty on ODA or concessional loans in the name of the Government and with the consent of a competent agency to meet urgent requirements, the negotiation and conclusion of a treaty on ODA loans or concessional loans in the name of the Government must comply with the following provisions:

a/ Based on Article 28 of this Decree and the request of the managing agency or a state enterprise, the Ministry of Finance shall request the foreign donor or lender to send the draft treaty on ODA loans or concessional loans;

b/ The Ministry of Finance shall consult the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and related agencies on the draft treaty on ODA loans or concessional loans. The consulted agencies shall give their written opinions to the Ministry of Finance within 5 working days after receiving a complete dossier for consultation;

c/ Based on opinions of related agencies, the Ministry of Finance shall develop and propose to the Prime Minister a plan on negotiation for a treaty on ODA loans or concessional loans. The dossier to be submitted for the negotiation for the treaty must comply with Article 11 of the Law on Treaties;

d/ The Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and related agencies in, negotiating with the foreign donor or lender on the draft treaty on ODA loans or concessional loans; and promptly report to the Prime Minister on issues arising during the negotiation and propose solutions;

dd/ Based on negotiation results, the Ministry of Finance shall propose the Government to decide on the conclusion of the treaty on ODA loans or concessional loans. The dossier to be submitted for proposing the conclusion of the treaty must comply with Clauses 1, 2 and 6, Article 17 of the Law on Treaties;

e/ Based on the Government’s decision, the Minister of Finance or the person authorized by the Government shall conclude the treaty on ODA loans or concessional loans with the foreign donor or lender;

g/ Within 10 working days after the bilateral treaty is concluded in the country or after the treaty-concluding delegation returns from abroad, the proposing agency shall send to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the original of the treaty; and a Vietnamese translation in case the treaty is concluded only in a foreign language.

3. In case the amendment, supplementation or extension of a specific treaty on ODA loans or concessional loans in the name of the Government is related to contents already approved by the competent authority in the decision adjusting the investment policy or the investment decision; does not give rise to an additional debt repayment obligation of the Vietnamese Government or does not involve the conclusion of a new treaty for amendment and/or supplementation; or involves technical amendments:

a/ The Ministry of Finance shall decide not to consult the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and related agencies when proposing the Government to decide to amend, supplement or extend the treaty;

b/ The dossier to be submitted for the amendment, supplementation or extension of the treaty must comply with Clause 6, Article 54 of the Law on Treaties, excluding written opinions of agencies. In case the Ministry of Finance consulted related agencies, the consulted agencies shall reply in writing within 5 working days after receiving a complete dossier for consultation.

4. In case multiple treaties are to be concluded according to the phases of a program or project funded by ODA loans or concessional loans:

a/ For the treaty concluded for the first loan: To comply with Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;

b/ For the treaty concluded for subsequent loans: Based on the proposal of the managing agency or the concerned state enterprise regarding the need for a subsequent loan; the ODA loan or concessional loan limit approved by the competent authority in the investment decision; and the project implementation progress and disbursement results under concluded treaties, the Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the managing agency or the concerned state enterprise and related agencies in, determining the value of the subsequent loan, exchanging opinions and reaching agreement with the donor, and carrying out the procedures specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

5. In case a treaty requires legal opinions of the Ministry of Justice: After receiving a complete dossier as specified by current regulations on issuance of legal opinions, the Ministry of Justice shall carry out procedures to issue legal opinion in accordance with law.

Section 2

CONCLUSION OF AGREEMENTS ON ODA OR CONCESSIONAL LOANS

Article 31. Grounds for proposing the conclusion of agreements on ODA or concessional loans

1. For framework agreements on ODA or concessional loans: Grounds for proposing the conclusion of such an agreement include the results of mobilization efforts, development cooperation strategies and policies, and areas prioritized for use of ODA or concessional loans of Vietnam and the foreign donor.

2. For specific agreements on ODA loans or concessional loans: Grounds for proposing the conclusion of such an agreement include the framework treaty or framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans (in case such framework treaty or framework agreement has been concluded) and the program or project investment decision.

3. For specific agreements on non-refundable ODA: In case the donor requests the conclusion of such an agreement, grounds for proposing the conclusion of such an agreement include the framework treaty on non-refundable ODA (in case such treaty has been concluded) and documentation of the project or non-project activity or the feasibility study report (for investment projects) approved by the competent authority.

Article 32. Agencies proposing the conclusion of agreements on ODA or concessional loans

1. The Ministry of Finance shall act as the agency proposing to the Prime Minister the conclusion of framework agreements and specific agreements on ODA or concessional loans for programs or projects.

2. The Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Audit Office of Vietnam, ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies shall act as agencies proposing to the Prime Minister the conclusion of specific agreements on non-refundable ODA for programs or projects under their management, except the case specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 33. Order and procedures for conclusion, amendment, supplementation and extension of agreements on ODA or concessional loans

1. Order and procedures for concluding a framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans:

a/ In pursuance to Article 31 of this Decree, the Ministry of Finance shall request the foreign donor or lender to send the draft framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans;

b/ The Ministry of Finance shall propose the Prime Minister to decide on negotiation for the framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans. The dossier to be submitted to the Prime Minister for negotiation must comprise: A written proposal on the negotiation policy, and the draft framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans;

c/ Based on the Prime Minister’s approval of negotiation, the Ministry of Finance shall consult the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and related agencies on the draft framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans. The consulted agencies shall reply in writing to the Ministry of Finance within 5 working days after receiving the consultation request and related documents;

d/ The Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and other related agencies in, negotiating with the foreign donor or lender on the draft framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans;

dd/ Based on negotiation results, the Ministry of Finance shall propose the Prime Minister to decide on the conclusion of the framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans with the foreign donor or lender;

e/ Based on the Prime Minister’s decision, the Minister of Finance or the person authorized by the Prime Minister shall conclude the framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans with the foreign donor or lender.

2. Order and procedures for amending, supplementing or extending a framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans:

a/ The Ministry of Finance shall consult the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and other related agencies on the proposal on amendment, supplementation or extension of the framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans. The consulted agencies shall reply in writing to the Ministry of Finance within 5 working days after receiving the consultation request and related documents;

b/ The Ministry of Finance shall report to the Prime Minister for the latter to approve the amendment, supplementation or extension of the framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans;

c/ Based on the Prime Minister’s approval, the Ministry of Finance shall carry out procedures for amending, supplementing or extending the framework agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans with the foreign donor or lender.

3. Order and procedures for conclusion of agreements on ODA loans or concessional loans:

a/ In pursuance to Article 31 of this Decree and the request of the managing agency or the concerned state enterprise, the Ministry of Finance shall request the foreign donor or lender to send the draft agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans;

b/ The Ministry of Finance shall propose the Prime Minister to decide on negotiation for the agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans. The dossier to be submitted to the Prime Minister for negotiation must comprise: a report on on-lending of loans (in case of on-lending of ODA loans or concessional loans) and the proposal on the negotiation policy; the draft agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans; and the project investment decision;

c/ Based on the Prime Minister’s approval of the on-lending of loans and negotiation, the Ministry of Finance shall consult the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and related agencies on the draft agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans. The consulted agencies shall reply in writing to the Ministry of Finance within 5 working days after receiving the consultation request consultation and related documents;

d/ The Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and other related agencies in, negotiating with the foreign donor or lender on the draft agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans;

dd/ Based on negotiation results, the Ministry of Finance shall propose the Prime Minister to decide on the conclusion of the agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans with the foreign donor or lender;

e/ Based on the Prime Minister’s decision, the Minister of Finance or the person authorized by the Prime Minister shall conclude the agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans with the foreign donor or lender;

g/ For agreements on blended finance mechanism: The Ministry of Finance shall carry out the procedures for conclusion of such agreements specified in this Clause;

h/ In case multiple specific agreements on ODA loans or concessional loans are to be concluded according to the phases of a program or project funded by ODA loans or concessional loans: Based on the loan value determined in the relevant concluded framework treaty, the Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the managing agency and related agencies in, carrying out the order and procedures for conclusion of such agreements specified in this Clause.

4. Order and procedures for amending, supplementing or extending an agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans:

a/ The managing agency or the concerned state enterprise shall send to the Ministry of Finance a written request for amendment, supplementation or extension of the agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans;

b/ The Ministry of Finance shall consult the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and other related agencies on the request for amendment, supplementation or extension of the agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans. The consulted agencies shall reply in writing within 5 working days after receiving the consultation request and related documents;

c/ The Ministry of Finance shall report to the Prime Minister for the latter to approve the amendment, supplementation or extension of the agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans;

d/ Based on the Prime Minister’s approval, the Ministry of Finance shall carry out procedures for amending, supplementing or extending the agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans with the foreign donor or lender;

dd/ In case the amendment, supplementation or extension of the agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans is due to changes in the contents of the program’s or project’s investment policy decision or investment decision approved by a competent authority: The procedures for amending, supplementing or extending the agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans must comply with Points a, c and d of this Clause;

e/ In case the amendment, supplementation or extension of the agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans is linked to the amendment, supplementation or extension of the relevant framework treaty approved by the competent authority: The Ministry of Finance shall carry out the order and procedures for amending, supplementing or extending the agreement on ODA loans or concessional loan specified at Points c and d of this Clause.

5. Order and procedures for concluding, amending, supplementing or extending an agreement on non-refundable ODA:

a/ The agency proposing the conclusion of the agreement shall exchange opinions and reach consensus with the foreign donor on the draft agreement;

b/ The agency proposing the conclusion of the agreement shall consult the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and related agencies on the draft agreement. The consulted agencies shall reply in writing within 15 days after receiving the consultation request and related documents;

c/ Based on opinions of related agencies, the agency proposing the conclusion of the agreement shall exchange opinions and reach consensus with the foreign donor on finalizing the draft agreement before submitting the conclusion of the agreement to the Prime Minister;

d/ Based on the Prime Minister’s decision, the head of the agency authorized by the Prime Minister shall conclude the agreement with the foreign donor;

dd/ In case of amendment or supplementation of an agreement on non-refundable ODA: Based on summarized opinions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and related agencies, the agency that has proposed the conclusion of the agreement shall propose the Prime Minister to consider and decide on the amendment or supplementation.

6. In case an agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans requires legal opinions of the Ministry of Justice: After receiving a complete dossier as specified by current regulations on issuance of legal opinions, the Ministry of Justice shall carry out procedures to issue legal opinions in accordance with law.

7. In case the donor does not require the conclusion of an agreement on non-refundable ODA: Based on documentation of the project or non-project activity approved by the competent authority, the managing agency shall send to the donor a written proposal on a document on exchange of opinions on the request for provision of non-refundable ODA for the project or non-project activity in accordance with relevant regulations. Contents of the document on exchange of opinions include the provider and recipient of non-refundable ODA; name and objectives of the project or non-project activity; value of non-refundable ODA; and implementation method.

8. In case the donor requests the conclusion of an agreement on implementation of the project or non-project activity: The managing agency or the agency designated by the donor shall formulate, negotiate contents of, and conclude with the donor, the agreement, ensuring that it does not contravene the treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans, and relevant regulations.

Chapter V

MANAGEMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAMS, PROJECTS OR NON-PROJECT ACTIVITIES

Article 34. Forms of organization of the management of programs, projects or non-project activities

Based on the size, nature and specific conditions of a program or project, the program or project management capacity, and the regulations on management of ODA or concessional loans of foreign donors, the investment decider shall decide to apply one of the following forms of program or project management:

1. For investment programs or projects: The management thereof must comply with the regulations on management of public investment and management of construction investment.

2. For a technical assistance project or non-project activity funded by non-refundable ODA:

a/ The managing agency shall directly manage and administer the implementation of, or assign an attached unit acting as the owner of the project or non-project activity to directly manage, and administer the implementation of, the project or non-project activity. For a technical assistance project funded by a non-refundable ODA amount not exceeding USD 500,000, the managing agency is not required to establish a project management unit and may use its own professional apparatus to manage, and administer the implementation of, the project.

b/ In case the foreign donor directly manages the entire project or non-project activity: In case documentation of the project or non-project activity, the specific treaty or the agreement on non-refundable ODA states that the foreign donor directly manages the entire project or non-project activity, the head of the managing agency or the project owner shall assign an attached unit to coordinate with the foreign donor in monitoring the implementation progress and quality, and in exploiting and utilizing outputs of the project or non-project activity;

c/ In case the foreign donor directly manages part of the project or non-project activity: In case documentation of the project or non-project activity, the specific treaty or the agreement on non-refundable ODA states that the foreign donor directly manages part of the project or non-project activity and the Vietnamese partner manages the remaining part, the managing agency or the project owner shall decide on establishment of a project management unit to manage the part undertaken by the Vietnamese partner in accordance with Vietnam’s current regulations and commitments made with the foreign donor.

3. For other programs or projects, the managing agency shall decide on one of the following forms of management:

a/ Establishment of a new project management unit;

b/ Use of the existing project management unit to manage and implement the new program or project: The managing agency or the project owner shall issue a decision to add the task of managing the implementation of the new program or project for the existing project management unit;

c/ Management and implementation of the program or project by its owner.

4. A project management unit shall be established to manage and implement a large-scale program or project applying high technology or related to security and national defense; a program or project with special features in terms of funding source or management model that requires the establishment of a project management unit; or a program or project requiring the establishment of a project management unit under a treaty or an agreement on ODA or concessional loans.

5. The project owner shall use its attached professional apparatus capable of managing and implementing the project, for small-scale projects and projects with community participation.

6. Consultants may be hired to manage part or the whole of the program or project implementation work.

Article 35. Project management

1. Within 30 working days after the investment decision or the decision on approval of project documentation is issued, the head of the managing agency shall issue a decision to establish the project management unit according to the form provided in Appendix III to this Decree. In case the project owner has the full legal person status, the head of the managing agency may authorize the project owner to issue the decision to establish the project management unit (except specialized project management units or regional project management units to be established under the regulations on construction investment management).

2. In case a new project management unit is established under Point a, Clause 3, Article 34 of this Decree: The decision on establishment of the project management unit shall be accompanied by a document providing the organizational structure; functions, tasks; responsibilities, powers and authorization; and a tentative plan on assignment of tasks to key position holders of the project management unit.

3. In case the existing project management unit is used to manage a new program or project under Point b, Clause 3, Article 34 of this Decree: Based on the decision on establishment of the existing project management unit, the head of the managing agency or the project owner shall add or adjust functions and tasks of the existing project management unit, and open a new account and register a new seal for managing the new program or project.

4. In case the project owner manages by itself the program or project under Point c, Clause 3, Article 34 of this Decree: Based on the decision of the head of the managing agency assigning the project owner to manage the project implementation, within 30 working days after obtaining the investment decision, the project owner shall issue a decision assigning additional tasks to attached units and individuals to carry out program or project management activities under current regulations, which must include at least one officer in charge of management and one officer in charge of financial monitoring who work on a part-time or full-time basis and must have professional qualifications relevant to their positions.

5. Within 15 working days after the decision on establishment of the project management unit is issued, the head of the managing agency or the project owner with the legal person status authorized by the head of the managing agency shall issue the Regulation on organization and operation of the project management unit. In case the treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans for the program or project has provisions on the organizational structure for project management, and tasks and powers of the project management unit, such provisions shall be concretized and fully stated in the Regulation on organization and operation of the project management unit.

Article 36. Tasks and powers of the managing agency in the management of program or project implementation

1. To decide on the organizational structure for management of the program or project implementation, which consists of the program or project owner, and the program or project steering committee (in case of necessity).

2. To approve the overall plan on program or project implementation; to summarize and approve annual plans on program or project implementation.

3. To direct bidding activities in accordance with current regulations, treaties and agreements on ODA or concessional loans regarding bidding.

4. To organize the monitoring and inspection of plan implementation; to supervise and evaluate the implementation and capital disbursement, ensuring that the program or project is implemented on schedule, with quality, and achieves the set objectives in accordance with the law on public investment and this Decree’s provisions on monitoring and evaluation.

5. To take responsibility for expenses arising due to subjective reasons, loss, waste, corruption, and violations in the management and use of ODA or concessional loans under its management in accordance with the law on public investment.

6. To perform other tasks and exercise other powers in accordance with law, specific treaties, and agreements on ODA or concessional loans for the program or project.

Article 37. Tasks and powers of the project owner in the management of program or project implementation

1. To organize the program or project management and implementation apparatus based on the decision of the managing agency.

2. To take responsibility for the management and efficient use of ODA or concessional loans, and counterpart funds of the program or project from the time of program or project preparation and implementation to the time the program or project is put into operation and use.

3. To disburse capital, manage finances and assets of the program or project, in case the program or project owner manages and implements the program or project by itself.

4. To formulate and submit to the managing agency for approval the overall plan and annual plans on program or project implementation.

5. To formulate quarterly operation plans to serve program or project administration, monitoring and evaluation.

6. To carry out bidding activities in accordance with the current bidding law, and specific treaties on ODA or concessional loans.

7. To negotiate and sign, and supervise the performance of, contracts, and resolve arising problems within its competence.

8. To coordinate with local administrations in organizing the work of compensation, support and resettlement in accordance with law, specific treaties or specific agreements on ODA or concessional loans for the program or project (for construction investment projects).

9. To carry out program or project monitoring and evaluation in accordance with the regulations on monitoring and evaluation of public investment and this Decree’s relevant provisions, ensuring that the program or project is implemented on schedule, with quality, and achieves the set objectives.

10. To carry out cost accounting, book keeping, account-finalization and auditing of the program or project in accordance with law; to prepare the reports on completion and final accounts for the program or project; to audit and hand over output assets and documents of the program or project, and comply with the project closure provisions of the treaty or specific agreement on ODA or concessional loans for the program or project.

11. To take total responsibility for loss, waste, corruption and violations that fall within its competence in the management of program or project implementation and cause economic, social or environmental damage, thus affecting overall objectives and efficiency of the program or project.

12. For a program or project funded by loans wholly or partially on-lent from the state budget, its owner shall fully and promptly repay the on-lent loans under the on-lending contracts signed with the Ministry of Finance or the on-lending agency.

13. Other tasks and powers as provided by law, specific treaties and specific agreements on ODA and concessional loans for the program or project.

14. To notify the selected servicing bank to the Ministry of Finance for the latter to carry out procedures for capital withdrawal and disbursement for the project funded by ODA loans or concessional loans.

15. To take responsibility before law and the managing agency within the ambit of its rights and obligations in accordance with this Decree and relevant regulations.

Article 38. Tasks and powers of the project management unit in the management of program or project implementation

1. Tasks and powers of the project management unit shall be assigned/vested by the project owner under the decision on establishment of the project management unit. The project owner may authorize the project management unit to decide or sign documents within the former’s competence in the course of management of program or project implementation. Such authorization shall be stated in the decision on establishment of the project management unit or in a specific letter of authorization of the project owner.

2. The project management unit may be assigned to manage multiple programs or projects but shall obtain the project owner’s approval and adhere to the principle that each program or project is uninterrupted, managed and account-finalized in accordance with current regulations. In case the project management unit lacks conditions for performing some management and monitoring jobs, it may hire consultants to perform these jobs with the project owner’s approval.

3. The project management unit is tasked to perform jobs assigned by the project owner for reporting to the latter, including:

a/ Preparing the overall plan and annual plans on program or project implementation;

b/ Preparing for the implementation of, and implementing, the program or project;

c/ Carrying out activities related to bidding, contract management, and compensation, support and resettlement work;

d/ Disbursing capital, and managing finances and assets of the program or project;

dd/ Monitoring and evaluating program or project implementation;

e/ Preparing for acceptance testing and handover of program or project outputs upon its completion; completing the payment, account-finalization, auditing and handover of assets of the program or project; preparing the completion report according to the form provided in Appendix VI to this Decree and the account-finalization report for the program or project; implementing the project closure provisions of the treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans capital for the program or project;

g/ Performing other tasks within the program or project framework as assigned by its owner.

4. Other tasks and powers as provided by law, specific treaties, and agreements on ODA or concessional loans for the program or project.

5. To take responsibility before law, the project owner and the managing agency within the ambit of its rights and obligations as provided by this Decree and relevant regulations.

Article 39. Regulation on organization and operation of the project management unit

1. Within 15 working days after the competent authority issues the decision on establishment of the project management unit, the director of the project management unit shall propose the managing agency or the project owner authorized by the managing agency under Clause 1, Article 35 of this Decree to approve the Regulation on organization and operation of the project management unit, which shall be made according to the form provided in Appendix IV to this Decree. The managing agency or the project owner shall send such Regulation to the Ministry of Finance, related agencies and the foreign donor within 5 working days after the Regulation is approved.

2. For construction investment programs or projects, the Regulation on organization and operation of the project management unit must comply with the law on construction.

3. Organizational structure of the project management unit:

a/ The position holders within the project management unit shall be appointed by the managing agency in the decision on establishment of the project management unit. Key position holders include: director, deputy director(s) (if any), and chief accountant or accounting officer. The director of the project management unit shall be held responsible to the project owner and the managing agency for organizing and administering the project management unit, and for organizing project implementation in accordance with law and the concluded specific treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans;

b/ For a newly established project management unit: Based on contents, scale, nature, scope of operation, and the implementation management method, the organizational structure of the project management unit must have sufficient personnel with appropriate capacity and experience to ensure the effective and sustainable management of project implementation. The director of the project management unit shall propose the organizational structure of the project management unit, which may consist of functional units in charge of administrative affairs, personnel and training, planning, bidding, finance, and monitoring and supervision, to be included in the Regulation on organization and operation of the project management unit;

c/ In case the existing project management unit is assigned to manage a new program or project: The director of the project management unit shall add and adjust the tasks in the Regulation on organization and operation of the project management unit to meet requirements of the assigned tasks, then submit it to the managing agency or the project owner for decision;

d/ In case the project owner manages the program or project by itself: The project owner shall issue a document on assignment of tasks to its personnel to participate in program or project management and implementation.

4. Personnel of the project management unit shall be recruited, appointed, and relieved from duty by the director of the project management unit. Functions, tasks, powers, and entitlements (salary, bonuses, allowances, etc.) of personnel of the project management unit are specified in the job descriptions as appropriate to their working positions and relevant regulations. The selection, recruitment, employment or transfer of personnel not on the official payroll of the project owner or the managing agency to work for the project management unit must comply with documentation of the program or project approved by the competent authority and relevant regulations.

5. Seal and accounts of the project management unit:

a/ The project management unit may use its own seal in accordance with law or the seal of the managing agency or the project owner in accordance with regulations of the managing agency or the project owner to serve program or project management and implementation;

b/ The project management unit may open Vietnam-dong and foreign- currency accounts for the program or project at commercial banks or the State Treasury for each funding source of the program or project in accordance with law and the specific treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans concluded with the foreign donor.

6. Operating funds of the project management unit: The operating funds of the project management unit shall be allocated from the counterpart funds for program or project preparation and implementation under Clause 2, Article 44 of this Decree or from non-refundable ODA in accordance with law and the specific treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans concluded with the foreign donor.

7. Management and use of assets assigned by the managing agency or the project owner to the project management unit to serve program or project management and implementation:

a/ Assets within the program or project framework that are assigned by the managing agency or the project owner to the project management unit for program or project management and implementation shall be used economically and efficiently for proper purposes and eligible beneficiaries in accordance with law and project documentation, and the specific treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans concluded with the foreign donor;

b/ In case a consultant or consulting organization or contractor hands over, donates or transfers the asset ownership to the project management unit, the project management unit shall request in writing the managing agency or the project owner to permit the project management unit to manage and use the assets during program or project implementation, and then shall hand them over back to the managing agency or the project owner upon program or project completion.

8. Completion of the program or project and dissolution of the project management unit:

a/ The time of completion of the program or project funded by ODA or concessional loans is stated in the investment decision, the decision approving project documentation, the specific treaty or the agreement on ODA or concessional loans concluded with the foreign donor;

b/ Within 6 months after the program or project is completed, the project management unit shall prepare and send the report on program or project completion to the managing agency or the project owner. The report on program or project completion shall be prepared based on the report on evaluation upon program or project completion in accordance with law and the specific treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans;

c/ The project management unit shall hand over the program’s or project’s assets, that have been assigned by the competent authority for management and use, to the managing agency or the project owner in accordance with law;

d/ After the report on completion and the report on account-finalization of the program or project are approved by the managing agency or the project owner and the handover of assets to the managing agency or the project owner is completed, the managing agency shall issue a decision on program or project completion and a decision on dissolution of the project management unit;

dd/ In case additional time is needed for account-finalization and completion of project closure procedures, the project management unit shall propose the managing agency or the project owner to issue a decision permitting the extension of activities of the project management unit and ensure funding sources for these activities;

e/ In case the project management unit manages multiple programs or projects, the managing agency or the project owner shall issue a decision on the completion of each specific program or project and simultaneously adjust the relevant functions and tasks of the project management unit.

Article 40. Hiring of consultants for program or project management and employment of experts being overseas Vietnamese or foreigners

1. Program or project management consultancy organizations shall perform jobs and commitments under contracts signed with project owners, and comply with relevant current regulations.

2. Project owners shall select consultants for program or project management through bidding and sign consultancy contracts in accordance with current regulations. When applying the form of hiring consultants for program or project management, project owners shall designate specialized units within their apparatuses or focal points to inspect and supervise the contract performance by consultants.

Article 41. Formulation, appraisal, approval and assignment of public investment plans from the source of foreign capital for programs and projects using ODA and concessional loans

1. The formulation, appraisal, approval, and assignment of public investment plans for projects using ODA and concessional loans must comply with Chapter III and Article 67 of the Law on Public Investment and the Government’s regulations detailing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment.

2. ODA loans and concessional loans of foreign donors for which the domestic financial mechanism of on-lending of loans to public non-business units is applied must comply with relevant treaties or agreements on ODA loans and concessional loans, the Law on Public Debt Management, and other relevant laws.

3. Time limits for arrangement of plans on foreign capital and counterpart funds for projects using ODA and foreign concessional loans:

a/ To comply with Clause 2, Article 67 of the Law on Public Investment;

b/ If the time limit for arranging counterpart funds does not meet the requirements prescribed in Clause 2, Article 67 of the Law on Public Investment, the arrangement of counterpart funds shall be extended in accordance with Clause 3, Article 57 of the Law on Public Investment.

4. The disbursement of foreign capital allocated by the central budget and on-lent foreign capital shall be carried out according to the assigned annual plans and estimates, regardless of the plans and estimates of other capital sources. Upon completion of the projects, managing agencies, localities and public non-business units shall ensure the disbursement ratio between the source of foreign capital allocated by the central budget and the source of on-lent foreign capital in accordance with the approved financial mechanism.

Article 42. Formulation and approval of overall plans on implementation of programs/projects using ODA, concessional loans or counterpart funds

1. The overall plan on implementation of a program/project shall be formulated for the entire duration of implementation of the program/project and must include all components, items, activity groups, corresponding funding sources (ODA, concessional loans and counterpart funds), and the implementation schedule.

2. Within 30 working days from the date of signing the specific treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans, the project owner shall, based on the feasibility study report, the program/project documentation approved by the competent authority, the investment decision for the program/project, and the specific treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans for the program/project, coordinate with the foreign donor to formulate or review and update the overall plan on implementation of the program/project, and submit it to the managing agency for consideration and approval.

3. Within 5 working days from the date of approval of the overall plan on implementation of the program/project, the managing agency of the program/project shall send the Decision approving the overall plan on implementation of the program/project together with the overall plan to the Ministry of Finance and related agencies and the foreign donor for monitoring, evaluation and coordination in implementation of the program/project.

Article 43. Formulation and approval of annual plans on implementation of programs/projects using ODA, concessional loans or counterpart funds

1. Based on the overall plan on implementation of the program/project approved by the managing agency; and the actual disbursement situation and the disbursement plan according to the relevant treaty or agreement on ODA or concessional loans for the program/project, the project owner shall consider and submit to the head of the managing agency for approval the annual plan on implementation of the program/project. The annual plan on implementation of programs/projects using ODA or concessional loans constitutes part of the annual public investment plan of the managing agency.

2. The annual plan on implementation of the program/project must include detailed information on the components of the program/project (divided into technical assistance and construction investment components), main items and activities, funding sources, including counterpart funds, and the implementation schedule.

3. After being approved by the managing agency, the annual plan shall serve as a basis for the project owner to formulate quarterly plans on implementation of the program/project for management, monitoring and evaluation of implementation of the program/project.

4. Annually, at the time of formulating the socio-economic development plan and the state budget estimates according to current regulations, the managing agency shall include the annual plan on implementation of the program/project into its annual public investment plan and budget estimates. Based on the annual budget estimates of the managing agency, the Ministry of Finance shall compile the public investment capital plan and submit it to the Government for the latter to consider and approve the annual socio-economic development plan and budget estimates for submission to the National Assembly for approval.

5. The process and procedures for assigning annual tasks regarding program/project implementation must comply with current regulations on assignment of tasks under annual socio-economic development plans.

6. Within 5 working days from the date of approval of the annual plan on implementation of the program/project, the project owner shall send the approval decision, together with the annual plan on implementation of the program/project, to the managing agency, which will then forward the decision to the Ministry of Finance, related agencies and the foreign donor. Such decision and plan shall be used for monitoring, evaluation, and coordination in the program/project implementation.

7. For a program/project using loans wholly on-lent from the state budget: Annually, at the time of formulating the socio-economic development plan and state budget estimates, the project owner shall formulate the program/project implementation plan and submit it to the managing agency for the latter to approve the ODA or concessional loan plan. This plan shall be sent to the Ministry of Finance and the authorized on-lending agency for monitoring and supervision of implementation. The managing agency and the project owner shall themselves balance counterpart funds according to the program/project implementation schedule.

8. For a program/project using loans partially on-lent from the state budget: Depending on the nature of each component of the program/project (with loans wholly allocated or on-lent), the project owner shall apply the process of formulating and submitting the program/project implementation plan corresponding to such component as specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 7 of this Article.

Article 44. Counterpart funds for program/project preparation and implementation

1. It is required to timely prepare sufficient counterpart funds in accordance with the program/project preparation and implementation schedule (including activities to be carried out in advance, if any). The source and amount of, and mechanism applicable to, counterpart funds must be consistent with the expense items of the program/project as agreed upon between the managing agency and the foreign donor and stated in the feasibility study report and the program/project documentation that have been appraised the competent authority and the investment decision.

2. Counterpart funds shall be used for the following expense items:

a/ Operating expenses for the project management unit (salaries, bonuses, allowances, office space, work equipment, and administrative expenses);

b/ Expenses for design appraisal, approval of the overall cost estimates, and completion of investment, construction and other necessary administrative procedures;

c/ Expenses related to the contractor selection process;

d/ Expenses for conferences, seminars, and training courses on program/project management and implementation skills;

dd/ Expenses for acquiring and disseminating international technologies, experience and skills;

e/ Expenses for promoting and advertising the program/project and community activities;

g/ Payment of taxes, customs fees and insurance premiums according to current regulations;

h/ Payment of loan interests, deposits, commitment fees and other related fees payable to foreign partners;

i/ Expenses for receiving goods and equipment and for domestic transportation (if any);

k/ Expenses for account finalization and verification of finalized accounts;

l/ Expenses for compensation, support and resettlement;

m/ Expenses for implementing some basic activities of the program/project (survey, technical design, construction; construction of some project components, procurement of some equipment);

n/ Expenses for monitoring and evaluation activities; quality monitoring and inspection, acceptance testing, handover, account finalization, and auditing of the program/project;

o/ Contingency expense;

p/ Other reasonable expenses;

q/ The use of other funding sources for the above-mentioned expense items must comply with relevant laws, regulations of development partners and treaties or agreements on ODA and foreign concessional loans, and the program/project documentation approved by competent authorities.

3. For a program/project using funds wholly allocated from the state budget: The managing agency shall balance counterpart funds in its annual budget estimates according to the regulations on budget management decentralization and from other financial sources as prescribed by law, clearly distinguishing between funds from the development investment source and funds from the recurrent expenditures corresponding to the expenditure items of the program/project, ensuring that counterpart funds are allocated fully, promptly, and in conformity with the progress stated in the feasibility study report or the program/project documentation approved by the competent authority and the investment decision, in accordance with the law on the state budget and the specific treaty or agreement on ODA and concessional loans for the program/project.

4. For programs/projects using wholly on-lent loans:

a/ In case loans are wholly on-lent to localities: Counterpart funds shall be allocated by localities from their local budgets;

b/ In case loans are wholly on-lent to enterprises or public non-business units: Project owners shall themselves arrange the counterpart funds or report such to the managing agencies for decision so as to ensure sufficient counterpart funds for the programs/projects as prescribed before signing the on-lending agreements.

5. For programs/projects applying the combined financial mechanism (allocation from the state budget and on-lending): Managing agencies or project owners shall arrange sufficient counterpart funds as prescribed by relevant laws before signing on-lending agreements.

6. For programs/projects for which funds are allocated from the state budget and of which the date of approval or conclusion does not coincide with the annual budget estimation period and for which counterpart funds have not yet been allocated: The managing agencies shall submit a written request to the Ministry of Finance for the latter to handle the case within its competence or submit to the competent authority for consideration and decision the addition to the annual budget estimates.

In case the time of formulating plans on counterpart funds for  preparation or implementation of a program/project does not coincide with the annual budget estimation period, the managing agency shall balance counterpart funds within its total allocated capital. If unable to balance the funds by itself, the managing agency shall send a written request to the Ministry of Finance for the latter to consider and submit the case to the competent authority for decision on an advance payment of funds, which will then be deducted from the subsequent year’s plan.

7. Expenditure limits for items funded from the source of counterpart funds must comply with the state budget expenditure regulations and relevant laws.

Article 45. Taxes, charges and fees for programs/projects

Tax, charge and fee policies applicable to programs/projects must comply with current laws on taxes, charges and fees, and treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party. In case the domestic law and a signed treaty have different provisions on the same issue, the provisions of the treaty shall prevail.

Article 46. Compensation, support and resettlement

Compensation, support and resettlement in the program/project implementation must comply with current laws and treaties on ODA and concessional loans to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party. In case the domestic law and a signed treaty have different provisions on the same issue, the provisions of the treaty shall prevail.

Article 47. Bidding

Bidding must comply with the provisions of Vietnam’s bidding law.

Article 48. Surplus funds

1. Surplus funds may only be used after sufficient funds have been allocated to fulfill the project objectives or items in the investment phases, for projects with multiple phased loans.

2. Order and procedures for deciding on the use of surplus funds of a program/project using ODA loans or foreign concessional loans:

a/ Based on the opinions of the foreign donor, the managing agency or the concerned state enterprise shall send a consultation request to the Ministry of Finance and related agencies to seek the latter’s opinions on the use of surplus funds of the program/project.

b/ Based on the opinions of the Ministry of Finance and related agencies, the managing agency shall decide on and be held responsible for the use of surplus funds.

c/ The order and procedures for adjusting the investment policy and investment decision arising from the use of surplus funds must comply with Articles 17 and 20 of this Decree.

3. Order and procedures for deciding on the use of surplus funds of a project/ non-project activity using non-refundable ODA:

a/ In case the donor requests the return of surplus funds of the project/non-project activity, the project owner shall return the funds to the donor.

b/ In case the donor does not request the return of surplus funds of the project/non-project activity and the managing agency wishes to use the surplus funds to improve the effectiveness of the project/non-project activity, the managing agency shall follow the order and procedures for adjusting the investment decision (for investment projects) or adjusting the decision approving the project/activity documentation (for technical assistance projects and non-project activities). The order and procedures for adjusting the investment decision are specified in Article 20 of this Decree. The order and procedures for adjusting the decision approving the project/activity documentation are specified in Article 27 of this Decree.

c/ In case the donor does not request the return of surplus funds of the project/ non-project activity and the managing agency does not need to use the surplus funds to improve the effectiveness of the program/project/non-project activity, the project owner shall remit the funds to the state budget according to regulations.

4. Cancellation of surplus funds from the source of ODA loans and concessional loans

The managing agency or the concerned state enterprise shall summarize the opinions of the Ministry of Finance and related agencies regarding the cancellation of surplus funds of the program/project. Based on the proposal for cancellation of surplus funds from the managing agency or the enterprise, the Ministry of Finance shall notify the donor of the cancellation of surplus funds.

In case a cancellation fee or other fees arise(s), the managing agency or the state enterprise shall send a request to the Ministry of Finance for the latter to cancel the surplus funds of the program/project, inclusive of the cancellation fee or other fees. Based on the proposal of the managing agency or the state enterprise, the Ministry of Finance shall report the proposal to the Prime Minister to ask for the latter’s permission for cancellation of surplus funds before notifying the donor of the cancellation. For projects using on-lent loans, managing agencies or enterprises have responsibilities and obligations with regard to the cancellation fee and other arising fees.

Article 49. Construction management, acceptance testing, handover, auditing and account finalization

1. For construction investment projects, the appraisal of feasibility study reports; approval of construction investment projects; appraisal and approval of construction designs; issuance of construction permits; management of quality, acceptance testing, handover, warranty of, and insurance for, construction works must comply with the law on construction management and treaties on ODA and concessional loans to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party. In case the domestic law and a signed treaty have different provisions on the same issue, the provisions of the treaty shall prevail.

2. For a technical assistance program/project, upon completion, the managing agency shall organize acceptance testing and take necessary measures to continue exploiting, and promoting the achieved results, as well as comply with current laws on finances and asset management of the program/project.

3. The auditing and account finalization of programs and projects must comply with current laws and treaties on ODA and concessional loans to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party, or as required by the foreign donors. In case the domestic law and a signed treaty have different provisions on the same issue, the provisions of the treaty shall prevail.

Article 50. Monitoring, examination, evaluation and supervision of programs/ projects using ODA or concessional loans

1. Monitoring, examination, evaluation and supervision of investment programs/projects using ODA or concessional loans:

a/ The monitoring, examination, evaluation and supervision of investment programs/projects using ODA or concessional loans must comply with Articles 73 thru 80 of the Law on Public Investment and other relevant laws. In case the domestic law and a signed treaty have different provisions on the same issue, the provisions of the treaty shall prevail;

b/ The Ministry of Finance shall organize the development, management and implementation of the national information system and database on public investment; and the information system on investment monitoring and evaluation;

c/ Ministries, central agencies and localities shall deploy the application of the national information system and database on public investment; and the information system on investment monitoring and evaluation within their scope of management.

2. Monitoring, examination, evaluation and supervision of technical assistance projects using independent non-refundable ODA not tied to loans or non-project activities:

a/ Monitoring and examination of a project/non-project activity: The project owner shall monitor and examine the implementation of the program/project/non-project activity based on the approved program/project/non-project documentation so as to ensure that the program/project/non-project activity achieves the set objectives and results, and periodically report the monitoring and examination results to the managing agency;

b/ Evaluation of a project/non-project activity: Within 3 months from the date of completion of the program/project/non-project activity, the project owner shall complete a completion evaluation report, which must have the following contents: implementation process; objectives achieved; resources mobilized; benefits brought by the project/non-project activity to beneficiaries; impacts, sustainability; lessons learned after implementation and necessary recommendations; and responsibilities of related agencies, organizations and individuals;

c/ Reporting on the implementation of a project/non-project activity by the managing agency or the project owner: The managing agency or the project owner shall submit reports according to current law.

Chapter VI

STATE ENTERPRISES USING ODA LOANS AND CONCESSIONAL LOANS  OF FOREIGN DONORS

Article 51. Fields and conditions for using ODA loans and foreign concessional loans

1. State enterprises may use ODA loans and concessional loans of foreign donors to invest in projects in the priority fields specified in Article 5 of this Decree in conformity with the business lines stated in their establishment decisions or enterprise registration certificates.

2. Conditions for using ODA loans and foreign concessional loans:

a/ Wholly state-owned enterprises or subsidiaries of wholly state-owned enterprises (below referred to as state enterprises) are eligible to use ODA loans and foreign concessional loans.

b/ State enterprises are eligible to use loans wholly on-lent from ODA loans and foreign concessional loans in accordance with the Government’s regulations on on-lending of ODA loans and foreign concessional loans.

c/ State enterprises shall agree to record an increase in state capital at the enterprises with regard to non-refundable ODA accompanying the loans (if any) to implement the investment projects.

d/ There must be a foreign donor’s letter of express of interest or commitment regarding the provision of loans for the concerned state enterprise’s project; and the Prime Minister’s decision granting the in-principle permission for the mobilization of ODA loans or concessional loans for the program/project.

Article 52. Approval of investment policy

1. The competence to approve investment policy must comply with Articles 30, 31 and 32 of the Law on Investment.

2. The dossier, order and procedures for approving investment policy must comply with Articles 33, 34, 35 and 36 of the Law on Investment.

Article 53. Making investment decision

The competence, dossier, order and procedures for making investment decision for programs and projects using ODA loans and concessional loans of foreign donors for which loans are wholly on-lent to state enterprises must comply with the laws on enterprises; construction; and management and investment of state capital in enterprises; and other relevant laws.

Article 54. Conclusion, amendment, supplementation and extension of treaties and agreements on ODA loans and concessional loans

The conclusion, amendment, supplementation and extension of treaties and agreements on ODA loans and concessional loans must comply with the provisions of Chapter IV of this Decree and Article 29 of the Law on Public Debt Management.

Article 55. On-lending of ODA loans and concessional loans

1. The on-lending of ODA loans and concessional loans to state enterprises must comply with the Law on Public Debt Management  and the Government’s regulations on on-lending of ODA loans and foreign concessional loans.

2. Before submitting the investment policy to the competent authority for approval, state enterprises shall submit to the Ministry of Finance a document proposing a credit institution to act as the authorized on-lending agency and the on-lending method after obtaining the credit institution’s approval.

Article 56. Adjustment of projects

The adjustment of projects must comply with Article 41 of the Law on Investment and the Government’s regulations detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Investment.

Article 57. Formulation of 5-year on-lending limits and annual on-lending plans and on-lending limits

The formulation of 5-year on-lending limits and annual on-lending plans and on-lending limits must comply with the Law on Public Debt Management and other relevant laws.

Article 58. Management, organization of implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting regime

The management, organization of implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting regime must comply with current regulations.

Chapter VII

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF ODA LOANS AND CONCESSIONAL LOANS

Section 1

OPENING AND MANAGEMENT OF PAYMENT ACCOUNTS

Article 59. Opening of payment accounts for a program/project using ODA loans or concessional loans at the State Treasury system and servicing bank

1. ODA loan and concessional loan accounts:

a/ ODA loans and concessional loans of the state budget shall be managed, accounted and monitored in the accounts of each budget level;

b/ The project owner shall open a project account at the State Treasury or a servicing bank to receive ODA loans or concessional loans for activities of the program/project.

2. Counterpart fund account: The project owner shall open accounts at the State Treasury office convenient for transactions (below referred to as the State Treasury office where the project owner conducts transactions) to control and disburse counterpart funds (domestic funds) of the project, or at a bank selected by the Ministry of Finance (in case loans are wholly on-lent to enterprises).

Article 60. Competence to select servicing banks

1. For programs/projects using ODA loans or foreign concessional foreign loans, the project owners shall select the servicing banks.

2. For a program/project using ODA loans or foreign concessional loans which is implemented by multiple project owners or when it is so requested by the foreign donor, the Ministry of Finance shall select the servicing bank.

Article 61. Criteria for a bank to be selected as the servicing bank for a program/project using ODA loans or concessional loans

1. Being selected from among banks with experience in managing the disbursement of ODA loans and concessional loans based on the rating by international credit rating agencies; meeting standards on banking operations, and complying with regulations on prudential ratio limits in banking operations.

2. Having a branch network meeting the requirements of the program/project.

3. Accepting the responsibilities of the servicing bank as stipulated in Article 62 of this Decree.

Article 62. Responsibilities of the servicing bank

1. To carry our procedures for the Ministry of Finance or the project owner to open an ODA loan or preferential loan account for the program/project in accordance with the relevant treaties or agreements on ODA loans and concessional loans signed by competent authorities and the provisions of Chapter VII of this Decree.

2. To monitor and manage the account, conduct banking transactions and collect charges in accordance with regulations, and report information on the account of the program/project using ODA loans or concessional loans in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VII of this Decree.

Article 63. Principles for opening and management of ODA loan or concessional loan advance accounts

1. The State Treasury office where the project owner conducts transactions or the servicing bank shall open an advance account (transaction account) for the project owner or the Ministry of Finance in conformity with the project’s payment requirements, ensuring the direct flow of loans to the project without allocating loans through intermediary accounts. If the project has multiple funding sources, separate accounts shall be opened to track each source of disbursed funds.

2. In case the managing agency assigns multiple units to implement the project, the project owner shall open sub-accounts at the State Treasury office where the project owner conducts transactions or at the servicing bank’s branches.

3. The account currency is the foreign currency of foreign loans (unless the Ministry of Finance approves the opening of accounts in Vietnam dong).

4. Management of interest on the advance account:

a/ Interest accrued on the advance account shall be accounted separately and used to pay bank service fees according to regulations. Bank service fees are project expenses. If the accrued interest is insufficient to cover bank service fees, the project owner shall estimate and allocate counterpart funds to cover them;

b/ Upon completion of expenditures on the advance account, for projects wholly allocated by the state budget, the project owner shall remit the accrued interest balance into the state budget. For projects using wholly on-lent loans, the accrued interest balance is a source of revenue of the project owner. For projects using partially on-lent loans, the accrued interest balance shall be allocated proportionally.

Article 64. Responsibilities of institutions holding accounts of programs/projects using ODA loans or concessional loans

1. Upon the request of the project owner as the account holder, the State Treasury or the servicing bank shall guide the preparation of dossiers and performance of procedures for opening the project’s payment accounts and carrying out payment transactions, withdrawals, and other operations in accordance with current regulations.

2. The State Treasury or the servicing bank shall guide and provide the project owner with complete information for the latter to carry out payment transactions via the State Treasury system or the servicing bank.

3. Every month as agreed between the account-holding institution and the account holder, and upon the account holder’s request, the account-holding institution shall send a statement of the advance account to the account holder, providing detailed information on the amount in original currency, the beneficiary and transaction date, the applicable exchange rate and the equivalent value in Vietnam dong, the opening balance, the expenditures during the period, and the closing balance.

4. Every month as agreed upon between the account-holding institution and the account holder, and upon the account holder’s request, the account-holding institution shall notify the account holder of the interest accrued on the project’s advance account (if any); the amount of bank service fees collected; the difference between interest and fees; and the opening balance and the closing balance.

5. Within 2 working days after receiving notification of a disbursement amount from the foreign donor, the account-holding institution shall credit the amount to the project account and notify the account holder thereof.

6. Before the 10^th every month, the State Treasury and the servicing bank shall submit to the Ministry of Finance a report on the operational status of ODA loan and preferential loan accounts opened in their systems during the previous month. The report must provide details by the project name, project owner, account, and sub-account (each account or sub-account used for a different funding source); separate non-refundable ODA and loans; opening balance, total withdrawals from the foreign donor during the period, total expenditures during the period, closing balance, and repayment transactions to the foreign donor (if any); interest generated on ODA loan and concessional loan accounts during the period, interest used to cover bank service fees, and closing interest balance.

7. At the end of the fiscal year, the account-holding institution shall reconcile the account balance with the project owner.

Section 2

ANNUAL FINANCIAL PLANS FOR ODA LOANS AND CONCESSIONAL LOANS

Article 65. Principles for formulating annual financial plans for programs and projects using ODA loans or concessional loans

1. Based on the medium-term plan approved by the competent authority, the managing agency shall formulate an annual financial plan for programs/projects using ODA loans or concessional loans.

2. The annual financial plan shall be formulated in detail by program/project and specific treaty or specific agreement on ODA loans and concessional loans signed, including foreign capital allocated from the central budget, on-lent foreign capital, counterpart funds allocated from the central budget, and counterpart funds allocated from local budgets. For projects using partially on-lent loans, the capital plan for the allocated and on-lent amounts must ensure compliance with the ratios stated in the financial mechanism approved by the competent authority.

3. The inclusion of ODA loans, concessional loans and counterpart funds in the annual budget estimates must be consistent with the signed specific treaties or specific agreements on ODA loans and foreign concessional loans, and in line with the actual disbursement capacity of programs/projects using ODA loans or concessional loans.

4. The formulation of annual financial plans for programs/projects using ODA loans or concessional loans must comply with the process of formulating annual state budget estimates prescribed in the Law on the State Budget and relevant laws.

Article 66. Inclusion of financial plans for ODA loans and concessional loans in annual state budget estimates

1. For programs/projects using development investment expenditures allocated from the state budget, ministries, central agencies and localities shall submit their public investment plans to the Ministry of Finance for inclusion in the annual state budget estimates.

2. For loans on-lent to provincial-level People’s Committees, provincial-level People’s Committees shall formulate a plan on disbursement of on-lent loans and report it to the competent authority in accordance with the Government’s Decree on the management of local government debts, and submit it to the Ministry of Finance for inclusion in the state budget estimates and reporting to the competent authority for decision.

3. For projects with loans on-lent to enterprises and public non-business units, the project owner shall submit to the Ministry of Finance and simultaneously to the managing agency and the authorized on-lending agency the annual plans on disbursement of on-lent loans. The Ministry of Finance shall synthesize and submit to the Government for decision on the annual limits on ODA loans and concessional loans for on-lending in accordance with regulations.

Article 67. Entering and approval of annual budget estimates on the Treasury and Budget Management Information System (TABMIS)

1. For the central budget, based on the budget estimates approved by the National Assembly and assigned by the Prime Minister, managing agencies shall allocate and enter the budget estimates from ODA funds, concessional loans, and non-refundable ODA funds tied to loans of foreign donors on TABMIS for the Ministry of Finance to review and approve, in accordance with the regulations on the organization, operation and exploitation of TABMIS and relevant guiding documents.

2. For local budgets, based on the budget estimates approved by provincial-level People’s Councils and assigned by provincial-level People’s Committees, provincial-level Departments of Finance shall enter and verify the investment capital plans and recurrent expenditure estimates from ODA, concessional loans, non-refundable ODA tied to loans, and concessional loans of foreign donors as target transfer to the local budgets; and the Government’s ODA loans, non-refundable ODA tied to loans, and concessional loans of foreign donors on-lent to the local budgets on TABMIS in accordance with current regulations.

3. The entry of budget estimates into TABMIS must ensure the correct codes for ODA and concessional loans allocated, ODA and concessional loans as target transfers to the local budgets, and ODA and concessional loans on-lent to the local budgets; for ODA and concessional loans as target transfers to the local budget, it must conform to the list and amount of funds assigned by the competent authority.

Section 3

CONTROL OF SPENDING FROM THE SOURCE OF ODA LOANS AND CONCESSIONAL LOANS

Article 68. Principles of spending control

The control and payment of ODA loans and concessional loans (below referred to as spending control) must comply with current regulations applicable to state budget funds.

1. Spending control shall be applied to all expenditures of programs/projects from the source of ODA loans and concessional loans, including also expenditures made under letters of credit or directly by foreign partners under authorization, provided that these expenditures are made under estimates and conform with concluded treaties or agreements on ODA loans or concessional loans, letters of expression of interest or written commitments of foreign donors and current domestic regulations on financial management. 

2. Spending control of programs/projects funded with ODA loans or foreign concessional loans for which loans are wholly allocated from the state budget or partially on-lent pro rata must comply with current regulations applicable to state budget funds within approved annual foreign capital estimates or on-lending plans, and fund estimates adjusted or supplemented in the year (if any) as approved by a competent authority.

3. The order, procedures and dossiers for spending control, requests for certification of valid expenditures from non-business capital, and project owners’ requests for payment of investment capial must comply with regulations on administrative procedures in the field of state treasury.

4. Time limit for spending control for advance expenditures and payments in a budgetary year:

a/ For advance expenditures under regulations: The spending control shall be implemented no later than December 31 of the planning year. Project owners shall send relevant dossiers and documents to spending control agencies before December 31 every year;

b/ For payments for the completed work volumes: The spending control shall be implemented by January 31 of the subsequent year.

5. For projects and project components funded by on-lent loans within the credit limit applicable to loan agreements signed in 2017 or earlier: Dossiers and procedures for spending control must comply with regulations of credit institutions using on-lent loans and concluded specific treaties or agreements on ODA loans or concessional loans. Credit institutions using on-lent ODA loans or concessional loans shall take responsibility before law for the accuracy and validty of loan credits and credit expenses stated in expenditure statements submitted to the Ministry of Finance when making and sending dossiers for foreign fund withdrawal.

6. Dossiers and procedures for spending control of projects and project components wholly funded by on-lent loans: On-lending agencies shall comply with Clause 3 of this Article and on-lending contracts.

7. Based on a project owner’s dossier of request for spending control for all forms of fund withdrawal, the spending control agency shall, based on the concluded treaty or agreement on ODA and concessional loans or the payment terms of the contract (number of payments, payment period, time of payment and payment conditions) or approved estimates, for non-contractual payments, and the value of each payment, the ratio and value of allocated loans and on-lent loans in the project owner’s request for spending control for each payment, conduct spending control for the project owner. The project owner shall take responsibility for the method of contractor selection, the accuracy and lawfulness of the work volume accepted for payment, norms, unit prices, and cost estimates for different types of jobs, work quality and compliance with current regulations. The project owner shall manage and use loans for proper purposes and eligible subjects in an economical and efficient manner, and comply with the on-lending ratio (for cases of pro rata partial on-lending of loans) approved by the competent authority no later than the project completion year and regulations on the financial management regime applicable to ODA loans and concessional loans.

Article 69. Spending control agencies

1. State Treasury offices at all levels shall control payment dossiers of projects or project components for which funds are allocated from the state budget; projects applying the mechanism of partial allocation and pro rata partial on-lending of loans, and projects using loans on-lent from provincial-level People’s Committees.

2. On-lending agencies authorized by the Ministry of Finance shall control payment dossiers of projects or project components wholly funded by on-lent loans.

3. For programs and projects other than those specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the Ministry of Finance shall appoint appropriate spending control agencies, adhering to the principle that a project’s single expenditure will be controlled by only one spending control agency.

Article 70. Spending control methods

1. Prior-payment spending control means that spending control agencies examine and certify the lawfulness and validity of expenditures before project owners withdraw funds to make payment to contractors or beneficiaries. Prior-payment spending control applies to expenditures other than those specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. After-payment spending control means that spending control agencies examine and certify the lawfulness and validity of expenditures after project owners have withdrawn funds to make payment to contractors or beneficiaries. After-payment spending control applies to:

a/ Payments from advance accounts to contractors or suppliers, except advance accounts held by the Ministry of Finance that are subject to prior-payment spending control;

b/ Transfers of advanced amounts from advance accounts to secondary accounts, for projects subject to multiple-level management;

c/ Expenditures paid from secondary accounts for project management activities specified in approved cost estimates; and,

d/ Payments under letters of credit (L/C) for goods and equipment procurement, except the final payment.

3. Within 30 working days from the date of withdrawal of funds for payment, project owners shall finalize payment documents and send them to spending control agencies for certification for use as a basis for making subsequent payments. When deeming it necessary, project owners may reach agreement with contractors on application of the prior-payment spending control method to the expenditures specified in Clause 2 of this Article, then notify such to spending control agencies for coordination.

Section 4

WITHDRAWAL AND ACCOUNTING MANAGEMENT OF ODA LOANS AND CONCESSIONAL LOANS

Article 71. Forms of withdrawal of ODA loans and concessional loans

Forms of withdrawal of ODA loans and concessional loans include:

1. Withdrawal to the state budget: ODA loans or concessional loans shall be disbursed to the state budget with regard to direct budget support amounts or outcome-based financing method.

2. Program- or project-based withdrawal, which may take one or several of the following forms: direct payment, payment under letter of credit, reimbursement, and advance accounts.

Article 72. Time limits for processing requests for withdrawal of ODA loans or concessional loans

1. The time limit for the Ministry of Finance to process a request for fund withdrawal is 4 working days from the date of receipt of a complete dossier. The time limit for processing an expenditure report is 7 working days from the date of receipt of a complete dossier.

2. For ODA loan or concessional loan-funded programs/projects with their final disbursements completed in the year of project completion, their owners shall send to the Ministry of Finance requests for fund withdrawal before December 31 (of the planning year) to ensure that the disbursement is carried out before January 31 of the subsequent year. In case of a force majeure event that makes it impossible to carry out the disbursement before January 31 of the subsequent year (including cases in which the spending control has been carried out and the request for fund withdrawal has been sent before January 31 of the subsequent year but the donor has not notified the fund withdrawal), it is required to comply with Clauses 1 and 2, Article 72 of the Law on Public Investment regarding the extension of time limits for implementation of and disbursement of funds for medium-term and annual public investment plans for plans on loans allocated from the central budget, regardless of on-lending ratios.

Article 73. Order and procedures for withdrawal of ODA loans and concessional loans

1. Order and procedures for withdrawal of funds provided as budget supports:

a/ The managing agency or the project owner shall assume the prime responsibility for, or coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and related agencies in, fulfilling the Vietnamese partner’s commitments with the foreign lender, ensuring satisfaction of the prerequisites on fund withdrawal specified in the concluded treaty or agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans;

b/ For the form of general budget supports: the Ministry of Finance shall prepare requests for fund withdrawal and send them to foreign lenders and transfer the withdrawn amounts to the state budget for use under the concluded treaties or agreements on ODA loans or concessional loans;

c/ For central budget supports for national target programs: After reaching agreement with managing agencies of component projects, the agency managing a national target program shall reach agreement with the Ministry of Finance on the time of withdrawal and amount to be withdrawn, ensuring that the disbursed amount has been included in the annual public investment plan and estimates of the program and component projects; and prepare dossiers of request for fund withdrawal and send them to the Ministry of Finance under the concluded treaty or agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans;

ODA loans or concessional loans disbursed to the state budget shall be distributed to component projects for use under the current regulations on management of state budget funds.

2. Order and procedures for withdrawal of funds provided by outcome-based financing method:

a/ The project owner or the managing agency shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, fulfilling the disbursement indicators as agreed with the foreign lender as a basis for fund withdrawal. The project owner may receive an advance payment under regulations of the foreign lender to perform the agreed jobs so as to fulfill the commitments associated with the disbursement indicators;

b/ The project owner or the managing agency shall assume the prime responsibility for, or coordinate with related agencies in, preparing reports and documents or providing documents proving the fulfillment of the disbursement indicators stated in the concluded treaty or agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans and send them to the foreign lender. The project owner shall prepare a dossier and request for fund withdrawal and send them to the Ministry of Finance as required by the foreign lender;

c/ The disbursed ODA loan or concessional loan amounts shall be transferred to the State Treasury account of the program- or project-implementing unit as agreed with the donor. The spending of the disbursed amounts must comply with the current regulations on management of state budget funds. At the end of a budgetary year, the balance of foreign fund estimates shall be handled under the current regulations on management of state budget funds; the cash balance on the advance account may be further used for activities of the program/project in the subsequent budgetary year under regulations;

d/ When withdrawing funds provided by the outcome-based financing method, the project owner shall apply the exchange rate between the Special Drawing Rights and Vietnam dong announced on the donor’s portal at the time of making a request for fund withdrawal.

3. Order and procedures for withdrawal of ODA loans or concessional loans provided by the project-based financing method:

a/ Forms of fund withdrawal:

Direct payment, which means that money shall be directly paid to contractors and suppliers of the project;

Payment by letter of credit (L/C), which means payment by letters of credit issued by banks as requested by the project owner, based on the opinions of the donor and the Ministry of Finance regarding the source of payment from the Government’s foreign loans and aid;

Fund reimbursement, which means that the foreign donor makes payment to reimburse valid expenses already paid by the project owner for the project;

Advance account, which means that the foreign donor transfers an advance amount to the project owner’s account opened exclusively for the project at a servicing bank or State Treasury office for the project owner to pay valid expenditures of the project in order to reduce the frequency of fund withdrawals;

For fund withdrawal to the advance account, the project owner shall send an expenditure report and finalized documents on a monthly basis. The time limit for sending finalized documents to the Ministry of Finance for expenditures made from the advance account is 6 months. After 6 months, if the project owner fails to send finalized documents, subsequent disbursements shall be carried out by direct payment.

b/ After the foreign donor issues a notice stating that the Vietnamese partner has fulfilled the prerequisites for fund withdrawal under the treaty or agreement on ODA loans or concessional loans, the project owner or the project management unit shall prepare a dossier of request for fund withdrawal according to the form issued by the foreign lender and appropriate to each form of fund withdrawal, and send it to the Ministry of Finance;

c/ In case the foreign lender requires additional documents or only approves part of the request for fund withdrawal, the Ministry of Finance or the foreign lender shall send a notice thereof to the project owner for coordination in promptly processing reasonable requests of the foreign lender;

d/ Dossiers of request for fund withdrawal to be sent to the Ministry of Finance: For each fund withdrawal, the project owner or an authorized unit shall prepare 1 set of dossier of request for fund withdrawal appropriate to each form of fund withdrawal and send it to the Ministry of Finance. The form of dossier of request for fund withdrawal is provided in Appendix V to this Decree. The project owner shall take responsibility for the accuracy and validity of the dossier of request for fund withdrawal, specifically regarding number of spending controls, to ensure that no double control or payment will be made for a single expenditure; the work volume accepted for payment, norms, unit prices, and cost estimates for different types of jobs, information on payment instructions to contractors and the dossier must comply with regulations on the financial management regime applicable to ODA loans and concessional loans;

dd/ Procedures for fund withdrawal by electronic means shall be carried out on the Ministry of Finance’s Public Service Portal or the National Public Service Portal and applied to all dossiers of request for fund withdrawal, except special cases specified by the Ministry of Finance in decisions on announcement of administrative procedures concerning withdrawal of foreign loans.

4. Introduction and cancellation of specimen signatures in requests for withdrawal of ODA loans or concessional loans: The managing agency shall send to the Ministry of Finance a document introducing the specimen signature or notifying cancellation of the specimen signature of the representative of the project owner or the project management unit authorized by the project owner, for programs/projects for which funds are allocated or partially on-lent pro rata. The borrower of on-lent loans shall send to the Ministry of Finance a document introducing the specimen signature or notifying cancellation of the specimen signature of the representative of the project owner or the project management unit authorized by the project owner, for programs/projects for which funds are wholly on-lent.

Article 74. Principles of management of the accounting of ODA loans and concessional loans into the state budget

1. ODA loans and concessional loans used for offsetting the state budget deficit shall be fully and accurately accounted into the state budget in their original currency and Vietnam dong equivalents, applying the accounting exchange rates under regulations.

2. For programs/projects for which funds are wholly allocated or partially allocated pro rata with expenditures controlled at the State Treasury, the State Treasury office where the project owners conduct transactions shall account into the state budget the amount of ODA loans and concessional loans allocated or partially on-lent (for provincial-level People’s Committees).

3. The accounting into the state budget shall be carried out on the basis of documents on disbursement of ODA loans or concessional loans handed over to loan users as notified by the foreign donor. For those applying the form of payment from advance accounts, the project owner shall make a request for accounting of ODA loans or concessional loans, clearly stating the allocation and on-lending ratios for each payment and send it to the State Treasury office for certification simultaneously with carrying out spending control procedures. For other forms of fund withdrawal, project owners shall make a request for accounting of ODA loans or concessional loans, clearly stating the allocation and on-lending ratios for each payment, and send it to the State Treasury office for certification within 3 working days after receiving disbursement documents from the foreign donor, and to the Ministry of Finance for monitoring.

Article 75. Accounting of direct budget support amounts

Based on money receipts or credit notes issued by the servicing bank, the State Treasury office shall account ODA loans or concessional loans as debit and as state budget revenue under regulations; in case a foreign-currency amount is transferred to the Centralized Foreign-Currency Fund, the State Treasury office shall account foreign-currency revenues or loans of the state budget under regulations.

Article 76. Accounting of ODA loans or concessional loans at State Treasury offices

State Treasury offices shall account ODA loans or concessional loans as revenues and expenditures for programs/projects using loans allocated from the central budget and on-lent loans with expenditures controlled in the State Treasury system, specifically as follows:

1. To conduct accounting according to codes of the sources of ODA loans or concessional loans allocated from the central budget, ODA loans or concessional loans as target transfers to local budgets, and ODA loans or concessional loans on-lent to local budgets, and conduct detailed accounting of non-refundable ODA tied to loans.

2. To account advance amounts as advance-payment expenditures; to account recovered advance-payments as decrease in advance-payment expenditures.

3. To account actual payments for completed work volumes as revenues and expenditures and conduct annual account-finalization of budget funds.

4. For expenditures under annual plans that have been controlled and disbursed before January 31 of the subsequent year, State Treasury offices shall account them as revenues and expenditures into the budgetary year of implementation. For expenditures controlled before and disbursed after January 31 of the subsequent year, project owners shall include them in the subsequent year’s plan for accounting them as revenues and expenditures.

5. Dossiers for accounting as revenues and expenditures must comply with the Government’s regulations on administrative procedures applicable to the State Treasury system. Project owners shall send dossiers to the State Treasury office where the project owners conduct transactions to certify the accounting before February 1 of the subsequent year.

Article 77. Accounting of ODA loans or concessional loans on-lent at the Ministry of Finance

1. For the Government’s ODA loans or concessional loans on-lent by the Ministry of Finance and loans on-lent by financial and credit institutions under the Ministry of Finance’s authorization to investment programs and projects: Based on the donor’s disbursement notice and the project owner’s disbursement statement, the Ministry of Finance shall account debt liabilities under regulations on accounting regime applicable to loans and debt repayments of the Government and local administrations; and make statistics of on-lent loans and government-guaranteed loans for monitoring.

2. For programs and projects for which the Ministry of Finance makes state budget accounting, when making any adjustment, based on the donor’s disbursement notice, the Ministry of Finance shall make an accounting adjustment statement and send sheets of this statement to on-lending agencies and project owners for the latter to adjust corresponding accounting figures in their reports on accounting and account finalization of foreign funds.

Article 78. Exchange rates for accounting and disbursement

1. For money amounts directly disbursed or paid by the donor with letters of credit in a foreign currency to contractors and suppliers, the accounting shall be carried out in Vietnam dong applying the early morning’s transfer rate of the servicing bank, the bank where the State Treasury opens its account, or the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam in case the servicing bank does not open on the day the donor records a debit to the Government.

2. For money amounts directly paid by the donor in a currency other than the debt acknowledgment currency, the applicable exchange rate is the donor’s actual exchange rate between the debt acknowledgment currency and the payment currency.

3. In case the projects’ payments are made from the advance accounts, for payments made in a currency other than the borrowing currency and payments in a foreign currency, the applicable exchange rate is the transfer rate of the equivalent foreign currency of the servicing bank or the bank where the State Treasury opens its account at the time of payment.

4. In case of bank transfer with advance amounts of revenues and expenditures recorded as actual expenditures when making payments for the projects’ completed work volume, the applicable exchange rate is the early morning’s transfer rate of the servicing bank or the bank where the State Treasury opens its account at the time of making account records of advance amounts as revenues and expenditures for accounting of recovered advance amounts.

5. Project owners shall be held responsible for the determination and application of exchange rates when requesting the State Treasury office where they conduct transactions to control expenditures or requesting the accounting of foreign-currency payments as revenues and expenditures under regulations.

6. Project owners shall re-evaluate exchange rates applicable to foreign-currency monetary items of their project activities at the end of the accounting period before making financial statements or when so requested by the donors, and foreign-currency monetary items subject to re-evaluation of exchange rate according to the accounting regimes they are applying.

Article 79. Time limits for accounting of state budget funds

1. Expenditures from ODA loans or concessional loans shall be certified as having undergone control procedures and disbursed before January 31 of the subsequent year; the accounting shall be carried out within 5 working days at the State Treasury office where the project owners conduct transactions.

2. The State Treasury shall complete the accounting of expenditures from the sources of ODA loans and concessional loans arising in an accounting year within 30 days from January 31.

3. The order and procedures for the accounting of ODA loans and concessional loans into the state budget must comply with regulations on administrative procedures related to the State Treasury operations.

Section 5

REPORTING, ACCOUNTING, AUDIT, ACCOUNT FINALIZATION AND EXAMINATION

Article 80. Reporting of information on ODA loans or concessional loans

1. Project owners or project management units shall send reports to the national information system and database on public investment. 

a/ For overall plans on program/project implementation and plans supplementing or adjusting the overall plans (if any), project owners or project management units shall send reports within 10 days after receiving approval documents of managing agencies;

b/ For annual estimated disbursement demands, assigned annual funding plans and plans on supplementation and adjustment thereof (if any), project owners or project management units shall send reports within 10 days after receiving approval documents of managing agencies;

c/ For actual loan disbursements, project owners or project management units shall report on actual state of disbursement of ODA loans or concessional loans in a month within 5 working days from the end of the month on the national information system and database on public investment.

2. The Ministry of Finance shall issue forms of the reports specified in this Article.

Article 81. Reporting on disbursement and accounting of state budget funds

1. Within 15 working days from the end of a quarter, project owners that carry out expenditure control procedures at the State Treasury office where they conduct transactions shall make a report on disbursement of ODA loans or concessional loans in the quarter and send it, together with statements of accounting of state budget revenues and expenditures certified by such State Treasury offices, to managing agencies and the same-level finance agencies.

State enterprises and public non-business units receiving on-lent loans shall comply with the disbursement reporting regime under the Government’s Decree on on-lending.

2. Within 30 working days from the deadline for disbursement of ODA loans or concessional loans under loan treaties or agreements, project owners shall submit a report on completion of with drawal of ODA loans or concessional loans to managing agencies for use as a basis for account finalization for projects, and managing agencies shall then submit the report the Ministry of Finance for use as a basis for completion of the disbursement at the donors’ request.

3. Project owners shall prepare and send financial statements to foreign donors according to concluded treaties or agreements on ODA loans or concessional loans, feasibility study reports, and project documentation (if any), and concurrently to managing agencies and same-level finance agencies for monitoring and timely direction of financial management of programs and projects.

4. Annually, within 60 working days after a reporting period ends, in order to serve the collation of accounting and actual disbursement figures, managing agencies shall prepare, sum up, and send to the Ministry of Finance and State Treasury offices a report on disbursement, and accounting of ODA loans or concessional loans as state budget revenues and expenditures.

5. The Ministry of Finance shall issue forms of reports on disbursement.

Article 82. Accounting, audit and account finalization

The accounting, audit and account finalization regime applicable to programs/projects using ODA loans or concessional loans must comply with current regulations applicable to state budget funds, guidance of the Ministry of Finance, and specific requirements for ODA loans or concessional loans.

Article 83. Asset management

The management of public assets generated from ODA loans or foreign concessional loans must comply with the law on management and use of public assets.

Section 6

OTHER PROVISIONS ON FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Article 84. Specific provisions applicable to programs/projects using ODA loans or concessional loans

1. The level of advance payments for contracts, recovery of advance payments and warranty retention ratio must comply with contracts between project owners and contractors and conform with regulations on contracts. Project owners shall manage and recover advance amounts to contractors. If impossible to recover such amounts, project owners shall themselves arrange funding sources for refund to donors.

2. For each time of requesting confirmation and payment of work warranty amounts for transfer to contractors, project owners shall make a table for monitoring the progress of transferring warranty amounts and accrued amounts to be transferred and send it to State Treasury offices for the latter to collate and confirm warranty amounts under contracts for project owners to refund such amounts to contractors.

Article 85. Provisions on financial management applicable to projects for which recurrent expenditures are stated in concluded specific treaties or specific loan agreements

1. For each program/project, its owner shall make and send to the Ministry of Finance a plan on disbursement and capital withdrawal in the planning year and the subsequent 2 years, separating funds from the sources of ODA loans, concessional loans and non-refundable ODA for recurrent expenditures and counterpart funds.

2. The Ministry of Finance shall include plans on ODA loans and non-refundable ODA together with loans for payment of recurrent expenditures allocated to ministries, ministerial-level agencies, central agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees in annual state budget estimates.

3. After funds for payment of recurrent expenditures are approved by competent authorities, related agencies shall input plans on funds for recurrent expenditures to the TABMIS in accordance with current regulations.

4. The control of projects’ expenditures or expenditures for activities covered by recurrent expenditure estimates must comply with the Law on the State Budget and guiding documents.

5. Projects having solely recurrent expenditures must apply the non-business administrative accounting regime. For projects having both investment expenditures and recurrent expenditures, project owners shall propose managing agencies to decide to apply an appropriate accounting regime.

6. Within 6 months after completing disbursement, for projects using ODA loans or concessional loans that are allocated funds for payment of recurrent expenditures, project management units shall make an account finalization report upon project completion, separating funds from each source (non-refundable ODA, ODA loan, concessional loan, counterpart fund), on the basis of summing up all account finalization data of every year during the project implementation period with approved final accounts notified by competent agencies, and send it to managing agencies. Managing agencies shall sum up and send the report to the Ministry of Finance.

7. Project owners (state budget users) shall formulate and send annual account finalization statements or annual financial statements to managing agencies (direct superior accounting units) or send them to finance agencies (if no superior accounting units are available) in accordance with the law guiding the non-business administrative accounting regime. The approval, appraisal and notification of annual final accounts must comply with the Ministry of Finance’s regulations on approval, appraisal, notification and summarization of annual account finalization statements.

Chapter VIII

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF NON-REFUNDABLE ODA

Article 86. Principles of financial management of non-refundable ODA

1. In case non-refundable ODA amounts are implemented by the Vietnamese partner, the estimation, control of expenditures, accounting, revenue and expenditure recording, and account finalization must comply with the law on the state budget and this Decree’s provisions on financial management. For arising amounts not yet included in estimates allocated and assigned under plans by competent authorities, project owners shall make additional estimates in accordance with the law on state management and relevant laws.

2. For non-refundable ODA amounts directly managed and implemented by donors: Managing agencies shall be held responsible for management of such amounts according to the concluded treaties or international agreements on non-refundable ODA, signed exchange documents (commitment letters, letters of intent, discussion minutes, memoranda of understanding, etc.), project documentation or program/project investment decisions; comply with their functions and tasks; and abide by current laws on receipt of non-refundable ODA. In case donors hand over the assets and equipment of programs/projects to project owners, the latter shall comply with the law on management and use of public assets.

3. For non-refundable ODA in the fields of science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation implemented by the Vietnamese partner: The synthesis and formulation of the state budget estimates for these ODA amounts must comply with Law No. 89/2025/QH15 on the State Budget. The payment of state budget expenditures in the fields of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation must comply with Clause 4, Article 58 of Law No. 89/2025/QH15 on the State Budget, budget-using units shall submit requests for payment to the State Treasury offices where they conduct  transactions (budget withdrawal slips or payment authorizations) for payment of the expenditures included in the budget estimates assigned by the competent authorities.

4. For non-refundable ODA amounts provided under the blended finance mechanism: To comply with the provisions on financial management of ODA loans and concessional loans in Chapter VII of this Decree.

5. For non-refundable ODA amounts allocated to state enterprises for implementation of investment projects, the used non-refundable ODA amounts shall be accounted as state budget revenues and as state budget expenditures to increase state capital at the enterprises.

6. For non-refundable ODA amounts granted for the purpose of emergency aid:

a/  For emergency non-refundable aid amounts granted for the purpose of provision of relief and remediation of disaster consequences: To comply with the Government’s regulations on receipt, management and use of international emergency aid for relief and remediation of disaster consequences;

b/ For other emergency aid amounts: To comply with this Decree.

7. In case the financial management provisions in this Chapter differ from those of concluded treaties on non-refundable ODA, the latter will prevail.

Article 87. Opening of payment accounts for a non-refundable ODA-funded program/project

1. Counterpart fund account: The project owner shall open an account at the State Treasury office where the project owner conducts transactions to control and make payments from the counterpart funds of the project.

2. Non-refundable ODA account: The project owner shall open an account to receive non-refundable ODA at the State Treasury office where the project owner conducts transactions or at a commercial bank. The order and procedures for opening of accounts at the State Treasury offices and the management and use of accounts must comply with current regulations.

Article 88. Formulation of financial plans for non-refundable ODA

1. Based on decisions on approval of project/non-project activity documentation or program/project investment decisions; and treaties or agreements on non-refundable ODA (if any), letters of expression of interest or written commitments from foreign donors, project owners shall formulate 3-year and annual plans on revenues and expenditures from the source of non-refundable ODA in accordance with the Law on the State Budget and relevant laws, and send them to managing agencies for summarization.

2. Annual estimates of revenues and expenditures from the source of non-refundable ODA shall be formulated in detail for each donor, program/project/non-project activity, and treaty or agreement on non-refundable ODA.

3. Formulation, summarization, submission, approval, assignment, and supplementation of plans on non-refundable ODA:

a/ Non-refundable ODA used for payment of investment expenditures must comply with the law on public investment;

b/ Non-refundable ODA used for payment of recurrent expenditures must comply with the law on the state budget;

c/ For technical assistance projects and non-projects activities funded with non-refundable ODA which are provided in kind, competent authorities shall formulate and decide on assignment of estimates or supplemented estimates in a year only in case it is possible to determine the value of assets and goods provided as aid.

4. On the basis of the annual funding limits assigned by competent agencies, managing agencies shall allocate funds to each program/project/non-project activity and notify detailed allocation plans to the Ministry of Finance.

5. Managing agencies shall direct and organize the implementation of estimates and report the implementation of plans on revenues and expenditures from the source of non-refundable ODA in accordance with current regulations.

Article 89.  Control of expenditures, disbursement, accounting and recording of revenues and expenditures from the source of non-refundable ODA in cash

1. Project owners shall conduct control of expenditures at the State Treasury in accordance with regulations on state budget management. The order and procedures for control of expenditures, accounting and recording of revenues and expenditures from the source of non-refundable ODA must comply with the law on administrative procedures in the field of State Treasury operations.

2. An expenditure control dossier sent to the State Treasury for the first time must comprise:

a/ The competent authority’s decision on assignment or additional assignment of estimates;

b/ Certified true copies of the decision approving the program/project documentation or program/project investment decision, and the program/project documentation or approved feasibility study report;

c/ A certified true copy of the specific treaty or specific agreement on non-refundable ODA or the exchange document on the project funded with non-refundable ODA (commitment letter, letter of intent, discussion minute, memorandum of understanding, etc.) of the foreign donor;

d/ Contracts on procurement of related goods and services (if any). A foreign-language contract shall be enclosed with its Vietnamese translation bearing the project owner’s signature and seal. The project owner shall take responsibility before law for the correctness and accuracy of the Vietnamese translation;

dd/ The project owner’s written request for certification of valid expenses from the source of non-business funds or written request for payment of investment funds in accordance with the Government’s regulations on administrative procedures in the field of State Treasury operations.

3. The dossiers for each payment sent to the State Treasury must comply with regulations applicable to expenditures from state budget funds.

4. Disbursement of non-refundable ODA in cash for programs/projects: Based on results of control of expenditures, and at the request of project owners, State Treasury offices or commercial banks where the projects’ accounts are opened shall conduct disbursement for the projects in accordance with law; and monthly notify the Ministry of Finance of the amount of disbursed non-refundable ODA of each account holder for each program or project.

5. Recording of revenues and expenditures for projects:

a/ Every month or when a revenue or an expenditure arises, on the basis of results of control of expenditures and a written request for recording of revenues and expenditures from the source of non-refundable ODA sent by the project owner, the State Treasury office shall concurrently record revenues and expenditures in accordance with law. In case the project owner opens an account for ODA funds at the commercial bank where the project’s account is opened, it shall enclose the above-mentioned dossier with a statement of documents on payment from the ODA fund account at the servicing bank;

b/ The State Treasury office shall account expenditures into the state budget based on the law-prescribed state budget index’s contents on expenditures from the source of aid. Advance payments made under regulations shall be accounted as expenditures for advance payments. Recovered advance payments shall be accounted as decrease in advance payments. Payments for completed work volumes shall be accounted as actual revenues and expenditures and subject to annual state budget account finalization;

c/ The time of accounting must comply with current regulations applicable to state budget funds.

6. The payment of advance amounts and control of expenditures from the source of non-refundable ODA in cash must comply with current regulations applicable to state budget funds.

7. Interests on deposits from the source of non-refundable ODA generated on deposit accounts shall be separately accounted and may be used to pay banking service charges under regulations. Banking service charges constitute an expenditure of projects.

8.  Upon completion of spending activities on a non-refundable ODA account at a commercial bank or State Treasury office where the project account is opened, if there is no commitment in the relevant treaty or agreement on non-refundable ODA on the use of deposit interests from aid, the project owner shall pay the whole amount of interests on the deposit account to the state budget in accordance with current regulations. The use of deposit interests must comply with the laws on public investment and the state budget.

Article 90. Receipt of non-refundable ODA provided in goods or services

1. The receipt of aid goods imported from foreign countries must comply with the Customs Law, the Law on Import Duty and Export Duty and the Law on Tax Administration. In addition to the import dossier as prescribed by the laws on customs and import duty and export duty, a dossier sent to a customs office for customs clearance for imported aid goods must comprise:

a/ The relevant specific treaty or specific agreement on non-refundable ODA or exchange document on commitment on provision and receipt of non-refundable ODA: 1 copy self-certified by the importer;

b/ The decision approving the project/non-project activity documentation or program investment decision and the project documentation or approved feasibility study report: 1 true copy certified by a competent agency in accordance with relevant laws.

2. A dossier for tax refund or tax exemption for goods or services domestically purchased with non-refundable ODA sent to a tax office must comprise:

a/ The relevant specific treaty or specific agreement on non-refundable ODA or exchange document on the project using non-refundable ODA (commitment letter, letter of intent, discussion minute, memorandum of understanding, etc.) of the foreign donor: 1 copy;

b/ The decision approving the project/non-project activity documentation or program investment decision and the project documentation or approved feasibility study report: 1 copy;

c/ Other papers related to tax refund or tax exemption as prescribed by law;

d/ A written request for certification of valid expenditures from the source of non-business funds  and the project owner’s written request for payment of investment funds in accordance with the Government’s regulations on administrative procedures in the field of State Treasury operations (in case non-refundable ODA funds are directly managed and implemented by the Vietnamese partner).

3. After goods are delivered and received, the project/non-project activity owner shall make a dossier and send it to the State Treasury office for recording of state budget revenues and expenditures in accordance with law. A dossier for recording of revenues and expenditures must comprise:

a/ The relevant specific treaty or specific agreement on non-refundable ODA or exchange document on commitment on provision and receipt of non-refundable ODA: 1 true copy certified by a competent agency as prescribed by relevant laws;

b/ The decision approving the project documentation or program investment decision and the project documentation or approved feasibility study report: 1 true copy certified by a competent agency as prescribed by relevant laws;

c/ A written request for recording of revenues and expenditures in accordance with the Government’s regulations on administrative procedures applicable to the field of State Treasury operations;

d/ For imported goods: Contracts, bills of lading or other transport documents of equivalent validity, commercial invoices or imported goods declaration forms if there is no commercial invoice: 1 true copy certified by a competent agency in accordance with relevant laws. For domestically purchased goods: purchase and sale contracts, value-added tax invoices, and goods delivery records: 1 true copy certified by a competent agency as prescribed by relevant laws;

dd/ A competent authority’s decision on assignment of estimates or supplemented estimates of non-refundable ODA in the year, in case it is possible to determine the value of aid goods and aid provided in kind.

4. For imported goods, State Treasury offices shall account the prices used for recording of revenues and expenditures that are exclusive of taxes, charges and fees in accordance with law.

Chapter IX

TASKS, POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS IN THE MANAGEMENT AND USE OF ODA AND CONCESSIONAL LOANS

Article 91. Tasks and powers of the Ministry of Finance

1. To assume the prime responsibility for drafting strategies and policies on development cooperation with foreign donors; and orientations for attraction, management and use of ODA and concessional loans of foreign donors.

2. To assume the prime responsibility for drafting and submitting for promulgation, or promulgating, legal documents on management and use of ODA and concessional loans according to its competence.

3. To assume the prime responsibility for determining demand for development investment capital from the source of ODA and concessional loans for programs and projects, and send a document on demand for ODA and concessional loans for programs and projects to foreign donors; to summarize information and report to the Prime Minister for consideration the policy on mobilization of ODA and concessional loans; to notify donors of the cessation of the use of ODA and concessional loans for programs and projects.

4. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, appraising funding sources and fund-balancing capacity for ODA- or concessional loan-funded investment projects in accordance with the Law on Public Investment.

5. To summarize information and submit to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision the policy for Vietnam’s participation in regional programs and projects and the managing agencies of programs and projects; to send official notices of approved programs, projects or non-project activities to foreign donors and request consideration of donation after investment policy of programs and projects and documentation of technical assistance projects or non-project activities are decided by competent authorities.

6. To coordinate with the State Bank of Vietnam in formulating treaties on non-refundable ODA not accompanied by loans with international financial and monetary institutions.

7. To supervise and evaluate ODA- or concessional loan-funded programs and projects in accordance with the regulations on monitoring and evaluation of public investment, and management and use of ODA and concessional loans.

8. To act as the focal point in solving difficulties and problems in the course of program and project implementation, and matters involving multiple ministries and sectors in order to ensure implementation progress and accelerate the disbursement of ODA and concessional loans; to propose the Prime Minister to decide on measures to handle matters related to ODA and concessional loans that fall within the Prime Minister’s competence.

In case of necessity, to assume the prime responsibility for forming interdisciplinary working teams to directly work with managing agencies, project owners, project management units and foreign donors in order to consider, evaluate and timely solve difficulties according to its competence.

9. To submit to the Prime Minister annual reports and unscheduled reports on mobilization, management and use of ODA and concessional loans; to propose solutions to address difficulties arising in the course of program and project implementation.

10. To assume the prime responsibility for preparing contents concerning conditions on use of capital, domestic financial mechanism and financial management of programs and projects; and financial appraisal of projects funded by on-lent loans.

11. To assume the prime responsibility for determining the grant element, assessing impacts of ODA loans and concessional loans on public debt safety indicators and determining the domestic financial mechanism applicable to ODA loan- or concessional loan-funded programs and projects.

12. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, proposing to the Government the conclusion of framework treaties and specific treaties on ODA, concessional loans and non-refundable ODA for ODA loan- or concessional loan-funded programs and projects as specified in Clause 1, Article 29 and Clause 1, Article 32 of this Decree; to assume the prime responsibility for the conclusion of framework agreements and specific agreements on non-refundable ODA for programs and projects as specified in Clause 5, Article 33 of this Decree.

13. To act as the official representative of “the borrower” with regard to ODA loans or concessional loans borrowed in the name of the State or the Government from foreign donors.

14. To assume the prime responsibility for selecting servicing banks for programs and projects falling within its competence.

15. To summarize information and submit to the Prime Minister for decision the cancellation of surplus funds; to send official notices of the cancellation of surplus funds as specified in Clause 4, Article 48 of this Decree to donors.

16. To perform the financial management of programs and projects:

a/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, guiding the financial management of programs and projects;

b/ To provide guidance on forms of and reports on the financial management of programs and projects in accordance with current laws and treaties and agreements on ODA and concessional loans signed with foreign donors;

c/ To allocate state budget funds and other funding sources for repayment of ODA loans and concessional loans when they become due;

d/ To monitor and supervise financial management of ODA and concessional loans and organize the accounting of state budget funds for these funding sources;

dd/ To report on capital disbursement and withdrawal and repayment with regard to ODA and concessional loans in accordance with the laws on public investment and public debt management, and current regulations;

e/ To coordinate with related agencies in proposing competent authorities to adequately and promptly arrange counterpart funds for preparing and implementing programs and projects eligible for central budget allocations in annual funding plans;

g/ To organize on-lending of loans and recovery of amounts of on-lent loans of programs and projects eligible for on-lending of loans from the state budget.

h/ To build, manage and operate the national information system and database on public investment, and the information system on investment monitoring and evaluation.

Article 92. Tasks and powers of the State Bank of Vietnam

1. To coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and related agencies in formulating strategies and policies on development cooperation with foreign donors, and orientations and plans on attraction, coordination, management and use of ODA and concessional loans; to analyze and assess the use efficiency of these funding sources.

2. To coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and related agencies in appraising ODA, concessional loans and counterpart funds and capacity to balance these funding sources (for funds from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other international financial and monetary institutions and international banks at which the State Bank of Vietnam acts as Vietnam’s representative).

3. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, proposing to competent authorities the conclusion of treaties on non-refundable ODA not accompanied by loans with international financial and monetary institutions as specified in Clause 3, Article 29 of this Decree.

4. To coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in proposing to competent authorities the conclusion of treaties and framework agreements and specific agreements on ODA loans and concessional loans with international financial and monetary institutions at which the State Bank of Vietnam acts as Vietnam’s representative.

Article 93. Tasks and powers of the Ministry of Justice

1. To appraise draft treaties on ODA and concessional loans in accordance with law.

2. To participate in negotiating, and contribute opinions on contents of, draft treaties and agreements on ODA and concessional loans.

3. To contribute opinions on investment policy proposal reports of programs and projects on legal cooperation with foreign donors.

4. To give opinions on documentation of technical assistance projects and non-project activities on legal cooperation with foreign donors which are subject to the Prime Minister’s approval in accordance with the regulations on management of international cooperation in legal matters; and projects and non-project activities on legal cooperation which are subject to managing agencies’ approval.

Article 94. Tasks and powers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1. To coordinate with related agencies in formulating and implementing guidelines and orientations for mobilization of ODA and concessional loans as well as counterpart policies on the basis of general external relations policies; to participate in mobilizing ODA and concessional loans.

2. To coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and related agencies, and direct representative missions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in foreign countries or at international organizations in mobilizing ODA and concessional loans in line with guidelines and orientations on mobilization, and orientations and plans on attraction, coordination, management and use, of ODA and concessional loans in each period.

3. To participate in negotiating, and contribute opinions on, draft treaties and agreements on ODA and concessional loans; to participate in proposing the conclusion of treaties and agreements on ODA and concessional loans.

4. To carry out external affairs procedures for conclusion and implementation of treaties; to organize preservation, making of certified copies, and announcement, of treaties on ODA and concessional loans in accordance with the Law on Treaties.

5. To grant authorization for signing of agreements on ODA and concessional loans.

6. To participate in program and project evaluation at the request of competent agencies.

7. To monitor and examine the performance of procedures for conclusion and implementation of treaties and agreements on ODA and concessional loans in accordance with law.

Article 95. Tasks and powers of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies

1. To coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and related agencies in formulating strategies, master plans and plans on attraction, coordination, management and use of ODA and concessional loans; to formulate policies and measures to coordinate, and improve use efficiency of, ODA and concessional loans in the fields under their respective management.

2. To prepare investment policy proposal reports or prefeasibility study reports, and submit them to competent authorities for decision or approval according to their competence.

3. To coordinate with agencies that propose conclusion of treaties and agreements in proposing to competent authorities the conclusion of specific treaties or agreements on ODA or concessional loans for programs and projects of which they act as managing agencies in accordance with Clauses 1 and 3, Article 29; Clauses 1, Article 32; and Clause 3, Article 33, of this Decree, and implement such treaties or agreements in accordance with law.

4. To propose to the Government the conclusion of specific treaties on non-refundable ODA as specified in Clause 2, Article 29 of this Decree, and organize the implementation of such treaties in accordance with the law on treaties.

5. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, the conclusion of agreements on non-refundable ODA as specified in Clause 2, Article 32 and Clause 5, Article 33, of this Decree, and organize the implementation of such agreements in accordance with law.

6. To perform the state management of ODA and concessional loans in sectors or fields under their respective management in accordance with law.

7. To ensure publicity and transparency and take responsibility for implementation of, and fund disbursement for, programs and projects, and use efficiency of ODA and concessional loans of programs and projects they directly manage and implement.

Article 96. Tasks and powers of provincial-level People’s Committees

1. To coordinate with the Ministry of Finance, and related ministries, sectors and agencies in formulating strategies and orientations for and plans on attraction, coordination, management and use of ODA and concessional loans; to formulate policies and measures for coordinating and improving efficiency of the use of ODA and concessional loans in their respective localities.

2. To prepare investment policy proposal reports or prefeasibility study reports, and submit them to competent authorities for decision or approval according to their competence.

3. To coordinate with agencies that propose the conclusion of treaties and agreements in proposing to competent authorities the conclusion of specific treaties or agreements on ODA or concessional loans for programs and projects of which they act as managing agencies in accordance with Clauses 1 and 3, Article 29, and Clause 1, Article 32, of this Decree, and implement such treaties or agreements in accordance with law.

4. To coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in the conclusion of specific treaties on non-refundable ODA as specified in Clause 1, Article 29 of this Decree and organize the implementation of such treaties in accordance with the law on treaties; to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in proposing to the Prime Minister the conclusion of agreements on non-refundable ODA as specified in Clause 1, Article 32 of this Decree, and organize the implementation of such agreements in accordance with law.

5. To direct and organize land recovery, compensation and support and resettlement for programs and projects in their respective localities in accordance with law and treaties on ODA and concessional loans to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

6. To perform the state management of ODA and concessional loans in their respective localities in accordance with law.

7. To ensure publicity and transparency and take responsibility for implementation of, and fund disbursement for, programs and projects as well as use efficiency of ODA and concessional loans for programs and projects they directly manage and implement.

8. To arrange sufficient funds for repayment of debts owed to the central budget as scheduled in order to repay foreign debts for programs and projects subject to the mechanism of on-lending of ODA or concessional loans from the central budget to provincial-level budgets.

Chapter X

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 97. Transitional provisions

1. Transitional provisions for ODA- or foreign concessional loan-funded public investment programs and projects must comply with the Law on Public Investment and the Government’s Decree detailing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment.

2. For ODA loan- or concessional loan-funded programs and projects on the lists approved by competent authorities, if modification or adjustment is required in the course of implementation, investment policy shall be adjusted in accordance with this Decree.

3. For ODA loan- or concessional loan-funded programs and projects with project proposals approved by the Prime Minister and stating the rates of grant and on-lending of ODA loans or foreign concessional loans before the effective date of this Decree, any modification or adjustment, if required, in the course of implementation, must comply with this Decree; it is not required to adjust project proposals, and it is allowed to continue to apply the financial mechanism, including the specific rates of on-lending (if any) of ODA and concessional loans, already approved by competent authorities before the effective date of this Decree.

4. The Prime Minister’s decisions approving project proposals, that are issued before the effective date of this Decree, serve as a basis for appraising and assessing the funding sources and fund-balancing capacity of the programs and projects.

5. For programs and projects accompanied by policy framework; sector-wide approach programs; procurement of commodities subject to the Prime Minister’s approval; and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s participation in regional programs and projects, which are decided by competent authorities before the effective date of this Decree, the adjustment, if required, must comply with this Decree.

6. For non-refundable ODA-funded programs and projects in the fields of national defense, security and religion which are undergoing the order and procedures for submitting investment policy to competent authorities for approval before the effective date of this Decree, it is required to carry out the order and procedures for proposing competent authorities to approve investment in accordance with this Decree.

7. For non-refundable ODA-funded investment programs and projects with investment policy approved by competent authorities before the effective date of this Decree, the adjustment, if required, must comply with this Decree without having to carry out procedures for adjustment of investment policy or adjustment of program or project proposals.

8. For programs and technical assistance projects using non-refundable ODA for preparation of investment projects that are approved by competent authorities before the effective date of this Decree, the adjustment, if required, must comply with this Decree.

9. For non-refundable ODA-funded programs and projects having undergone investment procedures and currently undergoing procedures for adjustment or supplementation of medium-term capital plans in accordance with the Law on Public Investment, the provisions of this Decree shall be applied.

10. For programs, technical assistance projects and non-project activities funded by non-refundable ODA with implementation policy approved by the Prime Minister before the effective date of this Decree, the adjustment, if required, must comply with this Decree.

11. For target budget support amounts for which the Prime Minister approves the receipt policy before the effective date of this Decree, in case the Prime Minister’s decision is adjusted, managing agencies shall seek opinions of the Ministry of Finance, summarize and submit them to the Prime Minister for decision.

12. For ODA- or concessional loan-funded programs and projects undergoing procedures for extension of the time of capital allocation before the effective date of this Decree, this Decree’s provisions on the time of capital allocation shall be applied.

13. For regional programs and projects the participation in which is permitted by competent authorities before the effective date of this Decree, they must comply with the subsequent order and procedures specified in this Decree.

14. For programs and projects with program or project proposals already approved but with investment policy not yet approved, managing agencies shall summarize opinions of the Ministry of Finance, and report to the Prime Minister on cessation of the use of ODA and foreign concessional loans.

15. Adjustment of investment policy:

a/ For umbrella programs or projects with the list of donations or investment policy already approved by competent authorities, their managing agencies shall adjust investment policy in accordance with this Decree. Managing agencies of component projects of an umbrella program or project shall send documents together with explanatory reports and relevant dossiers and documents to the managing agency of the umbrella program or project for the latter to summarize and carry out procedures for adjustment of investment policy under regulations;

b/ For projects under which ODA loans or concessional loans are wholly on-lent to state enterprises and for which the list of donations or investment policy has been approved by the Prime Minister before the effective date of this Decree, if adjustment is required in the course of implementation, their former managing agencies shall make adjustment under Article 20 of this Decree.

16. For non-refundable ODA-funded programs, projects and non-project activities approved before the effective date of this Decree, the financial management must comply with the current regulations on state financial management of foreign non-refundable aid belonging to state budget revenues.

Article 98. Organization of implementation

1. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees, and related organizations and individuals shall implement this Decree.

2. The Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, guiding the implementation of this Decree.

Article 99. Implementation provisions

1. In case the legal documents referred to in this Decree are replaced, amended or supplemented, the replacing, amending or supplementing documents shall prevail.

2. To annul Point b, Clause 3, Article 22 of the Government’s Decree No. 97/2018/ND-CP of June 30, 2018, on the on-lending of ODA loans and foreign concessional loans of the Government.

3. The on-lending of ODA loans or concessional loans by state enterprises must comply with the provisions of Chapter VI of this Decree.

4. This Decree takes effect on the date of its signing, and replaces the Government’s Decree No. 114/2021/ND-CP of December 16, 2021, on management and use of official development assistance and concessional loans of foreign donors, and the Government’s Decree No. 20/2023/ND-CP of May 4, 2023, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 114/2021/ND-CP of December 16, 2021, on management and use of official development assistance and concessional loans of foreign donors.-

On behalf of the Government
For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
BUI THANH SON