Vietnam: Guidelines for developing a list of programs and projects requiring Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding

Guidelines for developing a list of programs and projects requiring ODA funding (Illustration)

According to Article 7 of Circular 06/2011/TT-BGDDT of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam, the process for developing a list of programs and projects requiring ODA funding is specified as follows:

1. Preparing to develop the List of ODA funding requests:

• In February each year, based on the results of ODA mobilization, units actively propose a list of programs and projects needing to attract ODA and send preliminary outlines of each program and project (each set includes documents in both Vietnamese and English) to the Planning - Finance Department for compilation;
• The Planning - Finance Department leads, coordinates with relevant units for review, compilation, and submits to the Ministry's leadership for consideration and sends official documents to the Ministry of Planning and Investment to register the list of programs and projects requiring ODA funding.

2. Developing detailed outlines:

• After receiving notification from the Ministry of Planning and Investment on negotiation results with donors, the Planning - Finance Department submits to the Ministry's leadership for signing to notify units to develop detailed outlines of ODA programs and projects;
• Based on the Ministry's notification, units develop detailed outlines according to the template in the appendix of Circular 04/2007/TT-BKH dated July 30, 2007, of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, on guidelines for implementing regulations on the management and use of official development assistance resources (hereafter referred to as Circular 04) and send 10 sets of outlines along with the unit's request document to the Planning - Finance Department.

3. Consulting with relevant agencies and units on detailed outlines of ODA programs and projects and announcing the official funding list

• Upon receiving valid dossiers from units, the Planning - Finance Department consults with units under the Ministry and relevant ministries and sectors on detailed outlines of programs and projects registered to be included in the list of ODA funding requests. The principal implementing unit is responsible for revising and supplementing as per the Planning - Finance Department's notification;
• After receiving notifications from the Ministry of Planning and Investment on selected programs and projects for the official funding list or not selected, the Planning - Finance Department notifies the respective units. The Prime Minister's decision on approving the ODA funding request list and the Ministry of Planning and Investment's notification on officially selected programs and projects serve as the legal basis for units to start developing program and project documents.

4. For other cases, the compilation of the ODA funding request list is as follows:

• For units that manage to mobilize ODA programs and projects independently: units actively develop detailed outlines of programs and projects requiring ODA funding, send them to the Planning - Finance Department to include in the Ministry's ODA mobilization list. After having a written agreement with the donor, the unit submits a request with the detailed outline to the Planning - Finance Department for compilation, reporting to the Ministry's leadership and sending to the Ministry of Planning and Investment to include in the ODA funding request list;
• In cases where the donor independently proposes and agrees with the units under the Ministry on programs and projects not in the Prime Minister-approved ODA request list: the unit submits a request with the detailed outline to the Planning - Finance Department for appraisal, submitting to the Ministry's leadership for consideration and sending to the Ministry of Planning and Investment to supplement the ODA funding request list;
• For other programs and projects: the unit submits a request with the detailed outline to the Planning - Finance Department for appraisal, reporting to the Ministry's leadership and sending to the Ministry of Planning and Investment to submit to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

More details can be found in Circular 06/2011/TT-BGDDT of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam, effective from April 1, 2011.

Thuy Tram

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