|
THE PRIME MINISTER OF
GOVERNMENT
-------
|
SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF
VIET NAM
Independence - Freedom – Happiness
----------
|
|
No. 211/1998/QD-TTg
|
Hanoi, October 31, 1998
|
DECISION
PROMULGATING THE REGULATION ON FOREIGN SPECIALISTS
IMPLEMENTING ODA PROGRAMS AND/OR PROJECTS IN VIETNAM
THE PRIME MINISTER
Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the
Government of September 30, 1992;
Pursuant to the current tax laws and tax ordinances;
Pursuant to October 17, 1989 Ordinance on the Signing and Implementation of
International Agreements by the State of the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam;
Pursuant to August 23, 1993 Ordinance on the Privileges and Immunities Reserved
for Foreign Diplomatic Missions, Consulates and Representative Offices of
International Organizations in Vietnam;
Pursuant to Decree No. 87-CP of August 5, 1997 of the Government promulgating
the Regulation on the Management and Use of Official Development Aid;
To unify the management and preference regimes, ensuring the full rights and
responsibilities of foreign specialists implementing ODA programs and/or
projects in Vietnam;
At the proposals of the Minister of Planning and Investment, the Minister for
Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Finance and the General Director of the
General Department of Customs of Vietnam,
DECIDES:
Article 1.- To
promulgate together with this Decision the Regulation on foreign specialists
implementing ODA programs and/or projects in Vietnam
(referred to as Regulation on foreign specialists for short).
Article 2.- This
Decision takes effect 15 days after its signing. To annul all the earlier
provisions which are contrary to the provisions of the Regulation promulgated
together with this Decision.
Article 3.- The Ministry
of Planning and Investment shall have to assume the prime responsibility and
coordinate with the concerned ministries and branches in guiding and inspecting
the implementation of the Regulation on foreign specialists issued together
with this Decision.
...
...
...
Please sign up or sign in to your Pro Membership to see English documents.
THE PRIME MINISTER OF
GOVERNMENT
Phan Van Khai
REGULATION
ON FOREIGN SPECIALISTS
(Issued together with Decision No. 211/1998/QD-TTg of October 31, 1998 of
the Prime Minister)
Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1.- Objects
and scope of application
...
...
...
Please sign up or sign in to your Pro Membership to see English documents.
2. The Regulation on foreign specialists shall
cover ODA-funded programs and projects, including:
a/ ODA programs and/or projects with financial
supports from foreign governments;
b/ ODA programs and/or projects with financial
supports from international and regional organizations outside the United
Nations (UN) system;
c/ ODA programs and/or projects with financial
supports from inter-governmental organizations;
d/ ODA programs and/or projects with financial
supports from organizations in the UN system;
e/ ODA programs and/or projects co-financed by
foreign parties.
3. Other objects, including diplomats shall not
be subject to this Regulation.
Article 2.- Foreign
specialists and their dependents, regardless of their nationality, when
entering Vietnam
for the implementation of ODA programs and/or projects, shall:
1. Be treated equally, irrespective of their
nationalities
...
...
...
Please sign up or sign in to your Pro Membership to see English documents.
Article 3.- Apart from
enjoying the interests defined in this Regulation as well as other legitimate
rights and interests prescribed by Vietnamese laws, foreign specialists and
their dependents shall have to fulfill all their obligations mentioned in this
Regulation and in other legal documents of Vietnam.
Article 4.- The
competent agencies of the Vietnamese party and foreign party shall have to
closely coordinate with each other in managing and employing specialists while
ensuring that the legitimate rights, interests and obligations of specialists
and their dependents are implemented during the specialists' performance of their
assigned tasks in Vietnam.
Article 5.-
Interpretation of terms
A number of terms used in this Regulation are
construed as follows:
1. ODA programs and/or projects mean activities
coordinated and conducted by the foreign party and Vietnamese party using the
official development aid (ODA).
2. The foreign party includes foreign
governments, international organizations and inter-governmental organizations
that finance ODA programs and/or projects in Vietnam.
3. The Vietnamese party includes Vietnam's
competent agencies that perform the function of State management,
administration and implementation of ODA programs and/or projects in Vietnam.
4. Parties include the Vietnamese party(ies),
foreign party(ies) and specialists.
5. Donors mean foreign party(ies) providing aid
for ODA programs and/or projects in Vietnam.
...
...
...
Please sign up or sign in to your Pro Membership to see English documents.
7. Dependents mean the wife/husband and minor
children of a specialist or persons whom the specialist has to support under
Vietnamese laws, provided that they live together in one family household.
8. The ODA programs and/or projects managing
agencies (hereafter referred to as the project management agencies) are the
ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the
Government or the People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run
cities, which are assigned by the Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam to directly manage ODA programs and/or projects.
9. Agencies implementing ODA programs and/or
projects (hereafter referred to as the project implementing agencies) are units
in charge of the implementation of programs and/or projects by decisions of the
project management agencies.
10. Emergency cases mean such urgent
circumstances as natural calamities, wars or disturbances that may threaten the
safety of the life and property of specialists and their dependents.
Chapter II
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS
Article 6.- Preferences
for specialists
1. Entry/exit visa preferences: Specialists and
their dependents shall be granted with priority, the single or multiple Vietnamese
entry/exit visas at the proposals of the project implementing agencies. The
procedures for entry/exit visa granting shall comply with the current
regulations.
Those specialists who stay in Vietnam for 6
months or more shall be considered for the multiple entry/exit visas for their
whole working term which must not exceed 3 years (if they so request).
...
...
...
Please sign up or sign in to your Pro Membership to see English documents.
2. Preferences on foreign exchange: Specialists
and their dependents are entitled to bring foreign currency(ies) into Vietnam,
covert into foreign currency(ies) and bring out of Vietnam
their earnings from wages, contracts on the implementation of programs and/or
projects or other income sources as prescribed in Article 7 below. The
procedures for bringing foreign currency(ies) shall comply with the
stipulations of the State Bank of Vietnam.
3. Registration of residence and traveling:
Specialists and their dependents are entitled to travel freely and register
their stay on the Vietnamese territory, except for restricted areas.
4. Other preferences:
a/ On the granting and/or exchange of driving
licenses and registration of vehicles' number plates: Specialists and their
dependents, who are not minors under Vietnamese laws, when entering Vietnam,
are entitled to register for driving courses, tests and driving license
granting at the civil driver-training schools; and provided with favorable
conditions in exchanging their driving licenses and registering their vehicles'
number plates as prescribed.
b/ During their stay in Vietnam,
the specialists' dependents shall be entitled to enroll at schools reserved
exclusively for children of foreigners in Vietnam
(if they so wish). The enrollment procedures shall comply with the current
regulations.
c/ In cases where a specialist or his/her
dependent violates Vietnamese law, is prosecuted, arrested, brought to trial,
imprisoned, expelled from Vietnam or held jointly responsible in legal
proceedings, the representative(s) of the foreign party that has nominated or
hired such specialist and the diplomatic mission of the country where the
specialist or his/her dependent is a citizen shall be quickly notified thereof
by the Vietnamese party and entitled to visit him/her. The above-said
specialist or his/her dependent shall be entitled to invite or employ lawyers
appointed by the foreign party; the procedures for the invitation and use of
lawyers must conform with international practices and Vietnamese laws.
Article 7.- Immunities
for specialists:
1. Exemption of import, export and/or special
consumption tax (if any) and registration fee:
a/ Specialists and their dependents are entitled
to the duty-free import of personal items and belongings as prescribed in
Decree No.17-CP of February 6, 1995 of the Government promulgating the
duty-free luggage quotas for passengers on entry or exit through the
border-gates of Vietnam (Appendix I).
...
...
...
Please sign up or sign in to your Pro Membership to see English documents.
b/ A specialist who is allowed to stay in
Vietnam for 183 days or more shall be entitled to the temporary duty-free
import of and the registration fee exemption for one car of under-12 seats and
one motorbike of under-175 cm3 for personal use by him/herself and his/her
dependents.
c/ The car and motorbike mentioned in Item 7.1.b
shall be either re-exported when the specialist fulfilled his/her tasks and
leaves Vietnam together with his/her dependents, or taxed according to the
current regulations if they are sold in Vietnam.
d/ In cases where the car or motorbike mentioned
in Item 7.1.b is irreparably damaged in accident(s) or lost, not due to the
specialist's or his/her dependent's fault as certified by the police, the insurance
office at the place where the accident occurred and by the inspection and
registration agency of the Vietnamese party, such specialist shall be exempt
from import tax and registration fee for another car or motorbike. The damaged
car or motorbike may be re-exported or taxed according to the current
regulations if it is sold in Vietnam.
e/ If a specialist is allowed to stay in Vietnam
for 3 years or more, he/she shall, during the fourth year, be entitled to the
temporary duty-free import of another car or motorbike and exempt from
registration fee therefor (if he/she has such a demand). The car and/or
motorbike which was temporarily imported previously according to preference
regime must be either re-exported or taxed in accordance with the current regulations
if it is sold in Vietnam.
f/ If a car and/or motorbike mentioned in Items
7.1.c, 7.1.d and 7.1.e is sold to another specialist or dependent who is also
subject to this Regulation, or given to other immunity beneficiary prescribed
by the current regulations, it shall continue to enjoy the above-stipulated
immunities.
2. Income tax exemption: During their working
term in Vietnam,
specialists and their dependents shall be exempt from income tax on their wages
and other incomes earned from the implementation of ODA programs and/or
projects in Vietnam.
3. Property lawfully owned by specialists and
their dependents in Vietnam
shall not be collected, requisitioned or confiscated. The transfer of such
property to their home countries as well as the assignment and/or sale thereof
on the Vietnamese territory shall comply with the provisions of Vietnamese
laws.
4. Other immunities:
During their stay in Vietnam,
specialists and their dependents shall be:
...
...
...
Please sign up or sign in to your Pro Membership to see English documents.
b/ Exempt from professional registration and
operating license.
Article 8.-
Responsibilities of the parties:
1. Responsibility of the Vietnamese party
a/ The project implementing agency(ies):
- To make a list of work that requires
specialists; to determine the posts, titles and tasks of specialists for each
project and ask the foreign party to provide them.
- To fulfill the Vietnamese party's obligations
defined in the international agreements which Vietnam
has signed or acceded to.
- To support and ensure the materialization of
the legitimate rights, interests and obligations of specialists and their
dependents during their stay in Vietnam.
- To coordinate with the project management agency
and the foreign party in managing and appraising specialists in the course of
implementation of the projects, ensuring the proper fulfillment of the
obligations and responsibilities already mentioned in the specialist-hiring
contracts.
- To propose handling measures to the project
management agency and the foreign party if the work or conducts of specialists
and their dependents fail to conform with the agreements or commitments in the
specialist-employing contracts or with the international agreements which
Vietnam has signed or acceded to.
...
...
...
Please sign up or sign in to your Pro Membership to see English documents.
b/ The project management agency:
- To direct the project implementing agency in
managing and employing specialist efficiently.
- To certify cases where a specialist assigns or
sells his/her movable property that was temporarily imported with priority but
has not been re-exported as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 7 and such
specialist has fulfilled the tax obligation under the provisions of Vietnamese
law.
- To certify lawful property and incomes of
specialists and their dependents in cases where such property and/or incomes
are transferred to their home countries or assigned/sold in Vietnam
and they have fulfilled the tax obligation (if any) under the provisions of
Vietnamese law.
- To coordinate with the Ministry of Planning
and Investment and the competent agencies of the Vietnamese party and foreign
party in ensuring the materialization of other legitimate rights, interests and
obligations of specialists and their dependents during their stay in Vietnam.
- To study proposals made by the project
implementing agency as prescribed in Item 8.1.b and coordinate with the foreign
party in issuing handling decisions.
- To join the Ministry of Public Security and
the Ministry for Foreign Affairs or other functional agencies of the Vietnamese
party and foreign dependents in dealing with matters related to specialists and
their dependents in emergency cases and other cases mentioned in Clause 1 and
Clause 4 of Article 6 above (if any).
c/ The Ministry of Planning and Investment:
- To verify ODA programs and/or projects and
specialist-employing activities at the request of the parties concerned.
...
...
...
Please sign up or sign in to your Pro Membership to see English documents.
2. Responsibility of the foreign party:
a/ To select, nominate or hire specialists at
the request of the Vietnamese party.
b/ To provide necessary information for the
Vietnamese party to evaluate the specialist candidate.
c/ To supply the specialist-employing contract
to the Vietnamese party for monitoring and management purposes.
d/ To coordinate with the Vietnamese party in
handling cases related to specialists and/or their dependents during their stay
in Vietnam or cases mentioned in Clauses 1 and 4 of Article 6 above (if any).
3. Responsibilities of specialists and their
dependents:
a/ During their stay or working term in Vietnam,
the specialists and their dependents shall have to follow guidance and submit
to the management by the Vietnamese competent agencies, respect and observe
Vietnamese laws.
b/ To fulfill all obligations stated in the
contracts already signed between the parties.
c/ Besides the work or activities already agreed
upon or prescribed in documents concluded by the parties, the specialists are
not allowed to practice their profession for any profit-making purposes on the
Vietnamese territory, except otherwise provided for by international agreements
which the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has signed or acceded
to.
...
...
...
Please sign up or sign in to your Pro Membership to see English documents.
HANDLING OF VIOLATIONS
Article 9.-
Organizations and/or individuals that commit acts of violating the provisions
in this Regulation and other provisions of law shall, depending on the nature
and seriousness of their violations, be disciplined, administratively handled
or examined for penal liability; and if damage is caused, the compensations
must be made in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law.