THE PRIME MINISTER

DECIDES:

Article 1.- International conferences and seminars subject to this Decision are conferences and seminars organized or sponsored by Vietnamese agencies and organizations with the participation or funding of foreign countries; or organized in Vietnam by foreign agencies and organizations (hereafter called international conferences and seminars for short).

Article 2.- Subject to the regulations on organizing international conferences and seminars under this Decision are:

1. Vietnamese agencies and organizations:

a/ The ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies attached to the Government (hereafter called central agencies for short) and attached units.

b/ The People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities (hereafter called localities for short) and attached units.

c/ The central bodies of people�s organizations including mass organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-professional organizations and a number of other organizations.

2. The foreign agencies and organizations covered by this Decision are foreign agencies and organizations that have been permitted by the competent authorities of Vietnam to operate on the Vietnamese territory.

Article 3.- Competence to permit the organization of international conferences and seminars:

1. The Prime Minister shall permit the organization of the following international conferences and seminars:

a/ High-level international conferences and seminars attended by the heads or officials of ministerial rank or equivalent and higher ranks from other countries and international organizations.

b/ International conferences and seminars, the agendas of which are related to political questions or questions of nationalities, religion, security, national defense and the domain of State secrets.

2. The heads of central and local agencies shall decide the organization of international conferences and seminars of their agencies and localities, and shall permit the attached units and foreign agencies and organizations that are directly granted operating permits by central or local agencies to organize international conferences and seminars with agendas not defined in Clause 1 of this Article, in conformity with the powers and State management responsibilities of agencies and localities as currently prescribed.

3. International conferences and seminars organized by people�s organizations shall conform with prescriptions of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee.

Article 4.- Contents of management of international conferences and seminars.

The central and local agencies shall manage international conferences and seminars according to the following prescriptions:

1. To submit to the Prime Minister a written proposal for permission to organize or decision to permit the organization of an international conference or seminar on the basis of the approved plan, agenda, scope, the number and composition of participants (in the country and from foreign countries), date, venue and source of funding. The written permission to organize the conference or seminar comes within the competence of the head of the central or local agency and shall be sent to the Organization and Personnel Commission of the Government for integration and monitoring.

2. To manage the organization and contents of the speeches, contents of the information and propagation work and the printed matters for distribution before, during and after the international conference or seminar.

3. To detect and take measures for timely handling of individuals and organizations that commit law-breaking acts or deliberately violate the provisions of this Decision in the process of organizing international conferences and seminars.

4. To report every year on the management of the international conferences and seminars by central and local agencies to the Organization and Personnel Commission of the Government for integration to report to the Prime Minister.

Article 5.- Responsibilities of the agency organizing an international conference or seminar:

1. Vietnamese agencies and organizations shall have to observe the following regulations when organizing an international conference or seminar:

a/ To apply for written permission from the competent authorities defined in Article 3 of this Decision before organizing the international conference or seminar, at least one month for the conferences and seminars under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister and 15 days for those under the jurisdiction of central and local agencies.

The written application for permission must clearly specify:

- Objectives of the conference or seminar;

- Agenda of the conference or seminar;

- Time and venue of the conference or seminar, places for visit or survey trips (if any);

- Composition of the organizers: Agency on the Vietnamese side, agency on the foreign side, funding agency (if any);

- Composition of participants: number and structure of both, Vietnamese and foreign delegates;

- Funding sources;

- Suggestions of the concerned agency (if any).

b/ To draw up the draft expenditures according to the regulations on financial management of international conferences and seminars organized with domestic budget. To observe the regulations on expenditures and financial settlement.

c/ To take responsibility for the contents of the documents, reports, discourses, files and data provided at the international conferences and seminars, contents of the printed matters distributed before, during and after the conferences or seminars.

d/ To observe the regulations on confidentiality, and on information and propagation work.

e/ To report immediately to the competent agency for timely guidance on handling of cases of complicated development at the conferences or seminars.

f/ To send a report summarizing the results of the conference or seminar to the agency that has permitted the organization of such conference or seminar and the Organization and Personnel Commission of the Government within one month after its conclusion.

2. Foreign agencies and organizations have to observe the following regulations when organizing conferences and seminars:

a/ To file a written application for permission to the competent agency defined in Article 3 of this Decision before organizing the international conference or seminar, at least two months for that under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister and one month for a conference or seminar under the jurisdiction of the central and local agencies.

b/ The written application must clearly specify:

- Objectives of the conference or seminar;

- Agenda of the conference or seminar;

- Time and venue of the conference or seminar, places for visit or survey trips (if any);

- Composition of the organizers and number of foreign and Vietnamese participants;

c/ To abide by law and other regulations of Vietnam related to the organization of conferences and seminars.

Article 6.- Organizing and managing international conferences and seminars:

1. The ministers, the heads of ministerial-level agencies, the heads of agencies attached to the Government, the presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to directly and comprehensively manage international conferences and seminars prescribed in Article 1 and Clause 1, Article 4 of this Decision.

2. The Organization and Personnel Commission of the Government is the head office of the Government responsible for coordinating with related agencies in integrating and reporting annually international conferences and seminars held by the central and local agencies to the Prime Minister.

3. The international conferences and seminars related to the domain of State management of a central or local agency shall have to collect the written opinions of this agency or locality before asking permission from the competent level for permission to organize. The agency or locality, which is consulted shall have to give a written reply within 15 days after receiving the written proposal. Past this time limit, if there is no written reply, permission is considered granted.

4. The agency with competence to grant operating permits to the foreign agency or organization shall have to examine the contents and activities related to the international conference and seminar proposed by such agency or organization before filling in the procedures according to the provisions of this Decision.

Article 7.- Organizations and individuals that violate the provisions of this Decision shall, depending on the seriousness of their violations, be handled according to prescriptions of law.

Article 8.- This Decision replaces Decision No. 236/1999/QD-TTg of December 24, 1999 of the Prime Minister and takes effect 15 days after its signing.

The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government and the presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decision.

Prime Minister
PHAN VAN KHAI