THE PRIME MINISTER

Decision No. 76/2010/QD-TTg of November 30, 2010, on organization and management of international conferences and seminars in Vietnam

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;

At the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs,

DECIDES:

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

International conferences and seminars governed by this Decision are foreign-involved meetings held directly in the territory of Vietnam or held online with at least one end being in the territory of Vietnam, including:

1. Conferences and seminars organized by Vietnamese agencies or organizations and attended or sponsored by foreign parties.

2. Conferences and seminars organized by foreign agencies or organizations.

International press conferences are not governed by this Decision.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Vietnamese agencies and organizations:

a) Ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies (below referred to as central agencies);

b) Provincial-level People’s Committees (below referred to as localities);

c) Central bodies of people’s organizations, including mass organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-professional organizations and some other organizations.

2. Foreign agencies and organizations (below referred to as foreign organizations) licensed by a Vietnamese authority to operate in the territory of Vietnam.

Chapter II

DETAILED REGULATIONS ON ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS

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

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

a) High-ranking international conferences and seminars participated by heads or ministerial- or higher-level officials of states, territories and international organizations;

b) International conferences and seminars on matters related to politics, security, defense, nationalities, religion, human rights, border and territory or matters of state secret.

2. Heads of central agencies or localities may decide to organize international conferences and seminars of their agencies or localities and permit their attached units or foreign organizations to organize international conferences and seminars on matters other than those specified in Clause 1 of this Article within their powers and state management responsibilities under current regulations.

3. Central bodies of people’s organizations may organize international conferences and seminars under regulations of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee.

Article 4. Process of organizing an international conference or seminar

1. A Vietnamese agency or organization which organizes an international conference or seminar to be permitted by the Prime Minister shall comply with the following process:

a) Collecting written opinions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and concerned agencies and localities which shall reply in writing within 15 days after receiving a written request;

b) At least 20 days before the tentative date of the conference or seminar, submitting a proposal (enclosed with an organization plan) to the Prime Minister for approval and concurrently to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for summarization and monitoring.

The plan to organize the conference or seminar should clearly state:

- Reasons for and purposes of the conference or seminar;

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

- Form and technology of organization (for an online conference or seminar);

- Working agenda and activities on the sidelines of the conference or seminar;

- Organizers: Vietnamese and foreign agencies and sponsors (if any);

- Participants: Number and structure of participants, including Vietnamese and foreign ones;

- Funding sources;

- Written opinions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and concerned agencies and localities.

c) Organizing the conference or seminar according to its agenda and plan approved by the Prime Minister; complying with current regulations on spending and financial payment and settlement;

d) Submitting a brief report on results of the conference or seminar within 15 days after its closing to the Prime Minister and concurrently to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for summarization (made according to a set form).

2. An agency which organizes an international conference or seminar to be decided by the head of a central agency or locality shall comply with the following process:

a) Collecting written opinions of concerned agencies and localities which shall reply in writing within 15 days after receiving a written request;

b) At least 20 days before the tentative date of the conference or seminar, submitting a proposal (enclosed with an organization plan) to the head of the central agency or locality for approval.

The plan to organize the conference or seminar should clearly state:

- Reasons for and purposes of the conference or seminar;

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

- Form and technology of organization (for an online conference or seminar);

- Working agenda and activities on the sidelines of the conference or seminar;

- Organizers: Vietnamese and foreign agencies and sponsors (if any);

- Participants: Number and structure of participants, including Vietnamese and foreign ones;

- Funding sources;

- Opinions of concerned agencies and localities.

c) Organizing the conference or seminar according to its agenda and plan approved by the head of the central agency or locality; complying with current regulations on spending and financial payment and settlement;

d) Submitting a brief report on results of the conference or seminar within 15 days after its closing to the head of the central agency or locality.

3. A foreign organization which organizes an international conference or seminar shall comply with the following process:

a) At least 20 days before the tentative date of the international conference or seminar, submitting an organization plan to a competent authority specified in Clause 2, Article 3 of this Decision for approval.

This plan should clearly state:

- Reasons for and purposes of the conference or seminar;

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

- Form and technology of organization (for an online international conference or seminar);

- Working agenda and activities on the sidelines of the conference or seminar;

- Organizers: Vietnamese and foreign agencies and sponsors (if any);

- Participants: Number and structure of participants, including foreign and Vietnamese ones;

After receiving this plan, a competent authority shall collect written opinions of concerned agencies and localities; and issue a decision on organization of such conference or seminar at the proposal of the foreign organization or submit it to the Prime Minister if the decision issuance falls beyond its competence. Consulted agencies shall reply in writing within 15 days after receiving a written request.

b) Organizing the conference or seminar according to its approved agenda and plan;

c) Submitting to a competent authority a brief report on results of the conference or seminar within 15 days after its closing.

Article 5. Responsibilities for management of international conferences and seminars

1. The Government shall perform the uniform state management nationwide and decentralize ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees to manage international conferences and seminars under their management.

2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall act as the focal point to assist the Prime Minister in uniformly managing international conferences and seminars in Vietnam; and annually report to the Prime Minister on organization of international conferences and seminars in Vietnam.

3. Authorities competent to permit organization of international conferences and seminars shall manage those conferences and seminars. An agency managing an international conference or seminar shall:

a) Appraise contents of and the plan to organize the international conference or seminar;

b) Request the organizers to take responsibility for contents of related documents, reports, presentations, materials and statistics circulated before, during and after the international conference or seminar;

c) Examine the observance of regulations on state secret protection and regulations on public information work before, during and after the international conference or seminar;

d) Detect and handle violators of law or this Decision or report such to its superior agency and coordinate with concerned agencies in handling violators if the handling falls beyond its competence or decentralized power.

4. Agencies competent to license foreign organizations shall appraise contents and activities related to international conferences and seminars held by these organizations before carrying out procedures prescribed by this Decision.

5. When detecting that the organization of an international conference or seminar shows signs of violation of law or this Decision, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the agency managing the sector related to contents of the international conference or seminar may request in writing a competent authority specified in Clause 3 of this Article to cancel the organization of such conference or seminar.

6. Central agencies and localities shall submit reports on their organization and management of international conferences and seminars before December 31 every year to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for summarization and reporting to the Prime Minister (made according to a set form).

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 6. Commendation, and handling of violations

1. Organizations and individuals with outstanding achievements in implementing this Decision may be commended under the law on emulation and commendation.

2. Violators of this Decision shall, depending on the nature and severity of their violation, be handled under law.

Article 7. Effect

This Decision replaces the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 122/2001/QD-TTg of August 21, 2001, and takes effect on January 15, 2011.

Article 5. Implementation responsibilities

1. Central agencies and localities shall review, revise and promulgate regulations on their external relation activities, which cover the organization and management of international conferences and seminars.

2. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, other ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees and heads of concerned agencies shall implement this Decision.