Article 1.- To approve the Program on population distribution in natural disaster- and special difficulty-hit areas, border regions, islands, areas inhabited by free migrants, and important and very important areas of protective forests and strictly protected zones of special-use forests in the 2006-2010 period and orientations up to 2015 (hereinafter referred to as the Program for short), with the following principal contents:

1. Objectives

a/ General objective:

To conduct population planning and redistribution in natural disaster- and special difficulty-hit areas, border regions, islands, areas inhabited by free migrants, and important and very important areas of protective forests and strictly protected zones of special-use forests with a view to stabilizing and improving people's life, minimizing damage caused by natural disasters and free migration, creating jobs, generating incomes, and contributing to hunger eradication, poverty alleviation, environmental protection and consolidation of security and natural defense.

b/ Specific targets:

- In the 2006-2015 period, to redistribute 150,000 households, of which 75,000 households shall be redistributed in the 2006-2010 period, including:

+ 30,000 households in natural disaster- and special difficulty-hit areas.

+ 10,000 households in border regions and islands.

+ 30,000 households of free migrants.

+ 2,000 households in important or very important areas of protective forests or strictly protected zones of special-use forests.

- To reduce the rate of poor households to 15% in areas under population redistribution projects.

2. Principles for the execution of the Program:

a/ Population distribution shall comply with the general planning on socio-economic development of each region and province, especially the planning on combination of production with product processing and consumption suitable to the potential and advantages of each area. At the same time, to prioritize the distribution of population for the purposes of socio-economic development and assurance of security and defense in mountainous and ethnic minority areas (mountainous and midland areas in the northern, western central and southwestern regions and Central Highlands).

b/ Population redistribution and rearrangement constitute an objective as well as a solution for economic, cultural and social development, security and defense protection and eco-environmental protection. Population should be distributed in concentrated and selected areas, in parallel with the stabilization and development of production and living conditions, of which production development shall be considered the most important factor. The living conditions in new places should be better than those in old places.

c/ Population distribution is the responsibility of branches and local administrations at all levels. The State shall provide investment supports for the execution of the Program in localities, besides resources mobilized from local administrations, economic sectors and people.

d/ Population distribution shall be conducted mainly within communes, districts and provinces. Where population should be relocated to other provinces, agreement should be reached between provinces where people leave and those where they move to in order to arrange them in the planned areas so as to stabilize their life and production for permanent settlement.

e/ Population distribution shall be conducted along the line of establishing residential quarters after the new rural development model suitable to customs and cultural traditions of each nationality.

3. Projects and contents of the Program:

a/ The project on distribution and arrangement of population in natural disaster- and special difficulty-hit areas.

b/ The project on distribution, arrangement and stabilization of population in border regions and islands.

c/ The project on distribution, arrangement and stabilization of free migrants.

d/ The project on distribution and arrangement of population in important and very important areas of protective forests and strictly protected zones of special-use forests.

4. Solutions for the execution of the Program

a/ On plannings and plans:

- Based on the general plannings on socio-economic development and branch plannings, to formulate general plannings on population distribution in the 2006-2010 period and orientations up to 2015 for each area and locality, for each target group, and submit them to competent authorities for approval. Localities, which have formulated such general plannings, shall review the objectives, scope, target groups and solutions so as to make them comply with the Program.

- On the basis of the approved general plannings, to make detailed plannings, formulate, evaluate and approve investment projects on population distribution, and organize the implementation thereof according to annual plans.

- To make plans on distribution of population in concentrated and selected areas and mobilization of local resources for implementation. In the immediate future, to make detailed plans in order to complete the ongoing population distribution projects.

b/ Capital solutions:

- According to the provisions of the State Budget Law, the central budget shall provide targeted additional allocations, including development investment capital and economic non-business capital, to local budgets for the execution of the Program under annual and five-year plans. These allocations shall be recorded in separate sections.

- Localities shall take initiative in apportioning locally-run capital sources, in combination with capital sources of other programs and projects and other lawful capital sources in localities, for population distribution, giving special priority to the relocation of population in natural disaster-hit areas (river banks and coastal areas prone to landslide, areas prone to flash floods, landslide, land depression and floods); special difficulty-hit areas (areas lacking production land, production and daily-life water or infrastructure and fishing villages on rivers); border regions and islands; the stabilization of free migrants and population in important and very important areas of protection forests and strictly protected zones of special-use forests.

- Funds for the direction of the execution of the Program: The central budget shall allocate funds for the direction of the execution of the Program, which is the task of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry and central agencies. Local budgets shall assure part of funds for the direction of the execution of the Program, which is the task of localities.

c/ On mechanisms and policies:

- Land policy: According to current provisions of the Land Law, localities shall implement measures to recover unused or inefficiently used land of organizations, agricultural and forestry farms or change the use purpose of land according to plannings and plans already approved by competent authorities for allocation to households and individuals under population distribution projects.

- Investment support for infrastructure building: State budget supports shall be provided from the source of development investment capital for the building of infrastructure in new population areas, including: compensation for ground clearance and leveling, reclamation of production land; traffic works, small irrigation works; crèches, kindergartens, primary and lower secondary schools; health stations; daily-life water-supply systems and other essential facilities to meet practical demands.

- Policy on direct support for households:

Direct capital supports to households shall be allocated from economic non-business capital sources. The specific support levels, depending on each target group, shall comply with the Government's Decree No. 197/2004/ND-CP of December 3, 2004, on compensation, support and resettlement when land is recovered by the State, and the Prime Minister's Decisions No. 190/2003/QD-TTg of September 16, 2003, on the migration policies for population planning and distribution in the 2003-2010 period; No. 120/2003/QD-TTg of June 11, 2003, approving the strategy on socio-economic development in the Vietnam-China border region up to 2010; No. 60/2005/QD-TTg of March 24, 2005, approving the planning on stabilization of population in the Vietnam-China border communes up to 2010, and circulars of concerned ministries and branches guiding the implementation of the said decisions.

For households losing their dwelling houses, residential land, or production land due to landslide, the state budget shall provide supports in terms of dwelling houses, residential land, production and daily-life water. The specific support levels shall be approved under projects by competent authorities.

- Policy on training and re-training of human resources for the Program: The state budget shall provide supports for the formulation of curricula and the organization of management training and re-training courses for cadres at various level who are engaged in population distribution work.

d/ On propagation and mobilization

To mobilize mass organizations, social organizations and mass media to participate in propagating and disseminating the Party and State lines and policies among the people in order to encourage them to actively join with administrations of various levels in population distribution work under plannings and plans.

Article 2.- Organization of implementation

1. Responsibilities of ministries and central branches:

a/ The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall act as the standing agency of the Program; assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries and branches in, guiding provincial/municipal People's Committees (hereinafter referred to as provincial-level People's Committees):

- To make general plannings and detailed plannings on population distribution which shall be approved by provincial-level People's Committees; to formulate annual and five-year plans on population distribution for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to sum up and report to the Prime Minister for approval;

- To estimate expenditures for the direction of the execution of the Program, which shall be allocated from the central budget.

- To coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance in allocating capital for the Program.

- To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and concerned ministries and branches in, studying, adjusting and supplementing mechanisms and policies for population distribution.

- To coordinate with provincial-level People's Committees in building and applying some models on population distribution suitable to particular characteristics of each region and each target group, which shall be reviewed and evaluated in order to draw experience for extensive application.

- To assume the prime responsibility for elaborating contents and curricula for training and re-training on population distribution and coordinate with localities and training establishments in organizing training and re-training for cadres at various levels who are engaged in population distribution work.

- To inspect, supervise and evaluate the results of population distribution in localities; and propose solutions for effective management and execution of the Program.

b/ The Ministry of Planning and Investment:

- To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in, allocating capital for the implementation of the Program's annual and five-year plans.

- To reach agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Finance in allocating capital to branches and localities, which shall be recorded in separate sections in annual plans for implementation.

- To guide branches and localities to integrate other programs and projects in the localities with the Program's projects.

c/ The Ministry of Finance:

- To coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Agriculture in allocating capital under annual plans for the Program.

- To grant and supervise allocations, guide, and supervise financial matters of the Program.

- To coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and concerned ministries and localities in formulating mechanisms and policies for the execution of the Program.

d/ The Ministry of Defense:

To assume the prime responsibility for organizing the execution of the Program's projects in defense economic zones.

e/ The Ministries of Public Security; Natural Resources and Environment; Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs; Culture and Information; Education and Training; and Health, the Nationality Committee, and concerned ministries and branches shall, depending on their respective functions, tasks and powers, work out plans to direct and guide localities in executing the Program.

2. Responsibilities of provincial/municipal People's Committees:

- To formulate new plannings or scrutinize, adjust or supplement their local plannings on population distribution for approval by presidents of provincial-level People's Committees. To make plans on execution of the Program up to 2010 and annual plans and report them to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance for sum-up and submission to the Prime Minister for approval.

- To direct and organize the elaboration, evaluation and approval of the Program's projects according to regulations.

- To estimate the targeted additional allocations for the Program from the central budget every year and in the 2006-2010 period.

- To integrate capital sources of other programs and projects in the localities with those of the Program.

- To direct local departments and administrations at all levels to closely coordinate with mass organizations in propagating and encouraging people to actively participate in the execution of the Program, and enhance the management, inspection and supervision of specific projects in the localities.

- To consolidate the system of local agencies in charge of population re-distribution and rearrangement; to prioritize the arrangement of full-time cadres at the district level and part-time cadres at the commune-level to perform population distribution work so as to effectively organize the execution of the Program.

Article 3.- This Decision shall take effect 15 days after its publication in "CONG BAO."

Article 4.- Ministers, heads of ministerial-level and Government-attached agencies, and presidents of provincial/municipal People's Committees shall have to implement this Decision.