CIRCULAR

DETAILING SOME CONTENTS OF THE PRIME MINISTERS DECISIONS No. 169/2006/QD-TTg OF JULY 17, 2006, AND No. 223/2006/QD-TTg OF OCTOBER 4, 2006 PROVIDING FOR INVESTMENT IN AND PROCUREMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS BY AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS USING STATE BUDGET FUNDS AND FUNDS ORIGINATED FROM THE STATE BUDGET

Pursuant to the Governments Decree No. 90/ 2002/ND-CP of November 11, 2002, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry- of Post and Telematics;
Pursuant to the Prime Ministers Decisions No. 169/2006/QD-TTg of July 17, 2006, providing for investment in and procurement of information technology products by agencies and organizations using state budget funds, (below referred to as Decision No. 169 for short) and No. 223/2006/QD-TTg of October 4, 2006, amending a number of articles of Decision No. 169/2006/QD-TTg (below referred to as Decision No. 223).
The Ministry of Post and Telematics details a number of contents of the Prime Ministers Decisions No. 169 and No. 223 on investment in and procurement of information technology products of agencies and organizations using state budget finds as follows:

I. SUBJECTS OF APPLICATION

The subjects of application of Decision No. 169 and Decision No. 223 include state agencies, non-business units of the State, political organizations, socio-political organizations, agencies and units of the armed forces (collectively referred to as agencies, organizations) and do not include enterprises which the State owns, controls, enjoys privileges in. or holds monopoly of.

II. CRITERIA FOR PRIORITIZED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS

Domestically made information technology products entitled to priority according to Decision No. 169 and Decision 223 are information technology products on the list of information technology products which can be made domestically or the list of open-source software products meeting requirements on application to stale agencies issued by the Ministry of Post and Telematics, or information technology products that satisfy the following criteria (below referred to as information technology products which can be made domestically).

1. For computer hardware products, electronic products

On product origin:

- Products are studied and produced completely in the territory of Vietnam; or

- Products are assembled, fixed, or upgraded in the territory of Vietnam and such activities constitute at least 25% of the product value, or create stable employment for at least 50 Vietnamese laborers, including research and development, and product quality control staff, and engineers and workers directly involved in production.

On product quality:

Products must satisfy the following criteria:

a/ Products have been announced as conforming with national standards (TCVN), or standards of international standardization organizations. The announced standards must be technical norms; or

Product-making organizations or enterprises possess an ISO 9001 certificate. Components and accessory assemblies used for and technologies applied to production must have a clear source or origin;

b/ Product suppliers clearly publicize product warranty responsibilities and conditions for clients and management agencies reference and supervision.

2. For software products, digital information contents

On product origin:

- Products are made or developed in Vietnam by Vietnamese organizations and enterprises, or foreign organizations and enterprises operating lawfully in software industry and content industry production in Vietnam; or

- Products which are made overseas but are fixed, upgraded or localized and adapted to meet utility requirements in Vietnam and such activities create stable employment for at least 30 Vietnamese laborers.

On quality requirements:

Products must satisfy the following criteria:

a/ Product-making and -developing organizations or enterprises possess an ISO 9001 certificate or CMM or CMMI certificate of third grade or higher, or have a Vietnamese or foreign quality management system certificate of equivalent validity;

b/ Product suppliers clearly publicize product warranty responsibilities and conditions for clients and management agencies reference and supervision.

3.For information technology services

Services must satisfy the following criteria:

- Services are provided by Vietnamese organizations and enterprises or foreign organizations and enterprises lawfully operating in Vietnam in respective information technology services and meet requirements on functions and conditions to provide such services according to law;

- Service provision organizations and enterprises have at least three years of operation in and provision of simi lar information technology services; or possess an ISO 9001 certificate or equivalent Vietnamese or foreign quality management system certificate of information technology service-provision.

4. For open-source software products

Open-source software products must satisfy the following criteria:

- Products are made or developed in Vietnam by Vietnamese organizations and enterprises or foreign organizations and enterprises lawfully operating in Vietnam in the domain of software industry and content industry production;

- Products are certified by the Ministry of Post and Telematics or competent agencies assigned by the Ministry of Post and Telematics as having functions, characteristics and quality that meet requirements on application to state agencies;

- Total expenses for product investment and procurement (including copyright, installation, use instruction and warranty fees) are equal or lower than respective expenses for closed-source software products of the same kind; or such investment in and procurement of open-source software products brings investors larger benefits in terms of technology mastering, product compatibility, extendibility and security than closed-source software.

III. PROCESS FOR APPROVING PROCUREMENT OF IMPORTED GOODS WHICH CAN BE MADE DOMESTICALLY

When it is necessary to procure imported information technology products which can be made domestically according to Clause 2, Article 2 of Decision No. 169/QD-TTg. concerned agencies must follow the approval process below:

1. Investors make a dossier justifying in detail the necessity to procure imported goods, submit it to the agency competent to approve the project and send it to technical agencies for comment according to Clause 2 of this Section. The dossier comprises:

- A document justifying the projects technical requirements for buying imported goods;

- Documents and grounds proving imported goods compliance with set requirements compared with domestically made information technology products;

- Other documents concerning the project as provided for by law.

2. Technical agencies are construed as follows:

For central agencies, the technical agency is the unit in charge of information technology in such agencies. When an agency does not have a unit in charge of information technology, the Ministry of Post and Telematics will be the technical agency which the investor shall consult;

- For local agencies, the technical agency is the Post and Telematics Service.

3. Within 10 working days from the date of receiving the project investors justification dossier, technical agencies specified in Clause 2 of this Section shall send the project investor and the agency competent to approve the project a notice of their opinions on the investor request for procuring imported goods and relevant explanations.

4. The head of the agency competent to approve the project shall base on the document of the technical agency specified in Clause 3 of this Section and the investors justification dossier to approve requests for procuring imported goods and is directly responsible for his/her approval decision.

IV. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. This Circular takes effect 15 days after its signing.

2. In the course of implementation, any arising problems should be reported to the Ministry of Post and Telematics for prompt settlement.

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