Progress report 2000 :
MARD - Data Bank on International Development Projects
Prepared by Lutz Herrmann, CTA of REFAS-Project
for ISG-Board Meeting, 22.12.2000

Background

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ( MARD ) established 1997 an International Support Group ( ISG ) as a forum for sector policy discussion for Central Government and International Development Agencies, which are directly connected to rural development activities. Additionally, various Technical Working Groups ( TWG ) have been created in order to furnish the policy dialogue with up-dated experience and lessons learnt from the field projects. For administrative purposes, an internationally co-financed ISG-Secretariat supported the ISG and the TWG process.

The International Cooperation Department ( ICD ) of MARD as the responsible Department for ISG and TWG issues is managing as well the ODA-data bank for on-going and planned international development projects within the rural development sector. Based on questionnaires ( see annex ) , the on-going projects have been up-dated annually and the planned projects on a quarterly basis.

The German Technical Cooperation Agency GTZ started is assistance to the ODA-data bank in 1994 under the former Ministry of Forestry. REFAS¹ took over the data bank management since March 1997 and extended its application to all sectors of MARD (see annex) . The last report went out in March 1999 with poor results ( see annex), because the participation has been below 30% of the 200 distributed questionnaires. The report about the actual December 2000 data collection on implemented projects should be presented at the end of January 2001 by ICD.

REFAS assisted MARD and the Ministry of Planning and Investment ( MPI ) to develop an Microsoft Access based data bank and to design, process and monitor the quarterly and annual reports on ODA-projects. Weekly planning - meetings with ICD up-dated immediately the information on pipe-line projects.

In September 1999 the Ministry issued the decision No. 132/1999 referring to Promulgation of Regulation on Management of Programs and Projects, which are using External Fund Sources and belonging to responsibility of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ( see annex ). The Governmental Committee on Organization and Personnel (GCOP) issued the Circular No.19/1999, guiding the implementation of the Government`s Decree 03/1999 on the Management of Cooperation with Foreign countries in the field of Administrative Reforms, incorporating MARD - projects ( see annex ).

Review

The review in 1999 and 2000 about the quantity and quality of data and the data bank mechanism came to the conclusions:

1. MPI, MARD and the Provinces can still not provide the correct address and names of the responsible persons of each project
2. The commitment of the National Project Directors is very low to fill out the Vietnamese language questionnaires for on-going projects, which needs max. 30 minutes once per year
3. There is a lack on commitment by the responsible desk officers of MARD and MPI to fill out the Vietnamese language questionnaire for planned projects, which needs max. 30 minutes per quarter
4. The decision of ISG-Management in 1998 to give a MARD code number to each pipe-line and on-going project has not been introduced ( one door system )
5. The proposal to use MARD- Intranet system ( Agrunet ), which is established in each Depart-ment of MARD, all Provinces and MPI, to fill out the questionnaire by a computerized system has not been followed up
6. The reports have not been placed on National and International home pages

Recommendations

1. To add to the ODA regulations of MARD, the use of Code-Numbers for each planned and on-going project ( fast identification of all projects, better monitoring, transparency about project mapping within the rural sector )
2. To instruct all units, that only the International Cooperation Department is managing the code numbering system and entitled to apply for new projects ( one door system )
3. To add to all signed project agreements the obligation to fill out the annual questionnaires in time and submit the requested reports
4. To give on-going projects access to Agrunet-system and to use this intra-net tool of MARD to fill out the questionnaires electronically
5. To incorporate into the data bank the collection of ODA-projects in the field of rural development, which are not signed by MARD ( but signed MPI, other Ministries or Provinces )

Attached to this report are the English versions

* questionnaires for planned and on-going projects
* model for individual project profile
* last report from 1999
* ODA-regulations of MARD and GCOP
* Draft for Terms of Reference (TOR) for Management of the ODA-Data bank of ICD

Hanoi-December 2000
Lutz Herrmann
REFAS-Project
Hanoi - Vietnam, 1 A Nguyen Cong Tru Street
É 0084.4.8214770 (phone)
ž 0084.4.8214766 (fax)
¾ gtzrefas.cta@netnam.vn (e-mail)

¹REFAS ( Reform of the Administration System )

* Project name during first phase from 1997 to 2000:
Support to the Forestry Administration System in MARD

* Project name for second phase from 2000 to 2003:
Support to the Public Administration Reform in the Forestry Sector

ISG - International Support Group, Room # 207-209, Building A8, 10 Nguyen Cong Hoan, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: (84 - 4) 37711736 - 62930597 Fax : (84-4) 37713071 Email:isgmard@fpt.vn
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