Development of Management Information System for the Forestry Sector in Viet Nam F O R M I S II Implementation of PSC’s conclusion during the 2 nd meeting Hanoi, January 26th, 2015

Implementation of PSC’s conclusion during the 2 nd meeting F O R M I S II | Development of Management Information System for the Forestry Sector in Viet Nam2 No. Conclusions by PSCImplementation 1 FORMIS II PMU was requested to correct the error in investment budget line and submit it to PSC for approval before 20/10/2014. Completed revision of annual work plans, which was approved by PSC on November 13 th FORMIS II PMU was requested to prepare an overall budget estimation for duty travel costs of the Government staff and part-time VNFOREST- PMU staff for PSC’s consideration. The Embassy of Finland will possibly consider to allow the project to use the contingency budget to cover the proposed duty travel costs, if the travels are justified and relevant to project activities. The next version of the revised work plan for 2014 should include already the budget for this duty travel cost for the period from October to December Any changes on the budget for the duty travel of the Government's staff and part-time VNFOREST-PMU staff must report to the Embassy of Finland. Budget for the duty travel costs of the Government's staff and part-time VNFOREST-PMU staff was included in the revised work plan 2014, which was approved by PSC on November 13 th Overall budget estimation for the duty travel costs of the Government staff and part-time VNFOREST-PMU staff is being prepared. 3 Pending from follow-up of the last SC decisions: FORMIS II PMU was requested to complete the TORs for part time VNFOREST-PMU staff. Deadline for submission of these TORs to PSC was 30 November TORs for part time VNFOREST-PMU staff was completed and submited in December 2014.

Implementation of PSC’s conclusion during the 2 nd meeting F O R M I S II | Development of Management Information System for the Forestry Sector in Viet Nam3 No. Conclusions by PSCImplementation 4PSC has agreed that the key activities to be deployed during the last quarter of 2014, following the PMU recommendations, are: a. High efforts to integration of data from Forest Companies, Forest Management Boards, 4 cycle (JICA) data and NFIS data from 13 provinces once they are available in b. Prepare the Decision on Information Framework for Forestry Sector, draft version of decision and proposal shall be submitted to MARD in first quarter of c. Develop the regulation on the governance of forestry information (including the categorization for users, and security for the system), draft version of regulation and proposal shall be submitted to MARD in first quarter of d. Accelerate the establishment of the IT Unit under VNFOREST, as well as establishment of project regional offices at the Regional Forest Protection Department Premises. The IT Unit roadmap should also include a cost analysis component. Key activities have been prioritised and implemented: a. Data from Forest Companies, Forest Management Boards was received and is currently being integrated; plans and integration solutions for the 4 cycle (JICA) data and the NFIS data have been completed and the data are ready to be integrated once they are available. b. Short-term consultants were recruited to develop the Information Framework for Forestry Sector. The decision and proposal are being drafted. c. Governance practices for the FORMIS architecture are being drafted. d. IT Unit was established as a part of the VNFOREST Administration. The FORMIS PMU is working together with the VNFOREST Office to finalize TOR for the Unit; regional offices of the project were established, regional staff members are being recruited. 5 Annual project audit: Audit of project funds (Finnish funds and Vietnamese funds) will be conducted in The audit was originally planned to be arranged by MFA Finland before 31 December Annual audit has not yet been performed. Exact time for the audit will be confirmed by the Embassy of Finland.

Implementation of PSC’s conclusion during the 2 nd meeting F O R M I S II | Development of Management Information System for the Forestry Sector in Viet Nam4 No. Conclusions by PSCImplementation 6 PSC requested the project to organise a benchmarking trip during November 2014, preferably starting from 16th Nov The benchmarking trip was organized during November In order to improve the effectiveness in managing and steering project implementation, the PMU was requested to follow these steps when submitting proposals to SC co-chairs: a. Reports to the MARD Deputy Minister about the proposal for his unofficial instruction and comments. b. Revises the proposal if needed based on the guidance and comments given by the Deputy Minister. c. Submits the proposal to the Embassy for comments and/or approval. d. Revises the proposal if needed or implements the proposal.. PMU still complies with each step as required by the PSC.

Implementation of PSC’s conclusion during the 2 nd meeting F O R M I S II | Development of Management Information System for the Forestry Sector in Viet Nam5 No. Conclusions by PSCImplementation 8 PMU was requested to report immediately to the Embassy whenever change in counterpart funding source allocation has taken place, following the co-management mechanism. PMU will report immediately to the Embassy whenever change in the counterpart funding source allocation takes place, following the co- management mechanism. 9 PSC requested FORMIS II PMU to emphasize in the upcoming 2014 Annual Progress Report results rather than activities and provide further explanations for delays as well as items needing attention. The Annual Report was drafted in line with the MFA guideline. 10 PMU was requested to submit the SC all necessary documents for the SC meeting 2 weeks prior to the date of the meeting. The full package includes power point presentations and full-text documents. Full package of SC meeting documents will be submitted 2 weeks prior to the date of the SC meeting. 11 The next SC meeting was tentatively agreed to be held before 15th December The next SC meeting was agreed to be arranged on 26 th January 2015.

F O R M I S II Development of Management Information System for the Forestry Sector in Viet Nam 6 Supported by: Implementing Agency: Lead consultant: In consortium with: F O R M I S II | Development of Management Information System for the Forestry Sector in Viet Nam