Parties Responsibilities

Transcription

1 Memorandum of Understanding Between The City of Haiphong Vietnam And Greater Seattle Washington, USA With Support from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) And The World Bank Based on the following The City of Haiphong, Vietnam, and Greater Seattle, Washington agree to work together continuing their long standing partnership since 1993 to further the knowledge, understanding and cooperation between the cities that will enhance trade, technical assistance, exchanges of information, cultural understanding, and provide a continuing basis for long-term relations, and The City of Haiphong and Greater Seattle, Washington have resolved to include and encourage links between a wide spectrum of citizens and community members through this partnership, including universities, educational institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), etc., and In October 1999, the President of the World Bank challenged Greater Seattle to create a broad partnership that would work with a developing city to solve mutually identified problems; and to create a new model of international assistance, and From August to November 2000, a City of Seattle planner worked with the City of Haiphong and the results affirm that both cities will continue further cooperation, and The International Resource Cities Program (IRCP), sponsored by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) with funding provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States-Asia Environmental Program (US-AEP), has the goal of assisting local governments in strengthening municipal management, improving public service delivery, and encouraging participation by their citizens, and The City of Haiphong and the municipal government of Seattle, have agreed to pursue improved urban management of local government through the IRCP in support of the implementation of projects in partnership beyond the initial 18 month period of USAID/ICMA/US-AEP support, to further the aims of the Haiphong Greater Seattle Partnership and maintain a continuing link between their communities, and The World Bank is pursuing its goal of alleviating poverty by creating partnerships between developed cities and developing cities that will identify ways in which community resources and expertise can be mobilized to assist these developing cities in solving locally identified problems, and

2 This expanded partnership that includes the Seattle community institutions noted in Section 2 and the World Bank will identify areas of potential assistance over the long term and develop a work plan to address these issues. All parties are in agreement that The City of Haiphong, Vietnam and Greater Seattle, Washington agree to work towards sustainable relationships through a series of exchanges, trade missions, training and technical assistance in the areas of tourism development, economic development, information technology, environmental management and, social and educational development. The City of Haiphong, Vietnam and the municipal government of Seattle, Washington, agree that improvements in local government management are fundamental to the overall success of the Haiphong Greater Seattle Partnership. The Greater Seattle Partners and the World Bank agree that addressing issues of improvement in Haiphong s business climate and its ability to market itself to the world as a place for business investment and tourist activities will be a fundamental element in alleviating poverty and in the success of the broad partnership. Section 1: The City of Haiphong, Vietnam, and the municipal government of Seattle, Washington, and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) agree to undertake two projects involving a series of bi-lateral technical assistance exchanges to be completed within 18 months. The selection of the projects will be mutually agreed upon by the City of Haiphong and the City of Seattle and may be selected from the list of priorities identified in the Appendix. Section 1 of this Memorandum of Understanding covers individuals traveling from Haiphong to Seattle and from Seattle to Haiphong for approximately two weeks per exchange. The number of exchanges will be governed by the cost of the exchanges for activities and the participants will be governed by the agreed upon activities. The City of Haiphong and the municipal government of Seattle agree to develop detailed work plans for the technical assistance exchanges in advance of each exchange. Parties Responsibilities The Municipal Government of Seattle, Washington, agrees to: 1. Provide or arrange technical experts to assist Haiphong on the agreed topics 2. Ensure that the costs of salaries and benefits for technical experts from the City of Seattle participating in the exchanges are covered 3. Provide administrative support through the City s Strategic Planning Office 4. Provide equipment and materials to support the field visits of the technical experts 5. Provide office support and associated costs and working space for representatives of Haiphong when in Seattle

3 International City/County Management Association (ICMA) agrees to: 1. Provide representatives of Haiphong with the services of a interpreter/translator when in Seattle 2. Provide international and local transportation costs, accommodation costs, and per diem for exchanges from Haiphong and Seattle 3. Provide representatives of Seattle with the services of a interpreter/translator when in Haiphong 4. Reimburse the City of Haiphong for communication costs incurred by the representatives of the municipal government of Seattle for internet access, long distance telephone, facsimile communications, and photocopy costs while in Haiphong 5. Provide for in-country arrangements and the cost of visas for persons traveling to Vietnam The City of Hai Phong agrees to: 1. Provide or arrange representatives or technical experts from Haiphong to participate in the exchanges 2. Cover the costs of salaries and benefits for technical experts from the City of Haiphong participating in the exchanges 3. Provide administrative support for the exchanges through the Department of Planning and Investment 4. Provide equipment and materials to support the field visits of the technical experts 5. Provide support and working space for representatives of Seattle when in Haiphong and Finally Let it be Resolved that: Section 2: The Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, the University of Washington and the Port of Seattle as the other Greater Seattle partners agree to: 1. Identify resources and expertise from Seattle that can assist the City of Haiphong in solving locally identified problems over the long term; Provide technical assistance in selected areas including enhancing trade and improving the business climate, exchanging information, and providing a basis for long-term relations among all the partners; 2. Begin to identify local resources in the Seattle community to support activities of the Greater Seattle Partnership; 3. Coordinate the work of the Seattle partners (through the University of Washington) and provide the primary point of contact between the Seattle partners, the City of Haiphong and the World Bank.

4 The World Bank agrees to: 1. Commit funds to be used for Vietnamese to travel abroad, for Vietnam-based events and for coordination of the World Bank effort. 2. Provide assistance to the broader Partnership in linking with other international efforts focused on work in Vietnam and in alleviating poverty. 3. Assist in developing new models for development assistance for international organizations. The City of Haiphong agrees to: 1. Work with the Greater Seattle Partners and the World Bank to further define the list of short-term and long-term needs listed in the Appendix and identify specific projects or activities to be undertaken. 2. Exchange the necessary information to make the agreed-upon projects or activities effective. Expected Outputs The City of Haiphong, the municipal government of Seattle, Greater Seattle, the ICMA and the World Bank agree that in addition to greater understanding and cooperation between Haiphong and Seattle, the specific outputs will include: 1. A work plan for each technical assistance visit. 2. Technical assistance in response to three of the short-term items identified. 3. A written report on each visit to be shared among all parties to this agreement. 4. Plans for development in the areas of technical assistance. 5. Identification of additional assistance or areas for cooperation in the future for the Haiphong-Greater Seattle Partnership. 6. Final reports to ICMA, USAID, USAEP and the World Bank at the conclusion of the technical assistance exchanges and the other elements of the agreed-upon work plan.

5 Validity This document is made in both English and Vietnamese languages with the same validity. Tran Huy Nang, Chairman Haiphong People s Committee City of Haiphong Denna Cline Director, Strategic Planning Office City of Seattle Tim Campbell, Urban Specialist The World Bank Deborah Kimble, Director Asia Programs ICMA Stephanie Wilcock United States Agency for International Development APPENDIX The Seattle - Haiphong Partnership with the support of ICMA, USAID and the World Bank will consider undertaking projects in the following issue areas. Short-Term Priorities: Tourism Development Technical assistance with marketing materials and the web site. Environmental Management Information Technology Assist with assessing internal city management applications of information technology.

6 Social and Educational Development Strengthen the existing relationship between the University of Washington and teaching and research activities in Haiphong. Long-Term Priorities: Tourism Development Assistance with the development of a strategic plan. Technical assistance in international marketing. Technical assistance in assessing the establishment of a Seattle office. Economic Development Assistance with the development of trade and investment strategies. Technical assistance and exchanges on fisheries management and research techniques. Technical assistance with marketing techniques for sea products. Technical assistance in assessing the establishment of high technology industries. Information Technology Assistance with the development of training programs in specific information technology topics. Environmental Management Work with the Department of Science, Technology and the Environment and their shortterm consultant on environmental zoning Social and Educational Development Assist Haiphong with the forthcoming proposal to improve housing and urban infrastructure in some low-income areas.