Consultant(s) for Communication campaigns to raise public awareness about the mining industry and the tax on mineral resources

Terms of Reference

I.               General information:

II.            Project Description:

Tax is an important financial tool, associated with the existence and development of the government and society. Taxation is to create a government budget and it also has many important economic, political and social implications. An effective tax system is the foundation of public finance, allowing the government to perform its primary function of providing essential public goods to society, thereby promoting the welfare of taxpayers and implementing fiscal policies. Fiscal policies can be aimed at redistributing resources and welfare and promoting economic growth when needed. Thus, a well-designed tax system can make society more equitable, people receive welfare and have the right motivation to work, thereby enhancing the competitiveness and integration of the national economy.

Among the taxes that the government is collecting at present, natural resources tax is an important tool to help the government perform the role and function of management over the exploitation and use of natural resources of enterprises, organizations, and personnel. Up to now, the implementation of the 2009 Law on Natural Resources Tax has contributed to supplementing state budget revenues, encouraging localities to strengthen the management and collection of natural resources tax. In addition, the implementation of this law also restricts rampant and illegal mining. However, the implementation of this law also revealed inadequacies such as the amount of government budget collected from natural resources tax not commensurate with the exploited output, the difficulty of fully controlling the exploitation output, the tax payable from mining enterprises, or the problems in the process of tax declaration and payment. In the mineral sector, according to the Ministry of Finance's data, the revenue from mineral resources tax (excluding oil and gas) in the 2010-2017 period only contributed about 0.9% - 1.1% of the total revenue.

From a socio-economic perspective, the exploitation of mineral resources, especially on an industrial scale, has created many problems that seriously affect the environment, ecology, public health, social justice, etc. One of the key causes of these inadequacies is the gaps in management policies, especially for a country that relies heavily on resource exploitation like Vietnam. This can lead to inefficient value chain management of the entire mining process. The short-term benefits cannot offset the long-term negative effects.

In that context, in order to contribute to promoting social justice and enhancing the efficiency of revenue and expenditure from taxes, the Vietnam Alliance of Tax Justice (VATJ) conducts research projects and communication campaigns to raise public awareness about the mining industry and the mineral resources tax collection in Vietnam. VATJ was established in 2018 and is a collection of organizations and experts sharing a vision for a sustainable Vietnam through tax policies that ensure fairness. Over the years, VATJ has organized research and advocacy activities to promote tax system reform in Vietnam. The implementation of the activities has provided authentic evidence to contribute ideas to the executive agencies and elected bodies in Vietnam in the promulgation of tax policies. In addition, findings from the research have also been used as inputs for communication campaigns, including social media campaigns, to raise public awareness of tax policies.

The results of research on the mining industry are expected to help central and local managers and policymakers to reflect the current policies, serve as a basis and foundation for effective management of natural resources, significantly increase state budget revenue, and help to manage and regulate the exploitation of natural resources sustainably in the long term.

The media plays an important role in influencing government agencies at all levels, as well as raising public awareness of the government's responsibility for transparency and accountability for mining activity and mineral resource tax collection. Therefore, VATJ sought a communication consultant/group of consultants/service firm to carry out a communication campaign on the mining industry and mineral resource tax collection in the period from December 2022 to March 2023.

III.          Description of Activity:

(1)       Goals of Activity:

• Raising public awareness of the mining industry and the mineral resource tax collection, as well as raising awareness of fiscal policies and tax equity in general;
• Creating opportunities for people to comment on policies on the mining industry and mineral resource tax collection;
• Building a community with interest and understanding of this topic in order to create a foundation for more topical and pervasive events in the future. Moreover, having a long-term supportive community will help VATJ's activities and recommendations be better received.

(2)       Target audience:

• Young audience (20 - 30 years old);
• Having certain interest in social issues, supporting universal values such as environmental protection, equality and transparency in society...;
• Having a basic knowledge of economics and policy.

(3)       Forms of Communication Campaigns:

• Using a variety of communication forms, taking advantage of traditional and modern communication channels to create multiple impressive and easy-to-understand communication products to reach the target audience effectively and widely, and to stimulate the active participation of young people in sharing and spreading the campaign's message.

IV.          Consultant’s Duties and Expected results:

* The selected consultant/consulting group/organization will receive additional professional training with the VATJ's professional team, participate in related research activities and actively conduct their own research on project topics to develop content for media products. The results of VATJ's studies will also be used as input for media products.

V.             Contract and payment:

• Consultant contract (for consultant/group of consultants) or service contract (for service firm) will be signed with the selected consultant/group of consultants/service firm.
• Payment will be made in installments and depend on the fulfillment of output products in each period, specifically as follows:

VI.          Criteria for selecting consultants:

VII.        How to apply:

Consultant/consulting group/organization who is interested in this position can send an application (English or Vietnamese) including:

1. Competency profile stating the technical capacity, understanding and experience in implementing related projects, communication activities and products of the consultant/group of consultants/organization and (or) implementing personnel;
2. Technical proposal (specify detailed implementation plan, expected products and contents, implementation timeframe, etc.)
3. Financial Proposal (in Vietnamese Dong, including consulting fees and all other costs related to production, along with personal income tax for consultant/group of consultants or VAT for companies. Refer to EU-UN norms in 2022)

Submissions should be sent by email to: taxjustice.[email protected] no later than 23.59 hrs., 16 December 2022 (Hanoi time).

Subject line:    VATJ/TOR/221201 - [Name of consultant/consulting group/organization]

We will respond when we receive the application and will notify the results within 05 working days from the submission deadline.

Contact Information:taxjustice.[email protected]