Vietnam: From January 01, 2021, the procedures for the settlement of petitions in the investor selection will apply

Vietnam: From January 01, 2021, the procedures for the settlement of petitions in the investor selection will apply (Illustrative image)

Under Article 96 of the Law on Public-Private Partnership Investment 2020, the procedures for the settlement of petitions regarding issues arising during the investor selection process in Vietnam are stipulated as follows:

- The investor sends a written petition to the bid solicitor from the date of occurrence to the date prior to the announcement of the investor selection results;

- The bid solicitor must send a written document stating settlement of the petition to the investor within 07 working days from the date of receipt of the written petition from the investor;

- In case where the bid solicitor does not have a written document stating settlement of the petition or the investor disagrees about petition settlement results, the investor shall have the right to send the petition to the competent authority within 05 working days from the deadline for sending their reply or the date of receipt of the bid solicitor's written document on settlement of the petition;

- The competent authority must send a written document stating settlement of the petition to the investor within 07 working days of receipt of the written petition from the investor.

Additionally, this Law also stipulates the procedures for settlement of petitions regarding the investor selection results in Vietnam as follows:

- The investor must send a written petition to the bid solicitor within 10 working days of receipt of the notification of investor selection results;

- The bid solicitor must send a written document stating settlement of the petition to the investor within 15 working days of receipt of the written petition from the investor;

 - In case where the bid solicitor does not have a written document stating settlement of the petition or the investor disagrees about petition settlement results, the investor shall have the right to send the written petition to the competent authority and the standing organ of the Petition Settlement Advisory Board within 05 working days from the deadline for sending their reply or the date of receipt of the bid solicitor's written document on settlement of the petition.

The central-level Petition Settlement Advisory Board shall be established by the Minister of Planning and Investment; the Petition Settlement Advisory Board at the Ministry, central authority, other body level shall be established by Ministers, heads of central authorities or other bodies; the Petition Settlement Advisory Board at the local level shall be established by the President of the provincial People's Committee;

- Upon receipt of the written petition, Petition Settlement Advisory Boards shall have the right to request investors or bid solicitors and concerned entities to provide information to consider and report in writing to competent authorities on methods and contents of the response to the petition within 30 days of receipt of the written petition from the investor;

- Where necessary, the Petition Settlement Advisory Board shall, based on the investor's written petition, request the competent authority to consider temporarily suspending the bid. In case of acceptance of the petition, within 05 working days of receipt of the written document from the Petition Settlement Advisory Board, the competent authority must send a written notification of temporary suspension of the bid. The written document stating temporary suspension of the bid must be sent to the bid solicitor or the investor within 05 working days from the date of issuance of the written notification of temporary suspension of the bid. The duration of temporary suspension of the bid shall range from the date of the bid solicitor's receipt of the written notification of temporary suspension to the date of the competent authority's issuance of the written document stating settlement of the petition;

- The competent authority must issue the decision on settlement of the petition regarding investor selection results within 10 working days of receipt of the written opinion from the Petition Settlement Advisory Board.

Note: If an investor submits a petition directly to a competent authority without compliance with the petition settlement procedures specified in this Article, the written petition shall not be considered for further action.

More details may be found in the Law on Public-Private Partnership Investment 2020 effective from January 01, 2021.

Ty Na

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