Vietnam: ODA projects are approved by the People's Committees of the provinces

According to Article 5 of the Circular No. 39/2015/TT-BNNPTNT of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, the agencies and units that appraise the plan on selecting bidders shall comply with the provisions of Article 37 of the Law on Procurement No. 43/2013/QH13 of Vietnam and the following provisions:

- For bidding packages implemented before a decision on project approval is issued, the project owner, investor or the unit assigned to prepare the project shall assign a specialized unit directly under it to appraise the plan on selecting bidders before the project is approved. The bid package price approved by the investor or the unit assigned to prepare the project must be based on the decision on approving the task (outline) and the estimate of the bidding package after being approved by the appraisal agency of the Ministry with written consent.

- For projects approved by the Ministry of Investment, the agency that organizes the appraisal of the plan on selecting bidders is the appraisal agency of the Ministry, which is responsible for appraising, making appraisal reports and draft decisions to submit to the Ministry for approval. For an ODA project, the project owner must submit a report to the investor when submitting it to the Ministry for consideration and approval of the plan on selecting bidders and must take responsibility for the contents of the plan on selecting bidders.

- For ODA projects that the Ministry assigns the People's Committees of the provinces to approve investment projects, the focal point for the appraisal of the plan on selecting bidders is the local appraisal agency responsible for appraising, making appraisal reports and draft decisions to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for approval. The project owner must have a written agreement on the plan on selecting bidders submitted by the investor before the Provincial People's Committee approves and must be responsible for the contents of the plan on selecting bidders.

Note: The order of appraisal and approval is as follows:

+ The investor submits 02 sets of documents for approval directly at the office or one-stop shop or by post to the appraisal agency of the Ministry (for projects whose investment decision is granted by the Ministry), local appraisal agency (for ODA projects approved by the Ministry assigned to the locality) for these agencies to organize the appraisal, make appraisal reports and draft decisions on approval of the plan on selecting bidders and submit them to the Ministry or Provincial People's Committee for approval according to regulations of Articles 33, 34, 35, 36 of the Law on Procurement No. 43/2013/QH13 of Vietnam. The time limit for settlement is as prescribed at Points a and h Clause 1 Article 12 of the Law on Procurement No. 43/2013/QH13 of Vietnam. The decision on approval of the plan on selecting bidders shall be sent directly or by post to the investor and related agencies.

+ Dossier for submission includes: A report on appraisal and approval of the plan on selecting bidders according to the form issued by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (the original), a photocopy of the approved decision on approval of the contractor selection plan (in case of adjustment and supplement), approval decision enclosed with design dossier, cost estimate (original), other relevant legal documents (if any).

+ For ODA projects at the same time with the investor's submission for approval, the project owner must send a written agreement on the plan on selecting bidders (for projects assigned by the Ministry to the People's Committees of the provinces) or a written request for approval of the plan on selecting bidders (for projects decided by the Ministry of investment) specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.

View more details at the Circular No. 39/2015/TT-BNNPTNT of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, effective from December 10, 2015.

Le Vy

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