Investor selection process in Vietnam under the law on bidding 2023

Investor selection process in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 46 of the Law on Bidding 2023 (taking effect on January 1, 2024), investor selection process includes the following steps:

- Public disclosure of the investment project;

- Preparation for bidding, including: preparation, appraisal and approval of bidding documents;

- Organization of bidding activities, including: invitation for bid; issuance, amendment and clarification of bidding documents; preparation, submission, receipt, management, modification, withdrawal and substitution of bids;

- Bid evaluation, including: bid opening; examination and evaluation of validity of bids; detailed evaluation of bids;

- Submission, appraisal, approval and disclosure of investor selection result; provision of explanations for investors as to why they were not successful (if any);

- Negotiation, completion and signing of contract.

In case there are 02 or more investors showing interest in a project and thus the investor selection must be conducted through bidding as prescribed by the Law on land or a specialized law, in addition to the steps specified above, the competent authority shall prepare the EOI request, send invitation for EOIs, organize evaluation of applications for project execution, and approve EOI selection result before preparing for bidding as prescribed.

Public disclosure of investment projects in Vietnam

- Competent authorities shall make information on investment projects publicly available on VNEPS which shall be used as the basis for organization of investor selection.

- Project details to be publicly disclosed include:

+ Decision on approval of investment guidelines (if any);

+ Project’s name; investment objectives and scale; total investment;

+ Location of the project; current use of land, land area used for executing the project; land use purposes; approved planning indicators;

+ Project execution duration and schedule; preliminary plan for investment phasing or division of component projects (if any); execution schedule of each stage of the project (if any);

+ Name of the procuring entity; investor selection method and procedure;

+ Other related contents.

Pursuant to: Article 47 of the Law on Bidding 2023.

Bidding documents used for investor selection in Vietnam

- Bidding documents include:

+ Instructions to investors;

+ Bidding Data Sheet (BDS);

+ Examination and evaluation of validity of bids;

+ Methods and criteria for evaluation of capacity and experience of investors; investment plan; efficiency in land use or investment efficiency, sectoral development;

+ Invitation for bid and bidding forms;

+ Investment project-related information and execution requirements;

+ Draft contract and contract form;

+ Other related contents.

- Bidding documents shall not impose any conditions that limit the participation of an investor or give advantage for one or some investors resulting in unfair competition.

Pursuant to: Article 48 of the Law on Bidding 2023.

Investor selection duration in Vietnam

- In case of domestic bidding, the minimum period between the first date on which the bidding documents are issued and the deadline for submission of bids which is given for investors to prepare their bids shall be 45 days;

- In case of international bidding, the minimum period between the first date on which the bidding documents are issued and the deadline for submission of bids which is given for investors to prepare their bids shall be 60 days;

- The period for performing the tasks other than those specified above shall be decided by the competent person or procuring entity in a manner that ensures the investment project execution schedule.

Pursuant to: Article 49 of the Law on Bidding 2023.

Mai Thanh Loi

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