Requirements for professional bidding organizations in Vietnam

Requirements for professional bidding organizations in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Requirements for professional bidding organizations in Vietnam

According to Article 113 of Decree 63/2014/ND-CP, requirements for professional bidding organizations are as follows:

- Such organizer must have permits for establishment and operation issued by the competent authorities which allow them to act as bidding agents or bidding consultancy or organizations in charge of bidding.

- Employ the regulatory bodies meeting the professional requirements to perform the functions and duties as bidding agents, bidding consultancies, or organizations in charge of bidding.

- Their personnel have professional ethics, honesty and impartiality during their work.

- They use procedures for management and control of the quality of their work.

2. Consideration, recognition and announcement of professional bidding organizers’ information in Vietnam

Article 114 of Decree 63/2014/ND-CP stipulates the consideration, recognition and announcement of professional bidding organizers’ information as follows:

- Organizations that satisfy the conditions specified in Section 1 shall make a dossier of request for recognition as a professional bidding organization and send it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall establish a Council to appraise the application for recognition as a professional bidding organization.

- Organizations assessed by the Appraisal Council that fully meet the requirements specified in Section 1 will be recognized as a professional bidding organization and posted on the national bidding network system.

3. Operation of professional bidding organizations in Vietnam

Article 115 of Decree 63/2014/ND-CP stipulates the operation of professional bidding organizations as follows:

- A professional bidding organization is only allowed to operate when its name is on the national bidding network system.

- A professional bidding organization may sign contracts to act as a bidding agent or as a bidding consultant for investors and bid solicitors.

4. Fraud and corruption in bidding in Vietnam

According to Article 89 of the Law on Bidding 2013, fraud and corruption in bidding include:

- Corrupt practice.

- Take advantage of positions, powers aiming to interfere illegally in a bidding process.

- Collusive practice, including the following acts:

+ Agreeing on bidding withdrawal or withdrawal of Letter of Bid already been submitted so that one party or parties in agreement win bid;

+ Agreeing to let one or many parties to prepare Bid for parties of bidding so that one party may win bid;

+ Agreeing on refusal for goods provision, refusal for signing contract of Subcontractor, or forms which cause other difficulties to parties which refuse to participate in agreement.

- Fraudulent practice, including the following acts:

+ Providing a wrong presentation intentionally or falsifying information, dossier or documents of a party in bidding with the aim to obtain financial benefits or other benefits or with the aim to avoid any obligation;

+ Individuals who personally assess EOI responses, Applications, Bids, Proposals, evaluate result of selection of short list, result of selection of investor, bidder, intentionally providing wrong report or untrue information falsifying the result of selection of bidders/investors.

+ Bidders/investors intentionally provide dishonest information in EOI responses, Prequalification Application, Bids, Proposals falsifying the result of selection of bidders/investors.

- Interference practice, including the following acts:

+ Destroying, cheating, changing, hiding proof or reporting contrary to the truth; threatening, disturbing or suggesting with any party with the aim to prevent the clarification of acts of handing, taking, brokerage of bribes, fraudulence or conclusion with functional agencies, authorized agencies in conducting supervisions, checks, inspections and audit;

+ Impeding bidder/investors, authorities in charge of supervision, inspection and audit.

- Inequality and intransparency, including the following acts:

+ Making a bid as a bidder/investor in a procurement, project for which it is also the Procuring Entity, investor or person performing tasks of the Procuring Entity, investor;

+ Formulating and engaging in evaluation of dossier of invitation for expression of interest, Prequalification Document, Bid, Request for Proposals for a same procurement, project;

+ Engaging in evaluation of Bids, Proposals, concurrently evaluate result of selection of bidder/ investor for a same package, project;

+ Any individual of the Procuring Entity, investor directly participates in the process of selection of bidder/ investor or participate in expert groups, evaluation groups for result of selection of bidder/ investor, or a head of competent regulatory body, investor, the Procuring Entity for packages, projects in which his or her natural parent, parent-in-law, spouse, natural child, adopted child, son or daughter-in-law or sibling participates give their name in bidding or are representatives in law of bidders/investors making the bid;

+ Participation by a bidder in bidding for goods procurement, works in a procurement for which such participant previously has provided consulting services;

+ Provision of one's name as the bidder for a procurement belonging to a project of an organization or body for which such person worked, within a period of 12 months from the date on which such person ceased to work for such body or organization;

+ Being consulting bidder for supervision concurrently provide the verification consulting for the procurement which is under supervision of bidder;

+ Application of a form of selection of bidder/ investor other than competitive bidding when the conditions stipulated in this Law have not been satisfied;

+ Imposition of specific requirements regarding brand names and country of origin of goods in Bid Documents applicable to procurement for procurement of goods, for works and mixed packages when applying forms of competitive bidding, limited bidding;

+ Division of a project, estimate for procurement into packages contrary to the provisions in this Law with the aim to apply Direct Contracting or limit participation of bidders.

- Disclosure, receipt of the following data and information regarding selection of bidder/ investor, except for cases defined at point b clause 7 and point e clause 8 article 73, clause 12 Article 74, point i Clause 1 Article 75, Clause 7 Article 76, Clause 7 Article 78, point d Clause 2 and point d clause 4 Article 92 of the Law on Bidding 2013:

+ Contents of EOI requests, Prequalification Documents, Bid Documents prior to the stipulated date for issuance of such documents;

+ Contents of EOI responses, Applications, Bids, Proposals, notebooks and minutes of bid consideration meetings, comments and assessments regarding each dossier of expression of interest, dossier of prequalification participation, Proposals prior to the announcement of the short list, results of selection of bidder/ investor;

+ Requests for clarification of Bids, Proposals made by the Procuring Entity and responses of bidders/investors during the process of assessment of Bids, Proposals prior to announcement of the results of selection of bidder/ investor;

+ Reports by the Procuring Entity, by the expert group, evaluation report, report of consulting bidder, report of relevant specialized agencies during the process of selection of bidder/ investor prior to announcement of the results of selection of bidder/ investor;

+ Result of selection of bidder/ investor prior to the stipulated time for announcement;

+ Other documents during the process of selection of bidder/ investor which are stamped "confidential" as prescribed by law.

- Bid transfer including the following acts:

+ Contractor transfer to other contractor a part of work under procurement at value of 10% or more (after deducting part of work under responsibilities of Subcontractors) calculated on the signed Contract Price;

+ The investor or supervision consulting accepts for contractor to transfer work under duty of contractor, deducted part of work under duty of Subcontractors as stated in contract.

- Holding selection of bidder when the financing source for the package has not yet been determined, resulting in insolvency of the contractor.

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