Requirements for the Vietnam E-Procurement System according to the Law on Bidding 2023

Requirements for the Vietnam E-Procurement System according to the Law on Bidding 2023 (Internet image)

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

1. Requirements for the Vietnam E-Procurement System according to the Law on Bidding 2023

Requirements for the Vietnam E-Procurement System (VNEPS) according to Article 51 of the Law on Bidding 2023 are as follows:

- Information published on VNEPS must be made publicly available and accessed without limitation.

- Time source of VNEPS shall comply with regulations of law on national standard time source.

- VNEPS must be operated in a continuous, uniform, stable and safe manner and is capable of user authentication, and data confidentiality and integrity.

- Information on transactions conducted on VNEPS must be sufficiently recorded and can be easily tracked.

- VNEPS must be operated in a manner ensuring that bidders/investors cannot send their EOIs, prequalification applications, bids or proposals to procuring entities after deadlines for submission of bids.

- Information on contractors/investors may be obtained from the national enterprise registration information system, tax administration information system, budget and treasury management information system and other systems. VNEPS shall be connected with web portals and other information systems for the purposes of sharing data and information used in online bidding and serving state management of bidding activities.

2. Responsibilities of Vietnam E-Procurement System operating unit

Responsibilities of Vietnam E-Procurement System operating unit according to Article 52 of the Law on Bidding 2023 are as follows:

- Ensure information security, cybersecurity and data confidentiality of VNEPS.

- Ensure the integrity of documents on VNEPS, and prevent unauthorized access to and unlawful replacement of documents.

- Ensure safety, security and confidentiality for users, and manage user profiles; adopt an appropriate mechanism for recording information and tracking source of information in chronological order and by activity on VNEPS.

- Build VNEPS which should be compatible with other systems; have a user-friendly interface and meet relevant standards in the field of information technology.

- Manage information security and cybersecurity risks to VNEPS.

- Do not use information on projects, investment projects, packages, employers, procuring entities, contractors, investors and other information available on VNEPS for any purposes other than performance of its functions and tasks.

- Ensure that hardware systems are capable of performing bidding activities.

- Discharge other responsibilities as prescribed by the Law on Bidding 2023 and relevant laws.

3. Regulations for online contractor and investor selection in Vietnam

Regulations for online contractor and investor selection in Vietnam according to Article 50 of the Law on Bidding 2023 are as follows:

- Domestic competitive bidding, limited bidding and shopping must be conducted on VNEPS according to the following roadmap:

= From the effective date of this Law to December 31, 2024 inclusively, the Government shall decide whether to adopt online bidding method or not;

= From January 01, 2025, the online bidding method shall apply to all packages, except cases where the bidding is not conducted on VNEPS as prescribed in Clause 5 of Article 50 of the Law on Bidding 2023.

- Contractor/investor selection contents to be conducted on VNEPS:

= Publishing of information on contractor/investor selection;

= Preparation, appraisal and approval of prequalification document, EOI request, bidding documents or RFP;

= Preparation and submission of prequalification applications, EOIs, applications for project execution, bids or proposals;

= Bid opening;

= Evaluation of prequalification applications, EOIs, bids or proposals, invitation for contract negotiation, appraisal and approval of contractor selection result;

= Consortium agreement, electronic bid security, electronic contract performance;

= Clarification of bidding-related contents;

= Submission and receipt of petitions;

= Electronic contract;

= Electronic payment.

- Electronic documents on VNEPS shall be valid in accordance with regulations of the Law on electronic transactions and used as the basis for comparing, verifying and authenticating information serving performance of evaluation, appraisal, inspection, supervision, auditing and disbursement tasks.

- Costs incurred in online bidding include: costs of registration for participation in VNEPS; costs of publishing of bidding information as prescribed in Point c Clause 1 and Point c Clause 2 Article 15 of the Law on Bidding 2023, participation in bidding, signing of contract, and other costs associated with the bidding process on VNEPS.

- The Government shall stipulate the connection and information sharing as prescribed in Clause 6 Article 51 of this Law; online bidding techniques which should be suitable for features and development of VNEPS; online bidding procedures and costs; online investor selection roadmap; cases where the bidding is not conducted on VNEPS.

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