MoF unveils reforms to Law on Bidding in draft

MoF unveils reforms to Law on Bidding in draft

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) released a draft law proposing significant changes to the Law on Bidding and several related laws on April 8.

The MoF has proposed that direct investor appointment should be implemented for investment and business projects in the fields of science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation, where the project proposer is an enterprise that owns or holds strategic technology copyrights, or projects requiring continuity with enterprises that have previously implemented digital infrastructure and platforms.

In the case of domestic bidding, domestic investors may form joint ventures with foreign investors or engage foreign contractors as partners for bidding purposes; in such arrangements, the domestic investor must act as the lead member of the joint venture.

For tender packages of projects in the fields of sci-tech development, innovation, and national digital transformation that are subject to domestic bidding, domestic contractors may form joint ventures with foreign contractors or engage foreign subcontractors for bidding purposes; in these cases, the domestic contractor must serve as the lead member of the joint venture.

Regarding the regulations on appointment of contractors, the MoF proposes that direct appointment should be applied to tender packages under the following circumstances: urgent or emergency situations requiring immediate implementation; projects involving state secret protection; projects categorised as national key projects under a resolution of the National Assembly; projects requiring technological compatibility, copyright or intellectual property rights compliance; those involving research, experimentation, or copyright acquisition; land clearance or site preparation; cases where there is only one eligible contractor or supplier; national reserve procurement; restoration or preservation of historical or cultural relics; and other cases as stipulated by the government.

The government shall provide detailed regulations on cases, conditions, and procedures for direct appointment of contractors. During the contract negotiation process, the investor and the contractor must negotiate the contract price to ensure economic efficiency and cost savings.

Additionally, the MoF proposes that special investor selection procedures be applicable to investment and business projects that include one or more specific requirements or conditions related to: investment procedures; procedures for land allocation, land lease, or sea area allocation; procedures, methods, criteria for investor selection, and content of investment project contracts; national defence, security, foreign affairs, territorial borders, national interests, and the fulfilment of national political tasks; or projects with specific requirements for research, application, and development of science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation, where none of the existing investor selection methods stipulated by this law can be applied.

VIR