Decree 17/2025/ND-CP amend Decrees detailing Bidding Law

DECREE

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decrees detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Bidding Law^[1]

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of the Government; and the November 22, 2019 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration;

Pursuant to the June 23, 2023 Bidding Law;

Pursuant to the November 29, 2024 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Planning Law, Law on Investment, Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership, and Bidding Law;

At the proposal of the Minister of Planning and Investment;

The Government promulgates the Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decrees detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Bidding Law.

Article 1. To amend and supplement Article 1 of the Government’s Decree No. 23/2024/ND-CP of February 27, 2024, detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Bidding Law regarding selection of investors to implement projects subject to organization of bidding in accordance with specialized laws

To add Clause 3a below Clause 3, Article 1 as follows:

“3a. Investor selection in special cases must comply with relevant provisions of the Government’s Decree detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Bidding Law regarding selection of investors to implement land-using investment projects.”.

Article 2. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 24/2024/ND-CP of February 27, 2024, detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Bidding Law regarding contractor selection

1. To amend and supplement Point g, Clause 1, Article 1 as follows:

“g/ Clause 2, Article 29 on contractor selection in special cases;”.

2. To add Article 2a below Article 2 as follows:

“Article 2a. Order and procedures for implementation of Clause 5, Article 3 of the Bidding Law

Before signing a treaty or foreign loan agreement that has provisions on bidding that are different from, or not yet stipulated in the Bidding Law, the Government shall decide on the application of the provisions on bidding according to the following order and procedures:

1. Before proceeding with the negotiation, the project’s managing agency shall send to the agency in charge of negotiation a written proposal on application of the provisions on bidding that are different from, or not yet stipulated in the Bidding Law. Such proposal must comprise:

a/ Provisions of the donor or international organization that are different from or are not yet stipulated in the Bidding Law;

b/ Necessity and assessment of the impact of application of the provisions mentioned at Point a of this Clause.

2. The agency in charge of negotiation shall consult the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and other related agencies on the proposal of application of the provisions that are different from, or not yet stipulated in the Bidding Law, together with the contents of the treaty or foreign loan agreement. The consulted agencies shall reply in writing to the agency in charge of negotiation within 5 working days after receiving the consultation request and relevant documents.

3. Before signing the treaty or foreign loan agreement, the agency in charge of negotiation shall propose the Government to consider and decide on the application of the provisions of the donor or the international organization to which the State or the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.”.

3. To add Clause 12 below Clause 11, Article 12 as follows:

“12. Contractors shall pay the expenses specified in Clause 11 of this Article. Past the payment deadline, if the contractors fail to make payment, their accounts will be suspended, and they will be unable to conduct related transactions on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System until they fulfill the payment responsibility under regulations.”.

4. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 16 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2 as follows:

“b/ Contents and scope of work, number of consultants, implementation duration, capacity and experience, consultants’ salary as prescribed by law (if any), and other relevant factors.

The line ministry in charge of labor shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and agencies in, issuing regulations on salary rates for domestic consultants to serve as a basis for determining the bid package prices specified at this Point;”;

b/ To amend and supplement Point dd, Clause 2 as follows:

“dd/ The valuation result of the organization having the function to provide valuation services or of the valuation council in accordance with law (if any);”;

c/ To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 4 as follows:

“a/ The state budget estimates approved by the competent authority according to the budgetary year or the state budget estimates expected to be allocated in the budgetary year or the state budget estimates expected to be allocated for the subsequent years in case of procurement for the subsequent year or procurement for multiple years; the expected lawful financial sources in the fiscal year or expected lawful financial sources for the subsequent years in case of procurement for the subsequent year or procurement for multiple years;”;

d/ To add Clause 7 below Clause 6 as follows:

“7. For the estimates approved under Point d, Clause 3, Article 23; and Point c, and Clause 8, Article 39 of the Bidding Law, and Clause 2, Article 131 of this Decree, in case the specialized laws have provisions on formulation of estimates and competence to approve estimates, the formulation and approval of the estimates must comply with the specialized laws; in case the specialized laws do not have such provisions, the project owner or the agency or unit assigned by the competent person to approve the estimates shall approve the estimates.”.

5. To add Points dd, e, g and h below Points d, Clause 1, Article 18 as follows:

“dd/ A contractor withdraws the bid dossier or dossier of requirements after the bidding closing time and during the validity period of the bid dossier and dossier of proposals;

e/ A contractor fails to submit the original of the bid security document as required by the project owner or the bid solicitor or fails to make payment in cash or check, or fails to submit the letter of tender guarantee or certificate of guarantee insurance as prescribed by the bidding law;

g/ A contractor fails to implement measures to secure contract performance;

h/ A contractor refuses or does not confirm the acceptance of the contract awarding within 3 working days from the date the bid solicitor invites the contractor to confirm the acceptance of the contract awarding on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System for fast-track online price offering.”.

6. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 20 as follows:

“1. Information on contractor selection shall be posted on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System. Project owners shall post information on violating contractors, untrustworthy contractors when participating in bidding, contractors whose contracts are terminated due to their fault, and contractors that are banned from participating in bidding activities on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System in accordance with the bidding law. In case it is necessary to modify this information, project owners shall make modifications, enclosed with modification decisions, clearly stating the reasons for modification, and take responsibility for the modified information.”.

7. To add a number of clauses of Article 22 as follows:

a/ To add Clause 3a below Clause 3 as follows:

“3a. Contract negotiation (if any) for bidding packages for goods procurement, construction and installation, or provision of non-consultancy services subject to international bidding, mixed bidding packages and bidding packages subject to restricted bidding as specified in Clause 1, Article 22 of the Bidding Law.”;

b/ To add Clause 6 below Clause 5 as follows:

“6. Activities of advance bidding specified in Article 42 of the Bidding Law shall be carried out according to the order and procedures specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 3a and 4 of this Article. The finalization and signing of contracts and the management of contract performance specified in Clause 5 of this Article shall only be carried out after the project is approved for investment.”.

8. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 24 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 1 as follows:

“b/ The approved contractor selection plan.

A draft bidding dossier shall be formulated after the contractor selection plan is approved, or may be formulated during the process of formulating the contractor selection plan provided it is approved after the contractor selection plan is approved;”;

b/ To amend and supplement Point d, Clause 3 as follows:

“d/ A bid security with the value, validity period and beneficiary meeting the requirements of the bidding dossier. In case it is required that the bid security must be submitted in the form of a letter of guarantee or certificate of guarantee insurance, the letter of guarantee or certificate of guarantee insurance must not fall into one of the following cases: the value is lower or the validity period is shorter than that required in the bidding dossier; the beneficiary name is incorrect, the signature is invalid, the signature is made before the issuance of the bidding dossier, accompanied by disadvantageous conditions to the project owner or the bid solicitor. The letter of guarantee or certificate of guarantee insurance must be signed and sealed (if any) by the legal representative of a domestic credit institution or a foreign bank branch established under Vietnam’s law, a domestic non-life insurance enterprise, or a branch of the foreign non-life insurance enterprise established under Vietnam’s law. For an insurance bidding package, the contractor participating in bidding is not allowed to present the certificate of guarantee insurance issued by itself. For a bidding package subject to advance bidding as specified in Article 42 of the Bidding Law, the contractor is not required to implement a bid security measure but shall commit the bidding participation responsibility in the bid application form;”.

9. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 30 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 4 as follows:

“b/ Contractors meeting technical requirements shall be considered for financial evaluation according to the lowest price or evaluation price method. A contractor having the lowest bid price (for the lowest price method) after correction of errors or adjustment of deviations (if any) minus the discount value (if any) and incentives (if any) or having the lowest evaluation price (for the evaluation price method) shall be ranked first. A discount letter which is not disclosed in the bid opening minutes shall not be considered or evaluated.

In case there is only one contractor meeting technical requirements, it is not required to determine the list of ranked contractors. The project owner is not required to approve the list of ranked contractors.”;

b/ To amend and supplement Clauses 5 and 6 as follows:

“5. The expert group shall prepare a report on the evaluation of bid dossiers and send it to the bid solicitor for consideration. The report on the evaluation of bid dossiers must have the following contents:

a/ The evaluation result of each bid dossier;

b/ List of contractors evaluated and ranked and their rankings;

c/ List of disqualified contractors that are eliminated, reasons for the elimination;

d/ Feedback on the competitiveness, fairness, transparency and economic efficiency in the process of organizing contractor selection. In case of failure to ensure the competiveness, fairness, transparency and economic efficiency, it is required to clearly state the reasons and propose solutions;

dd/ Contents of the bidding dossier that do not comply with the bidding law or are likely to cause unclear or different understandings during the implementation process or are likely to distort the results of contractor selection; and proposed solutions.

For bidding packages for goods procurement, construction and installation or provision of non-consultancy services subject to international bidding, mixed bidding packages and bidding packages subject to restricted bidding specified in Clause 1, Article 22 of the Bidding Law, in case of applying contract negotiation, the bid solicitor shall invite the first-ranked contractor to negotiate the contract under Article 43 of this Decree.

6. Based on the report on the evaluation result of the bid dossier and the result of contract negotiation (if any), the bid solicitor shall prepare a proposal requesting the approval of the result of contractor selection and send it to the project owner for approval under Article 31 of this Decree. Such proposal must have the following contents:

a/ The evaluation result of each bid dossier;

b/ List of contractors evaluated and ranked and their rankings;

c/ The result of contract negotiation (if any);

d/ List of disqualified contractors that are eliminated, reasons for the elimination;

dd/ Name of the contractor proposed to win the bid, proposed winning bid, type of contract, duration of implementation of the bidding package and duration of contract performance;

e/ Feedback on the competitiveness, fairness, transparency and economic efficiency in the process of organizing contractor selection. In case of failure to ensure the competiveness, fairness, transparency and economic efficiency, it is required to clearly state the reasons and propose solutions;

g/ Contents of the bidding dossier that do not comply with the bidding law or that are likely to cause unclear or different understandings during the implementation process or are likely to distort the results of contractor selection (if any); and proposed solutions.

h/ Contents to be noted (if any).”.

10. To add Clause 8 below Clause 7, Article 34 as follows:

“8. Activities of advance bidding specified in Article 42 of the Bidding Law shall be carried out according to the order and procedures specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this Article. The finalization and signing of contracts and management of contract performance specified in Clause 7 of this Article shall only be carried out after the project has been approved for investment.”.

11. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 3, Article 42 as follows:

“b/ The expert group shall prepare a report on evaluation of bid dossiers and send it to the bid solicitor for consideration under Clause 5, Article 30 of this Decree. The project owner is not required to approve the list of ranked contractors. In case of applying contract negotiation, the bid solicitor shall invite the first-ranked contractor to negotiate the contract under Article 43 of this Decree.”.

12. To amend and supplement Clause 6, Article 43 as follows:

“6. Based on the report on the result of evaluation of bid dossiers and the contract negotiation result (if any), the bid solicitor shall formulate a proposal for approval of the contractor selection result under Clause 6, Article 30 of this Decree.”.

13. To add Clause 8 below Clause 7, Article 59 as follows:

“8. Activities of advance bidding specified in Article 42 of the Bidding Law shall be carried out according to the order and procedures specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this Article. The finalization and signing of contracts and the management of contract performance under Clause 7 of this Article shall only be carried out after the project has been approved for investment.”.

14. To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 1, Article 61 as follows:

“b/ The approved contractor selection plan.

A draft bidding dossier shall be formulated after the contractor selection plan is approved, or may be formulated during the process of formulation of the contractor selection plan provided it is approved after the contractor selection plan is approved;”.

15. To amend and supplement Points a and c, Clause 2, Article 76 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point a as follows:

“a/ Preparing a dossier of requirements:

The dossier of requirements must comprise summary information about the project, procurement estimates and bidding package; instructions for preparation and submission of the dossier of proposals; criteria for evaluation of contractor capacity and experience; technical evaluation criteria; determination of bid price; and contract conditions.

“Pass” and “fail” criteria shall be used for contractor capacity and experience evaluation and technical evaluation for bidding packages for construction and installation, goods procurement, provision of non-consultancy services and mixed bidding packages; scoring criteria shall be used for technical evaluation of consultancy bidding packages. A dossier of requirements may clearly state the code, brand, specific origin of the goods, technical requirements, and related services (if any);”;

b/ To amend and supplement point c as follows:

“c/ Determining a contractor expected to be invited to receive the dossier of requirements:

Based on the scale and nature of the bidding package and preliminary information about the contractor capable of implementing the bidding package, the project owner shall determine a contractor expected to be invited to receive the dossier of requirements; it is not required to evaluate the capacity and experience of such contractor.

A contractor shall be invited for contractor appointment and receive the dossier of requirements when meeting the conditions for being considered eligible as specified at Points a, b, c, d, e, g and i, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Bidding Law; or Points a and b, Clause 2; and Points d and e, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Bidding Law, for a contractor being a business household. For bidding packages for goods procurement, contractors that are individuals or groups of individuals offering their innovative products shall be invited for contractor appointment and receive the dossiers of requirements when meeting the conditions for being considered eligible as specified in Clause 3, Article 5 of the Bidding Law. In case other relevant laws have provisions that contractors participating in bidding and performing contracts must be independent from other organizations and individuals, such provisions shall prevail.”.

16. To amend and supplement Points a and c, Clause 2, Article 77 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point a as follows:

“a/ Preparing a dossier of requirements:

The dossier of requirements must comprise summary information about the project, procurement estimates and bidding package; instructions for preparation and submission of the dossier of proposals; criteria for evaluation of contractor capacity and experience; technical evaluation criteria; determination of bid price; and contract conditions.

“Pass” and “fail” criteria shall be used for contractor capacity and experience evaluation and technical evaluation for bidding packages of construction and installation, goods procurement, provision of non-consultancy services and mixed bidding packages; scoring criteria shall be used for technical evaluation of consultancy bidding packages. A dossier of requirements may clearly state the code, brand, specific origin of the goods, technical requirements, and related services (if any);”;

b/ To amend and supplement Point c as follows:

“c/ Determining the list of contractors expected to be invited to receive the dossier of requirements:

Based on the scale and nature of the bidding package and preliminary information about the contractors capable of implementing the bidding package, the project owner shall determine at least 3 contractors expected to be invited to receive the dossier of requirements; it is not required to evaluate the capacity and experience of such contractors.

The contractors shall be invited to receive the dossier of requirements when meeting the conditions for being considered eligible as specified at Points a, b, c, d, e, g and i, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Bidding Law; or Points a and b, Clause 2; and Points d and e, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Bidding Law, for contractors being business households. For bidding packages for goods procurement, contractors that are individuals or groups of individuals offering their innovative products shall be invited to receive the dossier of requirements when meeting the conditions for being considered eligible as specified in Clause 3, Article 5 of the Bidding Law. In case other relevant laws have provisions that contractors participating in bidding and performing contracts must be independent from other organizations and individuals, such provisions shall prevail.”.

17. To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 3, Article 78 as follows:

“3. The appointment of a contractor for a bidding package within the contractor appointment threshold specified at Point m, Clause 1, Article 23 of the Bidding Law shall be approved in the contractor selection plan and implemented according to the fast-track contractor appointment procedures. A contractor shall be proposed for contractor appointment when meeting the conditions for being considered eligible as specified at Points a, b, c, d, e, g and i, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Bidding Law; or Points a and b, Clause 2; and Points d and e, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Bidding Law, for a contractor being a business household. For bidding packages for goods procurement, contractors that are individuals or groups of individuals offering their innovative products shall be proposed for contractor appointment when meeting the conditions for being considered eligible as specified in Clause 3, Article 5 of the Bidding Law. In case other relevant laws have provisions that contractors participating in bidding and performing contracts must be independent from other organizations and individuals, such provisions shall prevail. The fast-track contractor appointment procedures are as follows:”.

 18. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 79 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 1 as follows:

“b/ Approval of bidding dossiers:

The approval of a bidding dossier shall be based on the proposal for approval; it is not required to appraise the bidding dossier.”;

 b/ To amend and supplement Point dd, Clause 3 as follows:

“dd/ The ranking of contractors must comply with the provisions in the bidding dossier (if there are more than 1 contractor). The contractor having the lowest bid price  (for the lowest price method) after correction of errors or adjustment of deviations (if any) minus the discount value (if any) and incentives (if any or having the lowest evaluation price (for the evaluation price method) shall be ranked first.”;

c/ To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

 “4. Submission, approval and disclosure of contractor selection results:

The submission, approval and disclosure of contractor selection results must comply with Article 31 of this Decree; it is not required to appraise contractor selection results.”.

 19. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 80 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2 as follows:

“b/ Approval of dossiers of requirements:

The approval of a dossier of requirements shall be based on the proposal for approval; it is not required to appraise the dossier of requirements.”;

 b/ To amend and supplement Clause 6 as follows:

“6. Submission, approval and disclosure of direct procurement results:

The submission, approval and disclosure of direct procurement results must comply with Article 31 of this Decree; it is not required to appraise direct procurement results.”.

20. To amend and supplement Article 82 as follows:

“Article 82. Cases of, and competence to decide on, the forms of contractor selection in special cases

1. Bidding packages subject to the requirements for performance of national political tasks as stated in the Resolutions, Conclusions or directing documents of the Party Central Committee, the Political Bureau and the Secretariat or key leaders of the Party and the State regarding implementation of projects or bidding packages but it is impossible to satisfy such requirements if applying one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of the Bidding Law.

2. Bidding packages subject to the requirements on assurance of national defense, security, external relations, or territorial borders to which it is impossible to apply one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of the Bidding Law.

3. Bidding packages under procurement projects or estimates subject to one or several of particular conditions regarding the order, procedures and criteria for contractor selection, or contract conclusion and performance conditions, including:

a/ Bidding packages for procurement of drugs or vaccines undergoing trials and subject to the manufacturers’ particular requirements on procurement, payment, guarantee, security and other conditions during the contract performance;

b/ Bidding packages for procurement of drugs, vaccines and medical equipment through international organizations;

c/ Bidding packages for procurement of domestically manufactured vaccines serving the Expanded Immunization Program, for which there is only one domestic manufacturer;

d/ Selection of lawyers or law practice organizations for provision of legal services to protect lawful rights and interests of the Vietnamese State and state agencies at foreign investigation bodies applying trade remedies, and domestic, foreign or international adjudicatory bodies or dispute settlement bodies;

dd/ Bidding packages for provision of intensive training courses for state agencies and public non-business units that are directly organized overseas by foreign training institutions; purchase of airfares for working delegations at home and abroad; bidding packages for provision of professional training and further training for cadres, civil servants, public employees, and employees as it is necessary to invite agencies or units competent to provide professional training or having professional training functions and tasks assigned by competent agencies;

e/ Bidding packages for performance of political tasks assigned by the Party or the State, including tasks of dissemination of information on printed newspapers, online newspapers, radio and television, and other mass media in case agencies or units allocated with funding sources to carry out the dissemination directly conclude contracts with such media agencies for implementation; and film production cooperation or film production; and bidding packages of non-business units under the Party Central Committee and government-attached agencies for the procurement of information from foreign news agencies and press organizations, or for the printing of press publications to disseminate the guidelines and policies of the Party and the State;

g/ Bidding packages for production of programs combined with implementation ideas; and organization of artistic performances to serve political tasks;

h/ Bidding packages for provision of printing services, and provision of stamps, receipts and seals in accordance with the laws on tax administration and customs; and bidding packages for procurement and training of police dogs, and procurement of narcotics, explosives, or narcotics or explosive scent pads used for police dog training;

i/ Bidding packages for asset valuation and asset valuation consultancy related to criminal cases and matters in need of urgent implementation at the request of bodies competent to conduct the proceedings;

k/ Bidding packages for provision of services on organization of conferences, seminars, congresses, or training courses (including catering, accommodation and travel services for delegates; equipment, rent of meeting rooms and related services) that require urgent arrangement of centralized accommodation and catering venues for delegates;

l/ Bidding packages serving external affairs related to welcoming of international delegations visiting and working in Vietnam in accordance with the regulations on diplomatic protocols; and bidding packages for procurement of diplomatic gifts for leaders of the Party and the State, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and other central agencies on official overseas missions, or related to welcoming of international delegations visiting and working in Vietnam;

m/ Bidding packages for procurement of services from international credit rating firms; bidding packages for procurement of international payment services (with accompanying equipment) exclusively provided by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT); and bidding packages for procurement of services from companies providing international financial-monetary information services and trading platforms;

n/ Bidding packages for provision of school meals, or bidding packages for procurement of food, ingredients and input fuels serving the provision of school meals for semi-boarding and boarding students at public education institutions;

o/ Bidding packages for procurement of goods or services produced or supplied by a single provider; and bidding packages for procurement of goods or services with uniform prices set by the State, including electricity, water, petrol and oil, environmental sanitation charges, fixed-line telephone charges, maintenance of fixed-line telephone switchboard systems, and other similar goods and services;

p/ Bidding packages under procurement projects or estimates urgently required for immediate implementation as stated in the Government’s Resolutions, or decisions, directives or written notifications of Government leaders, but it is impossible to satisfy progress requirements if applying one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of the Bidding Law.

q/ Bidding packages under projects required for immediate implementation to ensure connectivity and synchronization among the works under projects, as stated in the Government’s Resolutions, or decisions, directives or written notifications of Government leaders, but it is impossible to satisfy the requirements on management efficiency and synchronized and continuous operation of works if applying one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of the Bidding Law;

r/ Bidding packages for consultancy on verification of prefeasibility study reports or feasibility study reports for projects subject to the National Assembly’s investment policy decision or approval;

s/ Bidding packages under other procurement projects or estimates subject to one or several of particular conditions regarding the order, procedures and criteria for contractor selection or conditions for contract conclusion and performance not falling into one of the cases specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, and r of this Clause.

4. Competence to decide on the forms of contractor selection in special cases:

a/ Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and other central agencies (below collectively referred to as heads of central agencies) and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall decide on, and take responsibility for, the application of the forms of contractor selection in special cases, for biding packages under the procurement projects or estimates specified in Clauses 1 and 2, and at Point s, Clause 3, of this Article;

b/ The Minister of Health shall decide on, and take responsibility for, the application of the forms of contractor selection in special cases as specified at Points a, b and c, Clause 3 of this Article;

c/ The Chairperson of the State Appraisal Council shall decide on, and take responsibility for, the application of the form of contractor selection in special cases specified at Point r, Clause 3 of this Article;

d/ Competent persons of procurement projects or estimates shall decide on, and take responsibility for, the application of the forms of contractor selection in special cases specified at Points d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, and q, Clause 3 of this Article.”.

21. To amend and supplement Article 83 as follows:

“Article 83. Order and procedures for contractor selection in special cases

1. For the bidding packages specified in Clauses 1 and 2, and at Point s, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree:

a/ Based on dossiers of request for application of the forms of contractor selection in special cases submitted by agencies or units, heads of central agencies or chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall assign other agencies or units to carry out the appraisal;

b/ The dossier must comprise a request on contractor selection in special cases and a draft decision of the head of the central agency or chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee, and relevant documents and papers. The request on contractor selection in special cases must have the following contents: basic information on the procurement project or estimate or bidding package (name of procurement project or estimate or bidding package; funding sources and total investment of the project, estimated procurement value, or bidding package price; expected implementation duration; and other necessary contents); for the bidding packages specified in Clause 1, Article 82 of this Decree, it is required to provide explanations of the necessity and reasons stating that the application of one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of the Bidding Law can lead to the failure to implement resolutions, conclusions or directing documents of the Party Central Committee, the Political Bureau and the Secretariat, or of key leaders of the Party and the State; for the bidding packages specified in Clause 2, Article 82 of this Decree, it is required to provide explanations of the necessity of and requirements for meeting one or several of the factors related to national defense, security, external relations, or territorial borders, and the reason why it is impossible to apply one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 through 28 of the Bidding Law. For the bidding packages specified at Point s, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree, it is required to provide explanations of the necessity and particular conditions regarding one or several of the contents on contractor selection process, procedures and criteria, and conditions for contract conclusion and performance, and the reason why it is impossible to apply one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 through 28 of the Bidding Law;  a draft plan on contractor selection must include the following principal contents: order and procedures for contractor selection, and other relevant contents to meet the particular conditions of bidding packages under procurement projects or estimates, ensuring the selection of capable and experienced contractors having feasible and effective solutions.  The draft decision of the head of the central agency or chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee must have the contents specified at Point dd of this Clause.

c/ In the appraisal process, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies, other central agencies, and provincial-level People’s Committees shall send dossiers to related ministries or agencies to seek the latter’s opinions on matters under their respective state management (if necessary), for the bidding packages specified in Clause 1, and at Point s, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree; and seek opinions of one, several or all of the following ministries: Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on issues under their respective management regarding the necessity of and conditions for meeting one or several of the factors related to national defense, security, external relations, or territorial borders, as well as opinions from other relevant agencies (if necessary), for the bidding packages specified in Clause 2, Article 82 of this Decree;

d/ Based on opinions of the agencies specified at Point c of this Clause, the agency or unit assigned the appraisal task shall make an appraisal report, which must have the following contents: assessment of the necessity of and reasons for applying the form of contractor selection in special cases; opinions on the plan on contractor selection in special cases and a draft decision of the head of the central agency or chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee in case the request is approved; and approval or disapproval opinion of the head of the central agency or chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee for the application of the form of contractor selection in special cases;

dd/ Based on the proposal dossier and appraisal report, the head of the central agency or chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee shall consider and issue a decision to approve or disapprove the application of the form of contractor selection in special cases. Such decision must have the following contents: approval of the application of and plan on contractor selection in special cases for bidding packages under procurement projects or estimates; responsibilities of competent persons, project owner, bid solicitor, and related agencies in the process of contractor selection; and other requirements in execution of bidding packages under procurement projects or estimates (if any).

2. For the bidding packages specified at Points a and b, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree:

a/ The Minister of Health shall assign a subordinate agency or unit to make dossiers of request for application of the form of contractor selection in special cases and concurrently assign another agency or unit to organize the appraisal of the dossier;

b/ The dossier must comprise: a request on contractor selection in special cases, draft decision of the Minister of Health, and relevant documents and papers. The request on contractor selection in special cases must have the following information: basic information on the procurement project and estimates, and bidding package (names of the project, procurement estimates and bidding package; funding sources and total investment of the project, estimated procurement value, bidding package price; expected implementation duration; and other necessary information); explanations of the necessity of and particular conditions for one or several of the contents specified in Clause 1, Article 29 of the Law on Bidding, and the reasons why it is impossible to apply one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of the Law on Bidding can be applied; draft plan on contractor selection in special cases, which must have the following principal contents: order and procedures for contractor selection and other related matters to meet the particular conditions of the bidding package under the procurement project or estimates, ensuring the selection of capable and experienced contractors having feasible and effective solutions;

c/ Based on the proposal dossier and appraisal report, the Minister of Health shall consider and decide whether to approve or disapprove the application of the form of contractor selection in special cases.

If international organizations or manufacturers of drugs, vaccines or medical equipment have their own regulations on conditions for purchase and sale, contract conclusion (if any), advance payment or payment that are mandatory for supply of drugs, vaccines or medical equipment, such regulations shall prevail.

3. For the bidding packages specified at Point c, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree:

a/ The Minister of Health shall assign a subordinate agency or unit to perform the responsibilities of the project owner for placement of orders of vaccines;

b/ Based on the expanded immunization plan, estimated quantity and types of to-be-purchased vaccines, time of vaccine supply (which may include vaccine procurement for more than one year), estimated unit prices, bidding package prices, and other necessary contents, the project owner shall make a request for approving the contractor selection plan and submit it to the Ministry of Health for appraisal and approval. In case of placement of orders for more than one year, the procurement value must be estimated for each year. A dossier must comprise a request for vaccine procurement, the Minister of Health’s draft decision on approval of the contractor selection plan, and relevant documents and papers;

c/ Based on the project owner’s request and appraisal report, the Minister of Health shall consider and decide on approval of the contractor selection plan;

d/ Based on the approved contractor selection plan, the project owner shall approve a decision on placement of orders and sign contracts with domestic vaccine manufacturers to produce and supply vaccines for the expanded immunization program;

dd/ Before December 31 every year, vaccine manufacturers shall make dossiers of price plans corresponding to the quantity of vaccines supplied in the year for the expanded immunization program, and submit them to the Ministry of Health for sending to the Ministry of Finance for appraisal, approval, and announcement of the maximum vaccine price;

e/ Based on the maximum vaccine price announced by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health shall decide on approval of specific prices, which must not exceed the maximum price. The annual contract payment value shall be based on the quantity of supplied vaccines and the specific price approved by the Ministry of Health.

4. For the bidding packages specified at Point d, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree:

a/ The agency or unit in charge of lawsuit settlement shall develop criteria, reference terms, and control mechanisms for law practice organizations and lawyers to determine a list of at least 3 law practice organizations or lawyers to be hired; these law practice organizations and lawyers must be reputable and highly experienced;

b/ The agency in charge of lawsuit settlement shall negotiate legal service contracts with the most qualified law practice organization or lawyer, based on the criteria, terms of reference, and control mechanisms applicable to law practice organizations and lawyers involved in the lawsuit;

c/ The head of the agency or unit in charge of lawsuit settlement shall approve and announce results of law practice organization or lawyer selection;

d/ The agency or unit in charge of lawsuit settlement shall finalize and sign legal service contracts with selected law practice organizations or lawyers.

5. For the bidding packages specified at Points dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, n and o, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree, except those specified in Clause 6 of this Article:

a/ Formulating, appraising and approving contractor selection plans

For the bidding packages specified at Point l, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree, project owners shall complete the procedures specified at this Point within 10 days from the commencement of bidding package implementation;

b/ Conducting contract negotiation with contractors recognized to be capable and experienced;

c/ Approving and publicizing contractor selection results;

d/ Finalizing and signing contracts with contractors:

A contract must have all contents regarding the scope and contents of to-be-performed jobs, implementation duration, required quality of work, and contract value;

dd/ The posting of information on contractor selection plans and contractor selection results, and other information related to bidding must comply with Articles 7 and 8 of the Bidding Law.

For the cases specified at Point n, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree, for public education institutions located in areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions in accordance with the law on investment, heads of public education institutions may decide on the provision of school meals, or the purchase of food, ingredients and input fuels to provide school meals in an economical, efficient and accountable manner according to the regulations on on invoices and documents, without having to carry out the procedures specified in this Clause.

For the cases specified at Point o, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree, project owners shall finalize and enter into contracts with suppliers under Point d of this Clause without having to carry out the procedures specified at Points a, b, c, and dd of this Clause.

Competent persons, project owners and bid solicitors shall perform the responsibilities specified in Articles 77, 78, and 79 of the Bidding Law.

6. For bidding packages for procurement of air tickets for working delegations at home and abroad as specified at Point dd, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree:

a/ For working delegations abroad: Based on approved working plans and flight itineraries, agencies or units assigned funding sources and tasked with procurement of air tickets shall seek at least 2 quotations from 2 different air ticket agents (or quotations from 1 air ticket agent representing at least 2 different airlines, including the national airline of Vietnam), for the same itinerary for consideration, comparison and selection of an air ticket supplier that meets the following requirements: having direct flight routes that are suitable with work schedules; and having the lowest total cost of airfare (inclusive of taxes and surcharges), travel expenses, and airport waiting charge. Heads of agencies or units assigned funding sources and tasked with procurement of air tickets shall enter into contracts with suppliers, ensuring thrift and efficiency, and take responsibility for their decisions. If it is necessary to change overseas flight routes to meet work requirements, heads of agencies or units assigned funding sources shall decide on ticket purchase based on requests of the heads of the working delegations.

b/ For working delegations at home:

Heads of agencies or units assigned funding sources and tasked with procurement of air tickets shall enter into contracts with suppliers, ensuring thrift and efficiency, and take responsibility for their decisions.

c/ The purchase of air tickets for working delegations at home and abroad under Points a and b of this Clause is not subject to the formulation, appraisal or approval of contractor selection plans.

7. For the bidding packages specified at Points p and q, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree:

a/ Based on dossiers of request for application of the form of contractor selection in special cases submitted by project owners, competent persons shall assign other agencies or units to appraise the dossiers;

b/ A dossier must comprise: a request on contractor selection in special cases, and the competent person’s draft decision, and relevant documents and papers. The request on contractor selection in special cases must have the following contents: basic information about the procurement project andestimates, and bidding packages (name of the project, procurement estimates, and bidding packages; funding sources and total investment of the project, estimated procurement value, package price; expected implementation duration; and other necessary contents); for the bidding packages specified at Point p, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree, it is required to give an explanation of the necessity of the packages under the procurement project or estimates urgently required for immediate implementation to ensure completion of the bidding packages and project as stated in the resolutions of the Government, and decisions, directives and written notifications of opinions of Government leaders; and reasons stating that it is impossible to satisfy progress requirements if applying one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of the Bidding Law; for the bidding packages specified at Point q, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree, it is required to give an explanation of the necessity of the bidding packages under the projects required for immediate implementation to ensure connectivity and synchronization among works under the project, as stated in resolutions of the Government and decisions, directives and written notifications of opinions of Government leaders, and reasons stating that it is impossible to satisfy requirements on management efficiency and synchronous and continuous operation of works if applying one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of the Bidding Law; a draft plan on contractor selection in special cases which must have the following principal contents: order and procedures for contractor selection, and other related contents to meet particular conditions of bidding packages under the procurement project or estimates, ensuring the selection of capable and experienced contractors having feasible and effective solutions. The draft decision of the competent person must have the contents specified at Point d of this Clause;

c/ During the appraisal process, the competent person shall send dossiers to related ministries or agencies for seeking the latter’s opinions on contents under their state management (if necessary);

d/ Based on the proposal dossier and appraisal report, the competent person shall consider and issue a decision to approve or disapprove the application of the form of contractor selection in special cases. Such decision must have the following contents: approval of application of the form of contractor selection in special cases and contractor selection plan thereof for the bidding packages under the procurement project or estimates; responsibilities of the project owner, the bid solicitor, and related agencies in organizing contractor selection; and other requirements in the process of implementation of bidding packages under the procurement project or estimates (if any).

8. For the bidding packages specified at Point r, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree:

a/ The interdisciplinary appraisal expert team shall determine a capable and experienced verification consultancy contractor to immediately perform consultancy and propose such to the Chairperson of the State Appraisal Council for approval;

b/ Within 15 days from the date the Chairperson of the State Appraisal Council grants approval, the interdisciplinary appraisal expert team shall completely carry out procedures, including: formulating and sending a draft contract to the consultancy contractor, specifying the requirements regarding the scope and content of to-be-performed jobs, implementation duration, required quality of work, and corresponding contract value, for contract negotiation and finalization; proceeding with contract negotiation and finalization; submitting the result of selection of the project verification consultant to the Chairperson of the State Appraisal Council for approval; and preparing for signing a contract with the selected verification consultant. The contract shall be concluded by 3 parties, including a representative of the State Appraisal Council, the project owners (investor or agency assigned the project investment preparation task), and the selected verification consultant.

9. For the bidding packages specified in Clause 2 and at Points a, b, and s, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree, the request on contractor selection in special cases must clearly state the reason why it is impossible to apply one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of the Bidding Law; for the bidding packages specified in Clause 1, and at Points p and q, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree, the request on contractor selection in special cases must clearly state that it is impossible to meet the law-specified requirements if applying one of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of the Bidding Law; for the bidding packages specified at Points c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o and r, Clause 3, Article 82 of this Decree, it is not required to explain why it is impossible to apply one of the form of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of the Bidding Law.”.

22. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 88 as follows:

“2. For centralized procurement not under investment projects of state enterprises or enterprises with 100% of charter capital held by state enterprises, the person who decides on or the person of the superior authority of the centralized procurement unit who is assigned to decide on the procurement as specified in Article 91 of this Decree shall perform the responsibilities of the competent person prescribed in Article 77 of the Bidding Law.”

23. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 97 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Criteria for evaluating dossiers for participation in prequalification, dossiers of expression of interest and bid dossiers must comply with Articles 23, 24, 35, 36, 60 and 61 of this Decree. Dossiers for participation in prequalification, dossiers of expression of interest and bid dossiers shall be considered valid when contractors are not in a state of being suspended from participating in or terminating participation in the System.”;

b/ To add Clause 5a below Clause 5 as follows:

“5a. The contract negotiation must comply with Clause 3a, Article 22; Clause 5, Article 30; Clause 5, Article 34; Article 43; Clause 5, Article 59, and Article 69, of this Decree.”.

24. To amend and supplement a number of points of Clause 3, Article 98 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Points a and b as follows:

“a/ Goods procurement or non-consultancy service bidding packages each with a value not exceeding VND 500 million for procurement estimates, except the case specified at Point d of this Clause;

b/ Goods procurement or non-consultancy service bidding packages each with a value not exceeding VND 1 billion for projects;”;

b/ To add Point d below Point c as follows:

“d/ Goods procurement bidding packages divided into parts (excluding drugs) for retail sale at retail establishments within the premises of public healthcare establishments of which each part is an item with a value not exceeding VND 1 billion for procurement estimates.”.

25. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 101 as follows:

a/ To amend Point a, Clause 1 as follows:

“Specific requirements regarding origin, codes, trademarks, manufacturer, technical specifications of goods, delivery time, warranty and other necessary contents (if any) for goods procurement bidding packages; scope of work, technical requirements, implementation duration, service completion time and other necessary contents (if any) for non-consultancy service bidding packages. The delivery time and service completion time must ensure suitability and do not restrict the participation of contractors under Point k, Clause 6, Article 16 of the Bidding Law;”;

b/ To amend Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Contractors shall participate in online price offering on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System to offer prices for the contents stated in the notice of invitation for bids and may offer prices within the time limit set in such notice. From the second round of price offering onward, the contractor’s offered price must not be lower than 90% of the lowest price displayed on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System.”;

c/ To add Point c below Point b, Clause 5 as follows:

“c/ Based on the results of online price offering on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, the bid solicitor shall invite the first-ranked contractor to confirm the latter’s acceptance of the given contract on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System. The invited contractor shall confirm its/his/her acceptance of the contract. In case the contractor refuses or fails to give confirmation within 3 working days after receiving the bid solicitor’s invitation, the contractor’s name shall be publicized on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, its/his/her account shall be locked for 6 months after the Ministry of Planning and Investment receives a written request from the project owner, and its/his/her reputation in participating in bids shall be evaluated; and the bid solicitor shall then invite the next-ranked contractor to give the confirmation.”;

d/ To amend Clause 6 as follows:

“6. Submission, approval and publicization of contractor selection results:

Based on the contractor’s acceptance of the given contract, the submission, approval and publicization of contractor selection results must comply with Article 31 of this Decree.”.

26. To amend Clause 1, Article 102 as follows:

“1. Online procurement shall be approved in the contractor selection plan and shall be applied to goods and services of bidding packages included in procurement estimates each with a value not exceeding VND 300 million; or goods procurement or service bidding packages of projects each with a value not exceeding VND 1 billion.”.

27. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 126 as follows:

“1. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall organize the appraisal of the overall plan on contractor selection plans and contractor selection plans subject to the Prime Minister’s approval.”.

28. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2, Article 128 as follows:

“a/ Legal grounds for formulating a contractor selection plan:

Considering the suitability and adequacy of legal grounds for the formulation of the contractor selection plan and necessary notes (if any).

For bidding packages subject to advance bidding, contractor selection plans shall be formulated before foreign loan treaties or agreements are concluded for projects using ODA or foreign concessional loans or before the projects are approved for investment under Article 42 of the Bidding Law.”

29. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 4, Article 130 as follows:

“a/ A dossier submitted for appraisal and approval must comprise:

A written request for approval of the contractor selection result, made by the bid solicitor, clearly stating the bid solicitor’s viewpoints on the opinions, proposals and recommendations of the expert group;

The expert group’s report on the result of evaluation of the bid dossier and dossier of proposals;

Contract negotiation minutes (if any);

Document collation minutes (if any);

Copies of dossiers and documents, including: bidding dossier, dossier of requirements, bid opening minutes, bid dossier, dossier of proposals of contractors and other relevant documents; in case the list of contractors meeting technical requirements has been appraised, only the minutes of opening dossiers of financial proposals and copies of dossiers of financial proposals of contractors meeting technical requirements.”.

30. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 131 as follows:

a/ To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 5 as follows:

“a/ Allowing the extension of the bid closing time for at least 5 days so as to increase the number of contractors submitting dossiers of expression of interest, dossiers for participation in prequalification and bid dossiers;”;

b/ To amend and supplement Points a, b and d, Clause 22 as follows:

“a/ Contract penalties as stated in the contract;

b/ Confiscating the value of contract performance security of all consortium members in case the remaining jobs of the contract-breaching consortium members are split into separate bidding packages as specified at Point dd of this Clause. In case the remaining jobs of the contract-breaching consortium members are assigned to other members under Point d of this Clause, only the contract-breaching consortium members will have their value of contract performance security confiscated;

d/ The jobs of the contract-breaching members shall be assigned to the remaining members if the latter are fully capable and experienced;”;

c/ To amend and supplement Clause 24 as follows:

“24. For a consortium contractor, in case it is necessary to speed up the implementation progress compared to the signed contract (requiring contract modification) during the contract performance or due to objective conditions not attributable to the contractor’s fault (disasters, storms, floods, scarcity of construction materials, delay in the handover of the ground clearance, changes in geological conditions and other objective conditions not attributable to the contractor’s fault), leading to failure to meet the progress requirements, or due to force majeure reasons affecting the contract progress, the project owner and the contractor may agree to adjust the scope of work among the consortium members to be compatible with the progress or to shorten the progress. In such case, the project owner must ensure that the member assigned the additional jobs is fully capable and experienced to perform such jobs and the transfer of jobs among the consortium members is not for the purpose of bid transfer.”;

d/ To add Clauses 28a, 28b, 28c, and 28d below Clause 28 as follows:

“28a. For construction, non-consultancy service and consultancy service bidding packages subject to advance bidding as prescribed in Article 42 of the Bidding Law, in case the approved project has some contents leading to an increase in the bidding package value (or an increase in the estimate if the estimate is approved after the approval of the contractor selection plan) by 30% or more, or leading to a change in important technical evaluation criteria, or a change in the grade of works stated in the issued bidding dossier, the project owner shall cancel the bids under Point b, Clause 1, Article 17 of the Bidding Law; in case the approved project neither leads to an increase in the bidding package value or estimate by 30% or more nor leads to changes in important technical evaluation criteria or the grade of works as stated in the issued bidding dossier, and the bid-winning contractor has been selected for the bidding package, the project owner may adjust the volume of work and finalize the contract for signing with the contractor.

For goods procurement bidding packages subject to advance bidding under Article 42 of the Bidding Law, in case the approved project has some contents leading to an increase in the volume of work by 20% or more or leading to a change in the type of goods as stated in the issued bidding dossier, the project owner shall cancel the bids under Point b, Clause 1, Article 17 of the Law on Bidding; in case the approved project does neither lead to an increase in the volume of work by 20% or more nor lead to changes in the type of goods as stated in the issued bidding dossier and the bid-winning contractor has been selected for the bidding package, the project owner may adjust the volume of work and finalize the contract for signing with the contractor.

28b. For bidding packages divided into parts, in case the proposed bid-winning price of a part exceeds 30% of the corresponding value of such part in the estimate, the bid solicitor shall request the contractor to clarify the cost constituents of the offering price, considering the following aspects:

a/ Technical and economic factors relating to the production or service provision process;

b/ Market price determined through market analysis and consultation under Clause 3, Article 15 of this Decree;

c/ Origin of goods and services determined in accordance with law.

In case the clarification meets the conditions specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause, and in Clause 4, Article 27 of this Decree, the contractor’s bid dossier may still be accepted as bid winning.

28c. For bidding packages with specific characteristics that apply the form of contractor appointment or contractor selection in special cases, if a foreign contractor requires a binding condition that it/he/she will only sign the contract without having to make registration on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, the project owner shall, upon the publicization of the contractor selection results, not request the foreign contractor to make registration.

28d. For bidding packages subject to online contractor selection, if the contractor selection results are not yet available in the course of evaluation of bid dossiers, the bid dossiers of the contractors named in the bid opening minutes that have their accounts locked under the bidding law shall not be further considered or evaluated.”;

dd/ To amend and supplement Clause 29 as follows:

“29. In addition to the cases specified in Clauses 1 thru 28d of this Article, when a situation arises, the project owner shall consider and decide on the handling of the situation based on ensuring competition, fairness, transparency, economic efficiency and accountability.”.

31. To replace the phrase “The scope of design work in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), engineering and procurement (EP), and engineering and construction (EC) bidding packages under construction investment projects specified in this Clause can be front-end engineering designs (FEED) or basic design; EPC, EP, EC bidding packages shall not be formed when technical designs or two-step design works are available under the construction law” in Clause 3, Article 3 with the phrase “EPC, EP, EC bidding packages shall be formed based on basic design or FEED; in case technical designs are available, EPC, EP, EC bidding packages shall not be formed”.

32. To replace the phrase “in case there are more than 1 price quote, the average price of the price quotes shall be taken” at Point d, Clause 2, Article 16 with the phrase “in case there are more than 1 price quote, the average price of the price quotes may be taken”.

33. To add the phrase “For bidding packages subject to advance bidding prescribed in Article 42 of the Bidding Law, contractors are not required to take bid security measures but shall commit their bid participation responsibility in the bid application form” to Point a, Clause 4, Article 35.

Article 3. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 115/2024/ND-CP of September 16, 2024, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures to implement, the Bidding Law concerning regarding the selection of investors for implementing land-use investment projects

1. To amend and supplement Point d, Clause 1, Article 1 as follows:

“d/ Clause 2, Article 34a and Clause 4, Article 35 concerning investor selection in special cases, methods of investor selection;”.

2. To add Chapter IVa consisting of Articles 44a and 44b below Chapter IV as follows:

“Chapter IVa

INVESTOR SELECTION IN SPECIAL CASES

Article 44a. Cases of, and competence to decide on, the application of the forms of investor selection in special cases

1. Projects subject to the requirements on the assurance of national interests and the performance of national political tasks as stated in Resolutions, Conclusions, and directing documents of the Party Central Committee, the Political Bureau and the Secretariat and key leaders of the Party and the State concerning project implementation but it is impossible to satisfy such requirements if applying one of the forms of investor selection specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 34 of the Bidding Law.

2. Projects subject to the requirements on the assurance of national defense and security, external affairs and territorial borders based on the opinions of the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to which it is impossible to apply one of the forms of investor selection specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 34 of the Bidding Law.

3. Projects subject to specific requirements and conditions on investment procedures; land allocation, land lease and sea area allocation procedures; procedures, methods, and criteria for investor selection and the contents of business investment project contracts, including:

a/ Offshore wind power projects as prescribed in the law on electricity;

b/ Projects urgently required for immediate implementation as stated in the Resolutions of the Government, Decisions, Directives, or written notifications of opinions of Governmental leaders but it is impossible to satisfy their progress requirements if applying one of the forms of investor selection specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 34 of the Bidding Law.

c/ Projects required for immediate implementation to ensure connection and synchronization among works of the projects as stated in resolutions of the Government, or decisions, directives or written notifications of opinions of Governmental leaders but it is impossible to satisfy the requirements on management efficiency and uninterrupted and synchronous operation of works if applying one of the forms of investor selection specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 34 of the Bidding Law;

d/ Other projects subject to specific requirements and conditions on investment procedures; land allocation, land lease and sea area allocation procedures; procedures, methods, and criteria for investor selection and the contents of business investment project contracts to which it is impossible to apply open bidding or restricted bidding.

4. The competent agency shall decide on the application of the forms of investor selection in special cases for the projects specified in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article.

Article 44b. Order and procedures for deciding on the application of the forms of investor selection in special cases

1. Based on the requirements for the implementation of a project and directions in Resolutions, Conclusions, directing documents of the Party Central Committee, the Political Bureau, the Secretariat, and key leaders of the Party and the State (for the projects specified in Clause 1, Article 44a of this Decree) or directions in Resolutions of the Government, Decisions, Directives, or written notifications of opinions of Governmental leaders (for the projects specified at Points b and c, Clause 3, Article 44a of this Decree), the competent person shall assign the affiliated agency or unit or specialized agency to prepare a dossier of request for the application of the form of investor selection in special cases. The dossier must comprise:

a/ A written request for the application of the form of investor selection in special cases, which must state: the project’s basic information; the necessity and reasons for the application of the form of investor selection in special cases; explanation of the investor selection plan, which contains the main contents on the order and procedures for investor selection, conditions for contract conclusion and other related contents to meet the project’s specific conditions; proposals and recommendations;

b/ A draft decision on the application of the form of investor selection in special cases with the contents specified in Clause 5 of this Article;

c/ Relevant legal documents and papers.

2. The competent agency shall send consultation requests to related ministries and agencies for seeking the latter’s opinions on the necessity and reasons for the application of the form of investor selection in special cases, including:

a/ The Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for the projects specified in Clause 2, Article 44a of this Decree;

b/ Related ministries and agencies, for the projects specified in Clauses 1 and 3, Article 44a of this Decree (if necessary).

3. The consulted agencies shall provide their opinions on the necessity and reasons for application of the form of investor selection in special cases and send them to competent agencies.

4. The competent person shall assign an agency or unit independent from the agency or unit specified in Clause 1 of this Article to sum up opinions from related agencies and organize the appraisal of the dossier of request for the application of the form of investor selection in special cases. An appraisal report must have the following contents:

a/ Evaluation of the necessity and reasons for the application of the form of investor selection in special cases as specified in Article 34a of the Bidding Law;

b/ Opinions on the investor selection plan in special cases and the competent agency’s draft decision in case the recommendation is approved;

c/ The competent agency’s recommendation on approval or disapproval of the application of the form of investor selection in special cases.

5. Based on the dossier and the appraisal report, the competent agency shall consider and issue a decision to approve or disapprove the application of the form of investor selection in special cases. The competent agency’s decision must have the following contents:

a/ Approval of the application of the form of investor selection in special cases;

b/ The plan on investor selection in special cases, which must have the following contents: order and procedures for investor selection and the investor selection progress tracking table under Article 12 of this Decree; conditions for contract conclusion and performance; other relevant contents to meet the specific requirements and conditions of the project, ensuring the selection of a capable and experienced investor, and solutions to implement the project, ensuring the efficiency of the business investment plan, land use efficiency, and the efficiency of investment in the development of sectors, fields and the locality;

c/ Responsibilities of the bid solicitor and related agencies in investor selection organization;

d/ Other requirements in the course of implementation of the project (if any).

6. The bid solicitor shall organize investor selection according to the approved plan. Based on the results of investor selection and the concluded project contract, the implementation of the business investment project must comply with Chapter VI of this Decree.”.

Article 4. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2, Article 3 of Decree No. 95/2020/ND-CP of August 24, 2020, guiding the implementation of bidding for procurement under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Decree No. 09/2022/ND-CP of January 12, 2022, guiding the implementation of bidding for procurement under the CPTPP, the Free Trade Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the European Union, and the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2, Article 3 as follows:

“a/ Concluding the CPTPP on March 8, 2018; the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland (below referred to as CPTPP members);”.

Article 5. Implementation provisions

1. This Decree takes effect on the date of its signing.

2. Transitional provisions

a/ For packages for which dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, dossiers of invitation to prequalification, bidding dossiers, or dossiers of requirements are approved and issued before January 15, 2025, the shortlist selection, contractor selection, contract conclusion and management of contract performance must continue to comply with Biding Law No. 22/2023/QH15, Decree No. 24/2024/ND-CP, and documents detailing and guiding the implementation thereof.

b/ In the period from January 15, 2025, to the date before the effective date of this Decree, the selection of contractors must comply with Biding Law No. 22/2023/QH15, the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Planning Law, Investment Law, Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership and Bidding Law, and Decree No. 24/2024/ND-CP that remain consistent with the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Planning Law, Investment Law, Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership and Bidding Law.

c/ For draft treaties in the name of the State for which the appraisal process has been completed in accordance with the Law on Treaties before the effective date of the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Planning Law, Investment Law, Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership and Bidding Law, the agency in charge of negotiation shall, based on the appraised dossier of the draft treaty, submit to the Government the application of the provisions of foreign donors or international organizations of which the State or the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member, that are different from or not yet included in the Bidding Law.-

On behalf of the Government
For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
TRAN HONG HA