Decree 274/2026/ND-CP detailing Bidding Law on investor selection for business investment projects

DECREE

Detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures for implementing, the Bidding Law regarding selection of investors to implement business investment projects

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government No. 63/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15, amended and supplemented under Law No. 57/2024/QH15 and Law No. 90/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to Land Law No. 31/2024/QH13, amended and supplemented under Law No. 43/2024/QH15, Law No. 47/2024/QH15, Law No. 58/2024/QH15, Law No. 71/2025/QH15, Law No. 84/2025/QH15, Law No. 93/2025/QH15, Law No. 95/2025/QH15, Law No. 146/2025/QH15 and Law No. 147/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Law on Investment No. 143/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the National Assembly's Resolution No. 254/2025/QH15 providing a number of mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties and obstacles in the organization of implementation of the Land Law;

At the proposal of the Minister of Finance;

The Government hereby promulgates the Decree detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures for implementing, the Bidding Law regarding selection of investors to implement business investment projects.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Decree details a number of articles of, and provides measures for implementing, the Bidding Law regarding selection of investors to implement business investment projects, including:

1. Detailing a number of articles of the Bidding Law regarding selection of investors to implement business investment projects:

a) Clause 6 Article 6, on assurance of competition in the selection of investors;

b) Clause 6 Article 10, on incentives in selection of investors;

c) Clause 3 Article 15, on costs of investor selection;

d) Clause 2a Article 34, on investor appointment;

dd) Clause 3 Article 34a, on investor selection in special cases;

e) Clause 4 Article 35, on investor selection methods;

g) Clause 3 Article 46, on process and procedures for investor selection;

h) Clause 5 Article 50, and Point c Clause 2 Article 84, on the process, procedures, costs, and roadmap for online bidding for investor selection; the national database on investors; and cases in which bidding for investor selection is not conducted on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System;

i) Clause 5 Article 62, on methods and criteria for evaluation of bid dossiers;

k) Clause 2 Article 73, on contents of contracts of land-using investment projects;

l) Clause 4 Article 86, on inspection, examination, and supervision of bidding activities for investor selection;

m) Clause 5 Article 87, on handling of violations in bidding for investor selection;

n) Clause 4 Article 88, on response to arising eventualities in investor selection;

o) Clause 2 Article 96, on transitional provisions.

2. Measures for implementing the Bidding Law regarding selection of investors to implement business investment projects, including:

a) Conditions on the land fund earmarked for project implementation, and cases in which a project is not required to organize bidding for investor selection;

b) Publicization of information on business investment projects not subject to investment policy approval;

c) Implementation of business investment projects.

3. The conditions on capacity and experience of members of expert teams and appraisal teams; connection and sharing of information between the Vietnam National E-Procurement System and other information systems; and state management of bidding must comply with the relevant provisions of the Government’s Decree detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures for implementing, the Bidding Law regarding contractor selection.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Organizations and individuals participating in, or related to the selection of investors to implement business investment projects as specified in Article 4 of this Decree.

2. Organizations and individuals whose bidding activities are not regulated by Article 4 of this Decree may choose to apply the Bidding Law in accordance with Clause 4 Article 2 of the Bidding Law.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Decree, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities means a table presenting information on the time for performance of tasks during the process of investor selection, serving as a basis for conducting and monitoring investor-selection activities as specified in Clause 3, Article 49, of the Bidding Law.

2. Solicitor for expression of interest means an agency, organization, or unit attached to, or subordinate to, a ministry, a ministerial-level agency, or a provincial-level People's Committee; an agency or unit subordinate to an Economic Zone Management Board (for projects implemented in economic zones); a commune-level People's Committee; or another agency, as prescribed by specialized laws, that is assigned to carry out the procedures for invitation for expression of interest.

3. Agency deciding to organize bidding means a ministry; a ministerial-level agency; a provincial-level People's Committee; an Economic Zone Management Board; or an agency assigned to organize bidding in accordance with specialized laws (hereinafter referred to as another agency), performing the responsibilities of the competent agency with respect to:

a) Projects subject to the investment policy approval by the National Assembly or the Prime Minister as prescribed by the law on investment. For projects falling under the authority of the chairperson of provincial-level People's Committee, the competent agency is the provincial-level People's Committee;

b) Projects not subject to investment policy approval.

4. Dossier of requirements means the complete set of documents used for the investor appointment, comprising the requirements for implementation of the business investment project, serving as a basis for investors to prepare their dossiers of proposals and for the bid solicitor to organize the evaluation of dossiers of proposals.

5. Dossier of proposals means the complete set of documents prepared and submitted by an investor to the bid solicitor in accordance with the requirements of the dossier of requirements.

6. Total investment capital comprises the preliminary total cost of project implementation, the cost of compensation, support and resettlement (if any), and other costs as prescribed by specialized laws (if any).

Article 4. Business investment projects subject to bidding for investor selection

1. Business investment projects subject to bidding for investor selection include:

a) Land-using investment projects as specified at Point a Clause 1 Article 126 of the Land Law;

b) Land-using investment projects subject to bidding under specialized laws in accordance with Point b Clause 1 Article 126 of the Land Law’

c) Projects subject to bidding under specialized laws, that do not fall into the cases specified at Points a and b of this Clause (hereinafter referred to as non-land-using investment projects) and that are not subject to auction of public property under the law on management and use of public property.

2. Land-using investment projects as specified at Point b Clause 1 of this Article include:

a) Investment projects for construction of domestic solid waste treatment facilities subject to bidding under the law on environmental protection;

b) Investment projects for construction of water supply facilities subject to bidding, excluding projects subject to investor appointment or investor approval under the law on production, supply, and consumption of clean water;

c) Investment projects for construction of markets subject to bidding under the law on market development and management;

d) Investment projects for rest stops subject to bidding under the law on roads;

dd) Investment projects for construction of new airports subject to bidding under the law on civil aviation;

e) Investment projects in the fields of education, health, culture, sports, and environment that are subject to bidding as prescribed by the law on encouraging socialization when there are 2 or more investors expressing interests and registering to implement the projects, except for projects specified at Point a and Point b of this Clause;

g) Investment projects on renovation or reconstruction of apartment buildings that are subject to bidding under the housing law, when there are two or more investors expressing interest and registering to implement the projects, excluding projects on renovation and reconstruction of apartment buildings specified in Clauses 1 and 2 Article 68 of the Housing Law No. 27/2023/QH15;

h) Electricity business investment projects that are subject to bidding under the law on electricity, when there are two or more investors expressing interest and registering to implement the projects;

i) Other projects falling into the cases specified in Article 79 of the Land Law and concurrently subject to bidding for investor selection in accordance with specialized laws as specified at Point b Clause 1 Article 126 of the Land Law.

3. Non-land-using investment projects as specified at Point c Clause 1 of this Article include:

a) Projects on dredging combined with recovery of dredged materials with respect to maritime infrastructure or inland waterway infrastructure within seaport waters or inland waterway waters, under the law on maritime and inland waterway transport;

b) Projects subject to bidding when there are two or more investors expressing interest and registering to implement the projects, comprising projects in the fields of education, health, culture, sports, and environment, under the law on encouragement of socialization.

4. The land fund earmarked for implementation of land-using investment projects specified at Points a and b Clause 1 of this Article must fully satisfy the following conditions:

a) Falling into the cases of land recovery specified in Article 79 of the Land Law and Clause 2 Article 3 of Resolution No. 254/2025/QH15; or being a land fund assigned to a state agency or organization for management and falling into the cases of land lease specified in Clause 2 Article 4 of Resolution No. 254/2025/QH15.

Where the land area for project implementation includes a land parcel specified in Clause 1 Article 217, of the Land Law, the State shall recover such land parcel for allocation or lease through bidding for selection of the investor to implement the project with respect to the entire land area.

b) Being on the list of land areas put for bidding of land-using investment projects decided by the provincial-level People’s Council in accordance with the land law.

5. 5. Projects specified at Points a and b Clause 1 of this Article are not required to organize bidding for investor selection in the following cases:

a) Falling into the cases of land allocation or land lease without auction of land use rights and without bidding for selection of the investor to implement the land-using investment project, as prescribed by law;

b) Where the project does not use state budget capital and falls into the cases of land recovery under Article 79 of the Land Law, and the investor chooses the option of agreement on acquisition of land use rights without proposing land recovery, as specified at Point c Clause 1 Article 127 of the Land Law;

c) Where a person currently having land use rights proposes an investment project which is granted investment policy approval concurrently with investor approval by a competent state agency under the law on investment, and such person is permitted to use the land to implement the investment project without the State recovering the land, as specified in Clause 6 Article 127 of the Land Law.

Article 5. Assurance of competition

1. From the date of issuance of dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, the investors that submit the dossiers of registration for implementation of business investment projects must be legally and financially independent from the following parties:

a) Competent agencies, solicitors for expression of interest;

b) Contractors providing consultancy for formulation of dossiers of of request for approval of investment policy (for projects subject to investment policy approval), dossiers of project proposals (for projects not subject to investment policy approval), except for projects proposed by the investors;

c) Contractors providing consultancy for formulation of prefeasibility study reports or feasibility study reports, if specialized laws require the formulation of prefeasibility study reports or feasibility study reports before organizing the invitation for expression of interest, except for projects proposed by the investors;

d) Contractors providing consultancy for formulation of dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, or evaluation of dossiers of registration for project implementation.

2. From the date of issuance of the bidding dossier or dossier of requirements, investors participating in the bidding must not hold shares or contributed capital with the following consultancy contractors:

a) Contractors providing consultancy for formulation of dossiers of request for approval of investment policy (for projects subject to investment policy approval), dossiers of project proposals (for projects not subject to investment policy approval), except for projects proposed by the investors;

b) Contractors providing consultancy for formulation of prefeasibility study reports or feasibility study reports, if specialized laws require the formulation of prefeasibility study reports or feasibility study reports before organizing the invitation for expression of interest, except for projects proposed by the investors;

c) Consultancy contractors formulating or appraising the bidding dossiers or dossiers of requirements; evaluating bid dossiers or dossiers of proposals; or appraising the investor selection result.

3. From the date of issuing dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, bidding dossiers, investors submitting dossiers of registration for project implementation and investors participating in the bidding shall be evaluated as legally and financially independent from competent agencies, bid solicitors, solicitors for expression of interest if they do not hold more than 50% of shares or total voting shares or contributed capital of each other. Where an investor submits a dossier of registration for project implementation, or participates in bidding, as a consortium, the holding rate shall be determined according to the following formula:

In which:

X_i: is the rate of holding capitals, shares or voting shares of the competent agency, the bid solicitor and the solicitor for expression of interest in the consortium member i.

Y_i: is the rate of equity contribution of consortium member i as stated in the consortium agreement.

n: is the number of members in the consortium.

4. From the date of issuance of the dossier of invitation for expression of interest, the bidding dossier, or the dossier of requirements, an investor submitting a dossier of registration for project implementation, an investor participating in the bidding, and a consultancy contractor specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall not jointly hold, with respect to each of them, an ownership ratio exceeding 30% of shares, of the total voting shares, or of contributed capital of the same other organization or individual. For investor consortiums and consultancy contractors, the holding rate is prescribed as follows:

a) The holding rate of other organizations and individuals and investor consortiums shall be determined according to the following formula:

Where:

X_i: is the rate of holding capitals, shares and voting shares of the organizations or individuals in investor i participating in the bidding.

Y_i: is the rate of equity contribution of consortium member i as stated in the consortium agreement.

n: is the number of members in the consortium.

b) The holding rate of other organizations and individuals and partnership consultancy contractors shall be determined according to the following formula:

Where:

X_i: is the rate of holding capitals, shares and voting shares of organizations, individuals in the consultancy contractor i as stated in the consortium agreement.

Y_i: is the rate of responsibility allocation under the consortium agreement document i as stated in the consortium agreement.

n: is the number of members in the consortium.

5. For the investors organized according to the form of parent company-subsidiary model in accordance with the law on enterprises that submit dossiers of registration for project implementation or participate in bidding process for business investment projects:

a) The parent company or subsidiary or a consortium of parent companies and subsidiaries may participate in only one dossier of registration for project implementation or bid dossier;

b) The investor submitting the dossier of registration for project implementation or participating in bidding and consultancy contractor performing one of the consultancy tasks specified in Clauses 1and 2 of this Article have no parent company-subsidiary relationship from the time of issuance of dossiers of invitation for expression of interest or bidding dossiers.

6. The holding rate between the parties shall be determined based on the ratio stated in the enterprise registration certificate, the establishment decision, the shareholder register, or other documents of equivalent value.

7. For projects applying the investor appointment method as specified in Clause 2a Article 34 of the Bidding Law, or projects applying the method of investor selection in special cases as specified in Article 34a of the Bidding Law, investors are not required to satisfy the conditions on assurance of competition specified at Point a Clause 5 of the Bidding Law and Clause 3 of this Article.

Article 6. Incentives in selection of investors

1. Subjects entitled to incentives and incentive levels:

a) Investors having solutions applying advanced technology, high technology, environmentally friendly technology, and the best available techniques to mitigate environmental pollution for projects in the group of projects that are highly likely to exert adverse environmental impacts in accordance with the law on environmental protection shall be entitled to a 5% incentive upon the evaluation of bid dossiers;

b) Investors that commit to transferring technology, or to carrying out high-technology activities with respect to high technologies or high-tech products on the List of high technologies prioritized for development investment and List of hi-tech products eligible for development promotion promulgated by the Prime Minister under the law on high technology, or on the List of technologies encouraged for transfer under the law on technology transfer, or on the list of strategic technologies under the law on high technology, are entitled to a 2% incentive upon evaluation of bid dossiers;

c) Investors that are science and technology enterprises; innovative startup enterprises; innovative startup support organizations recognized by competent agencies; innovation centers; strategic technology enterprises, hi-tech enterprises, enterprises manufacturing high-tech products, hi-tech incubators, or hi-tech enterprise incubators in accordance with the law on high technology are entitled to a 5% incentive in the evaluation of bid dossiers;

d) Foreign investors that commit to transferring technologies to domestic investors or partners are entitled to a 2% incentive in the evaluation of bid dossiers.

2. When participating in the bidding, investors must submit documents proving their solutions applying advanced technology, high technology, environmentally friendly technology, the best available techniques, and rights to lawfully use technologies in accordance with the law on high technology, technology transfer, environmental protection and other relevant laws to be entitled to incentives specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Methods of calculation of incentives:

Total score of subjects entitled to incentives shall be calculated by the following formula:

T’_TH = T_TH + T_TH x M_UD

Where:

T’_TH: is the total score of the investor entitled to incentives, including incentive levels for comparison and ranking.

T_TH: is the total score of the investor entitled to incentives, excluding incentive levels.

M_UD: is the incentive level enjoyable by the investor under Clause 1 of this Article.

4. Investors entitled to incentives specified in Clause 1 of this Article that are selected to sign contracts must follow commitments in the bid dossiers and business investment project contracts.

Article 7. Management of expenses and revenues in investor selection

1. Expense norms for investor selection applicable to the cases where competent agencies, solicitors for expression of interest, bid solicitors or appraisal teams directly perform tasks:

a) Equal to 0.05% of the total investment capital but not exceeding VND 200,000,000 (two hundred million) for each of the following costs: formulation of the dossier of invitation for expression of interest, formulation of the bidding dossier, or formulation of the dossier of requirements;

b) Equal to 0.02% of the total investment capital but not exceeding VND 100,000,000 (one hundred million) for each of the following expenses: appraisal of the bidding dossier, appraisal of the dossier of requirements (if any), or appraisal of the investor selection result;

c) Equal to 0.03% of the total investment capital but not exceeding VND 200,000,000 (two hundred million) for each of the following expenses: evaluation of dossiers of registration for project implementation, evaluation of dossiers of proposals, or evaluation of bid dossiers;

d) Where investor selection is re-organized, expenses for investor selection shall not exceed 50% of the expenditure level already incurred for the cost items specified at Points a and b of this Clause. This Point shall not apply to the expense for appraisal of the investor selection result;

dd) For projects applying the investor appointment method under fast-track procedures, or the investor selection method in special cases, the expense norms for formulation of requirements on project implementation conditions; evaluation of the investor's financial capacity and project implementation conditions; or appraisal of contents in investor selection (if any), shall comply with the corresponding provisions at Points a, b, c, and d of this Clause.

2. Competent agencies, solicitors for expression of interest, bid solicitors or appraisal teams may hire consultants to perform tasks specified in Clause 1 of this Article, in case where their personnel is not qualified to perform such tasks. In such cases, expenses for selection of investors shall be as follows:

a) Expenses shall be determined based on contents and scope of tasks, performance duration, capacity and experience of consultancy experts, their salary norms as prescribed by law, and other factors;

b) If there are no regulations on salary norms of consultants, the expense for experts’ salaries shall be determined based on expenses paid to experts under similar projects performed in a certain period or included in the total investment capital.

3. Expenditure items applicable to the cases where competent agencies, solicitors for expression of interest, bid solicitors or appraisal teams directly perform tasks:

a) The expense for surveying and collecting project information as a basis for formulating the dossier of invitation for expression of interest, the bidding dossier, or the dossier of requirements, including the cost of formulating the project proposal for investment projects not subject to investment policy approval, or the dossier of request for approval of investment policy for projects subject to investment policy approval (if any);

b) The expense for office supplies, translation, and propaganda and communication;

c) The expense for conferences serving the invitation of expression of interest, invitation to bids, and opening bids;

d) The expense relating to posting information on investor selection on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System;

dd) Other expenses for formulating the dossier of invitation for expression of interest; formulating and appraising the bidding dossier or dossier of requirements; evaluating dossiers of registration for project implementation, bid dossiers, or dossiers of proposals; appraising the investor selection result; opening of bids; settlement of petitions; and other costs incurred during investor selection in special cases, or investor appointment under fast-track procedures.

4. Expenses for investor selection on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System shall be applied in accordance with the corresponding provisions at Point a, Clause 9, Article 14, of the Government's Decree No. 214/2025/ND-CP dated August 4, 2025, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures for implementing, the Bidding Law regarding contractor selection. Expenses for submitting bid dossiers, expenses for bid-winning investors, and expenses for connecting the bid security function on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System shall comply with the roadmap for application of online investor selection specified in Article 70 of this Decree.

5. The funding source for payment of the expenditures specified in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article shall be sourced from the regular expenditure funds and other lawful capital sources of competent agencies, solicitors for expression of interest, bid solicitors, or appraisal teams.

6. Bases for formulating expense estimates comprise: Decisions on approval of investment policy or documents approving information on business investment projects; and the corresponding policies and regimes under current law.

7. The formulation, approval and implementation of estimates of expenses for investor selection specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall comply with the law on formulation, approval and implementation of estimates of regular expenditures from the state budget, including:

a) Pursuant to the Law on the State Budget and Clause 6 of this Article, the solicitor for expression of interest, the bid solicitor and appraisal team shall make expense estimates for each expenditure item specified in Clause 3 of this Article, include them in the annual budget estimate of its agency or unit, and submit to the competent authority for approval in accordance with the law on the state budget;

b) After the annual budget estimate is approved, the competent agency shall allocate regular expenditure estimate for assigned units to implement in accordance with the law on the state budget;

c) In case of arising a project that needs to be organized a bidding within the year, the solicitor for expression of interest, the bid solicitor and appraisal team shall supplement the estimate, and submit it to the competent authority for approval in accordance with the law on the state budget.

8. Management of expenses for selection of investors:

a) The management, use and finalization of expenses for selection of investors shall comply with the law on the state budget. In case where the solicitor for expression of interest or the bid solicitor or the appraisal team is a public non-business unit that organizes the implementation of investor selection, the management, use and finalization of expenses for selection of investors shall comply with the law on the financial autonomy mechanism applicable to public non-business units;

b) In case of hiring a consultant to perform a part or entire of the tasks specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the total expenses for selection of investors (inclusive of taxes) must not exceed the estimates approved for the tasks with hired consultant. The payment value for the consultancy unit shall be made under the contract between the competent agency, the bid solicitor, the solicitor for expression of interest, or the appraisal team, and the consultancy unit. The management, use, payment and finalization of funds paid to the consultancy unit shall comply with applicable law on the state budget;

c) Where other lawful capital sources are used, the management of expenditures for investor selection shall comply with the corresponding current law applicable to each capital source.

9. Management of revenues from selection of investors:

a) For international bidding, the selling price (inclusive of taxes) of an electronic bidding dossier must not exceed VND 30,000,000 (thirty million dong);

b) Revenues from selling electronic bidding dossiers specified at Point a of this Clause, after being used to perform tax obligations, shall be paid by the bid solicitor to the state budget within 3 working days, from the bid closing date.

Article 8. Expenses for settlement of investors’ petitions on results of investor selection

1. In case of filing a petition against results of investor selection that is to be settled by the competent person, the investor shall pay petition settlement expenses to the standing unit assisting the Petition Settlement Council concurrently with the submission of the petition.

2. The amount of expenses payable by the investor to the Petition Settlement Council as specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be equal to 0.02% of the total investment capital of the project of the petition-filing investor, but not exceeding VND 200,000,000 (two hundred million dong). During the petition process, where the investor withdraws its petition, it shall be refunded only 50% of the expenses already paid, in cases where the Petition Settlement Council has not yet been established, or has been established but has not yet convened a meeting; where the Petition Settlement Council has already convened a meeting, the investor shall not be refunded the petition settlement expenses.

With respect to the remaining expenses already paid by the investor, the standing unit assisting the Petition Settlement Council shall remit them to the state budget within 7 working days from the time the investor withdraws its petition.

3. The standing unit assisting the Petition Settlement Council shall formulate and submit to the Chairperson of the Petition Settlement Council for approval the cost estimate for settlement of each investor's petition, on a case-by-case basis.

4. The cost estimate approved by the Chairperson of the Petition Settlement Council as specified in Clause 3 of this Article must not exceed the amount of expenses paid by the petition-filing investor as specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

5. The Chairperson of the Petition Settlement Council shall decide the lump-sum expenditure level under the approved cost estimate for members of the Petition Settlement Council, the standing unit assisting the Petition Settlement Council, and other expenditures for settlement of the petition. Remuneration expenses for members of the Petition Settlement Council who are civil servants or public employees shall comply with law.

6. The standing unit assisting the Petition Settlement Council shall disburse expenditures for settlement of the petition in accordance with the cost estimate approved by the Chairperson of the Petition Settlement Council.

7. Upon completion of petition settlement, the Chairperson of the Petition Settlement Council shall confirm the amount of expenses actually disbursed. Where the actual spending amount is less than the amount of expenses paid by the investor to the Petition Settlement Council, the standing unit assisting the Petition Settlement Council shall refund the difference to the petition-filing investor within 7 working days from the date the Chairperson of the Petition Settlement Council confirms the actual spending amount.

8. In case the investor's petition is concluded to be correct, the document on settlement of the investor’s petition regarding investor selection result must clearly state that the concerned petition-filing investor shall be refunded the petition settlement expenses it/he/she has paid. The standing unit assisting the Petition Settlement Council shall issue a document requesting the bid solicitor to refund to the investor an amount equal to the amount paid by the petition-filing investor, minus the amount already refunded by the standing unit assisting the Petition Settlement Council under Clause 7 of this Article (if any).

9. Funding sources for refunding to the investor according to the document on settlement of the investor’s petition regarding investor selection result shall be as follows:

a) In case the bid solicitor is an administrative unit or public non-business unit, the funding sources for refunding to the investor shall be allocated from the unit's regular expenditure estimates;

b) In case the bid solicitor is neither an administrative unit nor a public non-business unit, the funding sources for refunding to the investor shall be allocated from the unit's funding for operations.

10. Violators under the competent authority’s decision on settlement of the investor’s petition regarding investor selection result shall pay compensation to the bid solicitor in accordance with law.

Article 9. Order and procedures for selection of investors

1. For projects for which open bidding or restricted bidding is organized according to the single-stage single-envelope method as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 35 of the Bidding Law:

a) Announcement of business investment projects;

b) Preparation for bidding for investor selection;

c) Organization of bidding for investor selection;

d) Evaluating bid dossiers;

dd) Submission, appraisal, approval and publicization of investor selection results;

e) Contract negotiation, finalization and conclusion.

2. For projects requiring valuable architecture works in accordance with the law on architecture, applying the form of open bidding under the single-stage two-envelope method specified in Clause 2 Article 35, of the Bidding Law:

a) Announcement of business investment projects;

b) Preparation for bidding for investor selection;

c) Organization of bidding for investor selection;

d) Evaluation of dossiers of technical proposals and dossiers of financial proposals;

dd) Submission, appraisal, approval and publicization of investor selection results;

e) Contract negotiation, finalization and conclusion.

3. For projects with special socio-economic development requirements of sectors, regions and localities in which specific technical, social and environmental standards have not been determined, the open bidding shall be organized according to the two-stage single-envelope method in accordance with Clause 3 Article 35 of the Bidding Law:

a) Announcement of business investment projects;

b) Preparation for, and organization of first-stage bidding for investor selection;

c) Preparation for, and organization of second-stage bidding for investor selection;

d) Evaluation of second-stage bid dossiers;

dd) Submission, appraisal, approval and publicization of investor selection results;

e) Contract negotiation, finalization and conclusion.

4. For projects for which the number of investors expressing interest must be determined under Points e, g, and h Clause 2, and Point b Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree:

a) Announcement of business investment projects;

b) Invitation for expression of interest;

c) Where the project has two or more investors satisfying the conditions for invitation for expression of interest, the provisions at Points b, c, d, dd, and e Clause 1 of this Article (for projects applying the form of open bidding under the single-stage single-envelope method), or at Points b, c, d, dd, and e Clause 2 of this Article (for projects applying the form of open bidding under the single-stage two-envelope method), or at Points b, c, d, dd, and e Clause 3 of this Article (for projects applying the form of open bidding under the two-stage single-envelope method), shall apply.

5. For projects specified at Point i Clause 2 Article 4 of this Decree, based on the requirements of specialized laws on whether the number of investors expressing interest must be determined, the process and procedures for investor selection shall comply with Clauses 1, 2, 3, or 4 of this Article.

6. For projects applying the investor appointment method, the process and procedures for investor appointment must comply with Section 2 Chapter V of this Decree.

7. For projects applying the method of investor selection in special cases, the process and procedures for investor selection must comply with Section 1 Chapter V of this Decree.

8. The process for investor selection specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Article is detailed in Appendix I to this Decree.

Chapter II

PROCESS, PROCEDURES FOR SELECTION OF INVESTORS FOR PROJECTS FOR WHICH OPEN BIDDING OR RESTRICTED BIDDING IS ORGANIZED BY THE SINGLE-STAGE SINGLE-ENVELOPE METHOD OR SINGLE-STAGE TWO-ENVELOPE METHOD

Section 1

ANNOUNCEMENT OF BUSINESS INVESTMENT PROJECTS

Article 10. Announcement of business investment projects for projects subject to approval of investment policy

1. Based on the list of land areas put for bidding for land-using investment projects decided by the provincial-level People’s Council, the competent state agency as prescribed by the law on investment, or the investor shall compile a dossier of request for approval of investment policy for use as a basis for carrying out procedures for approval of investment policy.

2. Provincial-level People’s Committees, and Economic Zone Management Boards shall assign their attached or subordinate agencies, organizations or units, or commune-level People’s Committees, to upload the investment policy approval decision to the Vietnam National E-Procurement System in accordance with Point a Clause 2 Article 47 of the Bidding Law before organizing bidding for investor selection.

Article 11. Announcement of business investment projects for projects not subject to approval of investment policy

1. The bases for approval of information on a business investment project:

a) One of the master plans within the planning system as prescribed by the law on planning;

b) The list of land areas for bidding of land-using investment projects decided by the provincial-level People's Council;

c) For land-using investment projects specified at Point a Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree, in addition to the provisions at Points a and b of this Clause, the bases for approval of information on the business investment project comprise: the zoning master plan, or the master plan for cases where the formulation of a zoning master plan or a detailed master plan is not required, under the law on urban and rural planning; and provincial-level housing development programs and plans (if any).

2. For projects organized and implemented by competent agencies:

a) The competent person shall assign attached or subordinate agencies, organizations or units of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, other agencies, provincial-level People’s Committees or Economic Zone Management Boards; or commune-level People’s Committees to prepare a project proposal dossier, including the contents specified at Points b, c, d, and e Clause 2 Article 47 of the Bidding Law, ensuring compliance with Article 4 of this Decree;

b) The agency, organization, or unit specified at Point a of this Clause shall submit the project information to the competent person for approval;

c) The document approving information on the business investment project shall comprise the contents specified at Points b, c, d, and e Clause 2 Article 47, of the Bidding Law, assigning the agency, organization, or unit specified at Point a of this Clause to post the information on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System. The posting of project information specified at this Point shall be carried out before organizing bidding for investor selection.

3. An investor may be proposed to implement a business investment project other than a project already approved and publicized under Article 10 of this Decree and Clause 2 of this Article, except where specialized laws provide that investors may not propose to implement projects. Contents of dossiers of project proposals, order, procedures for preparing dossiers of project proposals, and approving project information are prescribed as follows:

a) The investor shall formulate a project proposal dossier comprising: a document proposing the project, containing the contents specified at Points b, c, d, and e Clause 2 Article 47 of the Bidding Law; legal dossiers and documents on the investor's status and capacity; and other documents (if any). The investor shall bear all expenses for preparing the dossier of project proposal;

b) The investor shall submit the project proposal dossier on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System in accordance with the roadmap for application of online investor selection specified in Article 70 of this Decree. During the period when this has not yet been implemented on the System, the investor shall submit one set of the project proposal dossier directly or by post to the provincial-level Public Administrative Service Center (for investment projects for which the provincial-level People's Committee or the Economic Zone Management Board is the competent agency), or to the single-window section of the ministry, ministerial-level agency, or other agency (for investment projects for which a ministry, ministerial-level agency, or other agency is the competent agency).

For projects for which the provincial-level People's Committee or the Economic Zone Management Board is the competent agency, the provincial-level Department of Finance, or an organization or unit under the Economic Zone Management Board, shall receive the investor's project proposal dossier within 2 working days from the date the dossier is sent to the provincial-level Public Administrative Service Center.

For projects for which a ministry, ministerial-level agency, or other agency is the competent agency, within 2 working days from the date of receipt of the project proposal dossier, the unit in charge of the single-window section shall report to the competent person for assignment of an agency, organization, or unit to compile and review the investor's project proposal dossier;

c) The agency assigned to receive dossiers as specified at Point b of this Clause shall notify the investor of the validity, invalidity, or need for completion of the dossier, via email or SMS message to the phone number registered by the investor. A valid dossier comprises the components and contents specified at Point a of this Clause;

d) Within 14 working days from the date of receipt of a valid dossier, the agency or unit specified at Point b of this Clause shall coordinate with relevant agencies in considering the conformity of the project proposal dossier with Article 4 of this Decree and the approval bases specified in Clause 1 of this Article, and submit it to the competent person for approval of information on the business investment project. For investment projects implemented in areas affecting national defense and security, the agency or unit specified at Point b of this Clause shall solicit opinions from the provincial-level Military Command and the provincial-level Public Security Department regarding satisfaction of the conditions on assurance of national defense and security;

dd) Within 3 working days from the date of receipt of the submission document, the competent person shall approve or disapprove the approval of information on the business investment project. Where approval is granted, the document approving information on the business investment project shall comprise the contents specified at Point c Clause 2 of this Article;

e) Within 2 working days from the date the competent person approves or disapproves the approval of project information, the agency or unit specified at Point b of this Clause shall return the paper copy directly or by postal service to the investor;

g) The posting of information on the business investment project shall be carried out in accordance with Point c Clause 2 of this Article.

4. Before organizing bidding for investor selection, where a need arises to adjust one or more contents of the document approving information on the business investment project, and such adjustment leads to a change in the evaluation criteria in the bidding dossier or the dossier of requirements (if any), the agency, organization, or unit specified at Point a Clause 2 of this Article, or the investor, shall formulate a dossier requesting the adjustment, and submit it to the competent person for approval of the adjustment to the information on the business investment project, and shall post the adjusted information in accordance with the order and procedures specified in Clause 2 or Clause 3 of this Article.

The dossier requesting adjustment of information on the business investment project comprises a document requesting the adjustment; and an explanation of, or documents relating to, the adjustment of the contents of the document approving information on the business investment project.

Section 2

PREPARATION FOR BIDDING FOR INVESTOR SELECTION

Article 12. Formulation and approval of the table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities

1. The competent person shall assign an attached or subordinate agency, organization, or unit to formulate the table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities in accordance with Appendix II to this Decree.

2. The competent person shall approve the table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities, in which the bid solicitor, the form and method of bidding for investor selection, and the time for commencing the organization of investor selection for implementation of the business investment project shall be decided.

3. For business investment projects subject to investment policy approval under the law on investment, the table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities shall be approved independently or concurrently with the decision on investment policy approval.

4. For business investment projects not subject to investment policy approval, the table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities shall be approved concurrently in the document approving information on the business investment project.

5. For projects applying the procedures for invitation for expression of interest as specified in Clause 1 Article 37 of this Decree, the table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities shall be approved concurrently in the document approving the result of invitation for expression of interest as specified in Clause 2 Article 43 of this Decree.

6. The bid solicitor shall post the approved table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System before organizing bidding for investor selection; and shall update the actual progress of performance of investor-selection activities on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System.

Article 13. Grounds for approval of bidding dossiers

1. Master plans, plans and programs include:

a) One of the master plans within the planning system as prescribed by the law on planning, in case there is a change to the relevant master plans since the time of investment policy approval or approval of project information;

A business investment project that has multiple functions shall be determined based on the main structure of the project or the main structure of the highest grade in case the project has multiple main structures in accordance with the law on construction.

b) For land-using investment projects specified at Point a Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree, in addition to the provisions at Point a of this Clause, the bases for approval of the bidding dossier comprise: the zoning master plan, or the master plan for cases where the formulation of a zoning master plan or a detailed master plan is not required, under the law on urban and rural planning; and provincial-level housing development programs and plans.

2. The list of land areas for bidding of land-using investment projects decided by the provincial-level People's Council, for and-using investment projects.

3. The list of works and projects subject to land recovery approved by the competent level, for land-using investment projects. The provisions of this Clause shall not apply to projects not subject to land recovery, or to linear works or projects requiring survey procedures to determine the project location as prescribed by specialized laws.

4. Decisions on approval of the investment policy (for projects subject to investment policy approval in accordance with the investment law), or written approval of the business investment project information (for projects not subject to investment policy approval).

5. The table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities that is approved in accordance with Clause 2 Article 12 of this Decree.

6. Other documents as prescribed by specialized law and relevant laws (if any).

Article 14. Making, appraisal and approval of bidding dossiers

1. The bid solicitor shall assign the expert team to prepare a bidding dossier containing contents specified in Article 48 of the Bidding Law for the investors to make bid dossiers. For electricity business investment projects, the bidding dossier shall also include the draft power purchase agreement agreed upon with the power purchaser in accordance with the law on electricity.

The preparation of bidding dossiers may be carried out before documents specified in Article 13 of this Decree are approved by competent authorities, provided such dossier approval complies with Article 13 of this Decree.

2. Methods and criteria for evaluation of bid dossiers must comply with Articles 49, 50, 51, 52 and 53 of this Decree.

3. Appraisal and approval of bidding dossiers:

a) The bid solicitor shall submit the draft bidding dossier and relevant documents to a competent person and the appraisal team;

b) The appraisal team shall appraise bidding dossier under Article 58 of this Decree;

c) The competent person shall approve the bidding dossier in writing, on the basis of the written request for approval and report on appraisal of bidding dossier.

Article 15. Selection of the shortlist for the restricted bidding

1. The bid solicitor shall determine the shortlist comprising at least 3 investors satisfying the requirements of the business investment project and having a demand to participate in the bidding, and submit it to the competent person for approval.

2. After being approved, the shortlist shall be publicized by the bid solicitor on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System.

3. Shortlisted investors may not form a consortium among themselves in order to participate in bidding.

Section 3

ORGANIZATION OF BIDDING FOR INVESTOR SELECTION

Article 16. Conditions for issuance of bidding dossiers

The bidding dossier may only be issued for selection of investors when the following conditions are fully satisfied:

1. The project has been granted a decision on investment policy approval (for projects subject to investment policy approval), or the information on the business investment project has been approved (for projects not subject to investment policy approval);

2. The business investment project has been announced in accordance with Article 10 or Article 11 of this Decree;

3. The bidding dossiers is approved;

4. Other conditions as prescribed by specialized law (if any).

Article 17. Invitation for bids, issuance, modification, clarification of bidding dossiers; extension of the time limit for submission of bid dossiers

1. Invitation for bids:

a) A notice of invitation for bids shall be posted in accordance with Clause 2 Article 8 of the Bidding Law. For projects subject to international open bidding as specified in Clause 2 or Clause 3 Article 11 of the Bidding Law, the notice of invitation for bids must be posted in English and Vietnamese on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System and on the website of the line ministry, the provincial-level People's Committee (if any), or an English-language newspaper published in Vietnam;

b) A letter of invitation for bids shall be sent to shortlisted investors, for restricted bidding.

2. Issuance of bidding dossiers:

a) For domestic open bidding, the bidding dossiers shall be issued free of charge on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System. The bid solicitor shall fully upload files of bidding dossiers on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System;

b) For domestic restricted bidding, bidding dossiers shall be issued free of charge to shortlisted investors;

c) In case of international bidding, the investor shall pay an amount of money equal to the selling price of one set of electronic bidding dossier when submitting the bid dossier.

3. Modification of bidding dossiers:

The bidding dossier may be modified before the bid closing time. In case of modifying the bidding dossier after issuance, the bid solicitor must post on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System the decision on modification together with the modifications of bidding dossier, and the modified bidding dossier. The modification of the bidding dossier shall be carried out before the bid closing date, ensuring that the modification is posted on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System at least 10 working days in advance for domestic bidding, and 15 working days in advance for international bidding. In case of failure to ensure the posting duration, the bid closing date shall be extended.

4. Clarification of bidding dossiers:

a) For domestic bidding, the investor shall send a written request for clarification to the bid solicitor on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System at least 5 working days before the bid closing date;

b) For international bidding, the investor shall directly send a written request for clarification to the bid solicitor at least 10 working days before the bid closing date;

c) The bid solicitor shall post the clarifications on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, or when necessary, hold a pre-bid meeting to discuss contents of the bidding dossier that need to be clarified.

Where a pre-bid meeting is organized, the discussed contents must be recorded by the bid solicitor in minutes clarifying the bidding dossier, and must be posted on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System;

d) The clarifications of the bidding dossier must be posted on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System at least 2 working days before the bid closing date, and must not contradict the contents of the bidding dossier already posted on the System. If the clarification leads to modification of the bidding dossier, such modification must comply with Clause 3 of this Article.

5. The decision on modification and the clarifying document constitute an integral part of the bidding dossier.

6. In case of extending the time limit for submission of a bid dossier, the bid solicitor shall upload the notice of time limit extension and the decision on approval of time limit extension on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, clearly stating the reason for extension and the new bid closing time.

Article 18. Preparation, submission, receipt, management, modification, replacement and withdrawal of bid dossiers

1. Investors shall prepare and submit bid dossiers as required in the bidding dossier.

2. The bid solicitor shall receive all investors’ bid dossiers that are submitted before the time of bid closing and manage bid dossiers submitted according to confidential regime until the investor selection result is disclosed. In no circumstance may information in the bid dossier submitted by an investor participating in bidding be revealed, except information to be disclosed upon bid opening.

3. Any investor that wishes to modify, replace or withdraw the submitted bid dossier shall send a written request to the bid solicitor. The bid solicitor shall only approve the modification, replacement or withdrawal of bid dossier if receiving such request before the bid closing time.

4. A bid dossier or documents submitted by an investor to the bid solicitor after the bid closing time shall be invalid, shall not be opened and rejected, except for documents clarifying the bid dossier at the request of the bid solicitor, or documents self-clarified or supplemented by the investor to evidence its eligibility or capacity.

Section 4

EVALUATION OF BID DOSSIERS FOR PROJECTS
APPLYING THE SINGLE-STAGE SINGLE-ENVELOPE METHOD

Article 19. Bid opening

1. Bids shall be opened publicly within 2 hours after the time of bid closing. The bid solicitor shall only open bid dossiers received before the time of bid closing as required in the bidding dossier to the witness of investors’ representatives participating in the bid-opening ceremony, regardless of whether investors are present or absent.

2. The bid solicitor shall check the seal, open each bid dossier in the alphabetical order of investors’ names and read out the following information:

a) Investor’s name;

b) Number of originals and copies of the dossier;

c) The value proposed by the investor for land use efficiency in the bid application form (for cases applying the land use efficiency evaluation criteria);

d) Value proposed by the investor in terms of sectoral and local development investment efficiency in the bid application form, including any of the following information: the monetary value to be remitted to the state budget; the percentage of revenue proposed by the investor to be remitted to the state budget; prices of goods or services; the number of public works without business purposes; the value of social assistance activities or other social welfare activities for social protection beneficiaries, determined by monetary value or by the number of persons assisted; the type, level of toxicity, and total volume of pollutants discharged into the environment; the land use area, land use coefficient; the electricity price, for electricity business investment projects; or the time for handover of resettlement housing, for investment projects on renovation and reconstruction of apartment buildings (for cases applying the evaluation criteria on sectoral and local development investment efficiency);

dd) Request for increase or decrease of the value specified at Point c or d of this Clause (if any);

e) The validity period of the bid dossier;

g) Value and validity of the bid security;

h) Other relevant information (if any).

3. The bid opening record, which includes information specified in Clause 2 of this Article, must bear signatures of representatives of the bid solicitor and investors who attend the bid opening ceremony, and shall be sent to the investors that participate in the bidding.

4. A representative of the bid solicitor shall sign the original of the bid application form, the power of attorney of the at-law representative of the investor (if any); consortium agreement (if any); bid security; contents of the business investment plan and proposals on land use efficiency, sectoral and local development investment efficiency of each bid dossier.

Article 20. Principles of evaluating bid dossiers

1. The evaluation of bid dossiers shall be based on the evaluation methods and criteria and other requirements set out in the bidding dossier, the submitted bid dossiers, and the investor's documents explaining or clarifying its bid dossier, so as to ensure the selection of an investor with sufficient capacity and a feasible technical and financial plan to implement the project.

2. The evaluation shall be conducted based on copies; investors shall be held responsible for the consistency between originals and their copies. In case there exist disparities between originals and copies which do not change the investor’s ranking, the evaluation shall be conducted based on originals. In case there exist disparities between originals and copies, leading to the situation whereby the result of evaluation based on originals differs from that based on copies and consequently changing the investor’s ranking, the bid dossier of such investor shall be disqualified.

3. When evaluating a bid dossier, the bid solicitor shall examine technical and financial information in the bid dossier so as to identify that such bid dossier does not contain disparities, impositions of conditions or omissions of basic contents, of which:

a) Disparities are differences with requirements stated in the bidding dossier; Imposition of conditions means the imposition of conditions that restrict or show the non-acceptance in full of the requirements set out in the bidding dossier; Omission of contents means the investor’s failure to provide part or all of the information or documents as required in the bidding dossier;

b) Provided that a bid dossier meets basic requirements stated in the bidding dossier, the bid solicitor may accept errors other than disparities, impositions of conditions or omissions of basic contents of the bid dossier;

c) Provided that a bid dossier is fundamental responsive to requirements of the bidding dossier, the bid solicitor may request the investor to provide the necessary information or documents, within a reasonable period of time, to rectify nonmaterial disparities or nonconformities in the bid dossier related to document requirements. The request for provision of information and documents to rectify such errors must not affect the investor's proposal on land use efficiency or sectoral and local development investment efficiency. Where the investor fails to satisfy the bid solicitor's request, its bid dossier shall be rejected.

Article 21. Clarification of bid dossiers

1. After the opening of bids, where an investor's bid dossier lacks documents on eligibility or financial statements, the bid solicitor shall request the investor to clarify or supplement documents to evidence its eligibility and capacity. The investor shall clarify its/his/her bid dossiers upon request of the bid solicitor. The clarification of contents on eligibility and capacity must ensure that it does not change the substance of the eligibility and capacity of the investor participating in the bidding.

2. After the bid closing time, where an investor discovers that its bid dossier lacks information or documents on eligibility or capacity that it already has but that were not submitted together with the bid dossier, it may send such information or documents to supplement and clarify its bid dossier. The bid solicitor shall receive such clarifying or supplementary documents evidencing the investor's eligibility and capacity for consideration and evaluation. Such documents shall be considered as a part of the bid dossier.

3. The clarification of the proposals on business investment plans, proposals on land use efficiency, sectoral and local development investment efficiency must ensure not to change corresponding proposals in the submitted bid dossiers.

4. The bid dossier clarification shall only be carried out between the bid solicitor and the investor whose bid dossier needs clarifying. Clarified contents shall be expressed in writing and preserved by the bid solicitor as an integral part of the bid dossier.

Article 22. Evaluation of bid dossiers

1. Examination of the validity of a bid dossier, covering:

a) Checking the quantities of originals and copies of the bid dossier;

b) Checking the composition of the bid dossier, such as the bid application form, the consortium agreement (if any), the power of attorney for signing the bid application form (if any); the bid security; documents evidencing the eligibility of the signatory of the bid application form (if any); documents evidencing the eligibility and capacity of the investor; the proposed contents on the business investment plan; the proposed contents on land use efficiency and sectoral and local development investment efficiency; and other components of the bid dossier;

c) Checking the consistency between originals and copies of the bid dossier to serve the detailed evaluation of the bid dossier.

2. Evaluation of the validity of a bid dossier:

An investor’s bid dossier shall be evaluated as valid when fully meeting the following conditions:

a) The original bid dossier is available;

b) There are valid bid application forms bearing signatures and seals (if any) of lawful representatives of investors as required by the bidding dossier. For a consortium, the bid application form must bear the signatures and seals (if any) of the lawful representative of every consortium member. An assigned member may sign and seal (if any) on the bid application form on behalf of the consortium if so agreed in the consortium agreement;

c) The value stated in the bid application form must be specific and fixed in figures and words, without proposing different values regarding the land use efficiency, sectoral and local development investment efficiency or involving a condition unfavorable to the competent agency and bid solicitor;

d) The bid dossier's validity satisfies the requirements prescribed in the bidding dossier;

dd) There is a valid bid security;

e) The investor must not be named in two or more bid dossiers as an independent investor or a member of the consortium;

g) There is a consortium agreement bearing the signatures and seals (if any) of lawful representative of every consortium member;

h) The investor is eligible as prescribed in Article 5 of the Bidding Law;

i) The investor falls within the subjects to whom the State allocates or leases land, and satisfies the conditions for land allocation or lease as prescribed by the land law (applicable to land-using investment projects);

k) The investor is not banned from dealing in real estate or having its operation suspended or terminated under a court judgment or ruling, or a decision of a competent state agency as prescribed by the law on real estate business (for real estate projects).

Investors that have valid bid dossiers may have their dossiers eligible for detailed evaluation in accordance with Clause 3 of this Article.

3. Evaluation of bid dossiers:

a) Evaluation of bid dossiers covers evaluation of the investor’s capacity; and evaluation of the business investment plan; land use efficiency; and sectoral and local development investment efficiency;

b) Evaluation of bid dossiers shall be conducted using the methods and evaluation criteria stated in the bidding dossiers.

4. After evaluating the bid dossier, the expert team shall make a report and send it to the bid solicitor for consideration. Such a report must state the following contents:

a) The investor ranking list;

b) List of disqualified and eliminated investors; reasons for elimination;

c) Remarks on competition, fairness, transparency and economic efficiency in the process of investor selection. In case competitiveness, fairness, transparency and economic efficiency are not ensured, reasons shall be specified and handling measures shall be proposed.

5. Consideration and approval of the bid winner:

An investor shall be proposed as the bid winner when he/she/it fully satisfies the conditions specified in Article 54 of this Decree.

Section 5

EVALUATION OF BID DOSSIERS FOR PROJECTS
APPLYING THE SINGLE-STAGE TWO-ENVELOP METHOD

Article 23. Opening dossiers of technical proposals

1. A dossier of technical proposals shall be publicly opened within 2 hours from the bid closing time. The order of evaluation of dossiers of technical proposals must comply with Article 19 of this Decree. The bid solicitor shall only read information and make a record of bid opening, including information specified at Points a, b, e, g and h Clause 2 Article 19 of this Decree when opening dossiers of technical proposals.

2. Dossiers of financial proposals of all investors shall be sealed by the bid solicitor in separate bags and such seals shall be signed by representatives of the bid solicitor and investors that attend the ceremony of opening of dossiers of technical proposals.

Article 24. Evaluation of dossiers of technical proposals

1. Checking of the validity of a dossier of technical proposals, covering:

a) Checking the quantities of originals and photocopies of the dossier of technical proposals;

b) Checking the components of the dossier of technical proposals including: the bid application form of the dossier of technical proposals, the consortium agreement (if any), the power of attorney for signing the bid application form (if any); the bid security; documents evidencing the eligibility of the signatory of the bid application form (if any); documents evidencing the eligibility and capacity of the investor; the proposed contents on the business investment plan; and other components of the dossier of technical proposals;

c) Checking the consistency between the originals and photocopies to serve the detailed evaluation of the dossier of technical proposals.

2. Evaluation of validity of the dossier of technical proposals:

An investor’s dossier of technical proposals shall be evaluated as valid when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

a) The original dossier of technical proposals is available;

b) The bid application form in the valid dossier of technical proposals bears the signature and seal (if any) of the lawful representative of the investor as required in the bidding dossier. For a consortium, the bid application form must bear the signatures and seals (if any) of the lawful representative of every consortium member. An assigned member may sign and seal (if any) on the bid application form on behalf of the consortium if so agreed in the consortium agreement;

c) The validity of the dossier of technical proposals satisfies requirements in the bidding dossier;

d) There is a valid bid security;

dd) The investor’s name is not present in more than one dossier of technical proposals as an independent investor or consortium member;

e) There is a valid consortium agreement in case of consortium;

g) The investor is eligible as prescribed in Article 5 of the Bidding Law;

h) The investor falls within the subjects to whom the State allocates or leases land, and satisfies the conditions for land allocation or lease as prescribed by the land law (applicable to land-using investment projects);

i) The investor is not banned from dealing in real estate or having its operation suspended or terminated under a court judgment or ruling, or a decision of a competent state agency as prescribed by the law on real estate business (for real estate projects).

An investor with a valid dossier of technical proposals shall have his/her/its dossier of technical proposals subjected to detailed evaluation in accordance with Clause 4 of this Article.

3. The order and procedures for clarification of dossiers of technical proposals must comply with Article 21 of this Decree.

4. Evaluation of dossiers of technical proposals:

a) The principles for evaluation of dossiers of technical proposals must comply with Article 20 of this Decree;

b) An investor with a valid dossier of technical proposals that satisfies the requirements on capacity and the requirements on the business investment plan shall be considered for opening of his/her/its dossier of technical proposals.

Article 25. Approval of the list of investors satisfying technical requirements

1. The list of investors satisfying technical requirements shall be approved in writing by the bid solicitor, based on the written request for approval of the list of investors satisfying technical requirements on the expert team.

2. The bid solicitor shall notify the list of investors satisfying the technical requirements to all investors participating in the bidding, and shall invite investors participating in the bidding to the opening of dossiers of financial proposals, clearly stating the time and venue for the opening of dossiers of financial proposals.

Article 26. Opening of dossiers of financial proposals

1. Dossiers of financial proposals of investors named in the list of investors satisfying technical requirements shall be publicly opened according to the time and location as stated in the notice of the list of investors satisfying technical requirements. The record of bid opening must contain information specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd, e and h Clause 2 Article 19 of this Decree and must be sent to investors participating in the bidding.

2. A representative of the bid solicitor shall sign the original of the bid application form, the power of attorney of the at-law representative of the investor (if any); consortium agreement (if any); and proposals on land use efficiency, sectoral and local development investment efficiency of each dossier of financial proposals.

Article 27. Evaluation of dossiers of financial proposals

1. Examining the validity of a dossier of financial proposals, including:

a) Checking the quantities of originals and copies of the dossier;

b) Checking the composition of the dossier of financial proposals, such as bid application form of the dossier of financial proposals; contents of proposals on land use efficiency, sectoral and local development investment efficiency; and other components of the dossier of financial proposals;

c) Checking the consistency between originals and copies of the dossier to serve the detailed evaluation of the dossier of financial proposals.

2. Evaluation of the validity of a dossier of financial proposals:

A dossier of financial proposals of an investor shall be evaluated as valid when fully satisfying the following conditions:

a) The original of the dossier of financial proposal is available;

b) The bid application form in the valid dossier of financial proposals bears the signature and seal (if any) of the lawful representative of the investor as required in the bidding dossier. For a consortium, the bid application form must bear the signatures and seals (if any) of the lawful representative of every consortium member. An assigned member may sign and seal (if any) on the bid application form on behalf of the consortium if so agreed in the consortium agreement;

c) The value stated in the bid application form in the dossier of financial proposals must be specific and fixed in figures and words, without proposing different values regarding the land use efficiency, sectoral and local development investment efficiency or involving a condition unfavorable to the competent agency and bid solicitor;

d) The validity of the dossier of financial proposals satisfies requirements mentioned in the bidding dossier.

Investors that have valid dossiers of financial proposals may have their dossiers eligible for detailed evaluation in accordance with Clause 4 of this Article.

3. The order and procedures for clarification of dossiers of financial proposals must comply with Article 21 of this Decree.

4. Evaluation of dossiers of financial proposals:

a) The principles for evaluation of dossiers of financial proposals must comply with Article 20 of this Decree;

b) The detailed evaluation of dossiers of financial proposals and ranking of investors shall be conducted according to the evaluation criteria and method mentioned in the bidding dossier.

5. After evaluating the bid dossier, the expert team shall make a report and send it to the bid solicitor for consideration. Such a report must state the following contents:

a) The investor ranking list;

b) List of disqualified and eliminated investors; reasons for elimination;

c) Remarks on competition, fairness, transparency and economic efficiency in the process of investor selection. In case competitiveness, fairness, transparency and economic efficiency are not ensured, reasons shall be specified and handling measures shall be proposed.

6. The approval of bid winners must comply with Article 54 of this Decree.

Section 6

SUBMISSION, APPRAISAL, APPROVAL AND PUBLICIZATION OF INVESTOR SELECTION RESULTS

Article 28. Submission, appraisal and approval of the investor selection results

1. The submission, appraisal and approval of investor selection results shall be as follows:

a) Based on a report on bid dossier evaluation results, the bid solicitor shall submit investor selection results to the competent person and the appraisal team for appraisal organization, clearly stating the bid solicitor’s opinions on appraisals of the expert team;

b) The appraisal team shall appraise the investor selection results under Article 59 of this Decree before approval;

c) The competent person shall approve the investor selection results in writing on the basis of the written request for approval and report on appraisal of investor selection results.

2. In case a bid-winning investor is selected, a decision approving investor selection results must have the following contents:

a) The project name; objectives; scale of investment; and investment capital of the project;

b) The project location; the current status of land use, and the area of the land plot for project implementation; the land use purpose; and the approved planning indicators;

c) The project implementation schedule; a preliminary plan for investment phasing or division of the project into component projects (if any); and the project implementation schedule for each phase (if any);

d) The name of the winning investor; and the name of the economic organization established by the winning investor (if any);

dd) One of the pieces of information specified at Points c and d Clause 2 Article 19 of this Decree;

e) Other contents (if any).

3. After the investor selection result is approved, where it is necessary to amend or supplement the name of the economic organization established by the winning investor as stated in the decision approving the investor selection result, the investor shall send the relevant information to the competent agency for adjustment.

4. For projects not subject to investment policy approval, where there is a request to adjust project information and the adjustment contents fall into the cases requiring adjustment of the investment project under the law on investment, the competent person shall consider adjusting the decision approving the investor selection result.

5. In case of bidding cancellation under Point a Clause 2 Article 17 of the Bidding Law, a decision approving investor selection results or a decision on bidding cancellation must clearly state reason(s) for bidding cancellation and responsibilities of related parties upon bidding cancellation.

6. In case of change name of the bid-winning investor or name of the economic organization established by the bid-wining investor as a result of transfer of the investment project, transfer of shares or contributed capital in economic organization established by the bid-winning investor under Clause 2 Article 76 of the Bidding Law, Clause 4 and Clause 5 Article 56 of this Decree, the competent person shall approve the transfer and adjust the decision approving the investor selection result.

Article 29. Publicization of investor selection results

1. Within 5 working days from the date on which the competent person decides on approving investor selection results, the bid solicitor shall disclose the information about investor selection results on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System in accordance with Point d Clause 2 Article 7 and Clause 4 Article 8 of the Bidding Law, at the same time, send the written notice of investor selection results to the investors participating in the bidding.

2. Such notice must contain the following contents:

a) Information as prescribed in Clause 2 Article 28 of this Decree;

b) The list of unselected investors and reasons for non-selection;

c) Plan on contract negotiation, finalization and conclusion with the selected investor.

Section 7

CONTRACT NEGOTIATION, FINALIZATION AND CONCLUSION

Article 30. Contract negotiation and finalization

1. Based on investor selection results, the first-ranked investor shall be invited to contract negotiation and finalization. In case the invited investor fails to come or refuses to participate in the contract negotiation and finalization, it/he/she may not have bid security refunded.

2. Contract negotiation and finalization shall be carried out on the following bases:

a) The report on evaluation of the bid dossier;

b) The bid dossier and its clarifying and modifying documents (if any) provided by the investor;

c) The bidding dossier.

3. Principles of contract negotiation and finalization:

a) Contract negotiation and finalization shall not be carried out on the contents offered by the investor according to requirements set in the bidding dossier;

b) Contract negotiation and finalization must not change the basic contents of the bid dossier.

4. Contents of contract negotiation and finalization:

a) Contents proposed in the bid dossier that remain unspecific, unclear, or different; contents inconsistent between the bidding dossier and bid dossier, which might lead to disputes or affect rights and obligations of parties during the contract performance;

b) Matters that arise in the investor selection process (if any) for the purpose of finalizing details of the contract;

c) Other contents relating to the project for use as a basis for regulating provisions on rights, obligations and responsibilities in the contract;

d) Other necessary contents.

5. The investor may not change, withdraw or refuse to perform basic contents proposed in the bid dossier which has been evaluated as meeting requirements of the bidding dossier by the bid solicitor, except for changes proposed by the investor that bring higher efficiency for the project.

6. In case the contract negotiation and finalization is unsuccessful, the bid solicitor shall report the competent person to consider and decide on cancellation of investor selection results and invite the next-ranked investor to contract negotiation and finalization. Where the negotiation and finalization of the contract with the next investor are successful, the bid solicitor shall submit, and shall have the investor selection result appraised, approved, and publicized, in accordance with Article 28 and Article 29 of this Decree. In case the contract negotiation and finalization with the next investors are unsuccessful, the bid solicitor shall report the competent person to consider and decide on bidding cancellation under Point a Clause 2 Article 17 of the Bidding Law.

Article 31. Conclusion of contracts and posting of principal information of business investment project contracts

1. The conclusion of business investment project contracts must comply with Articles 71, 72, 74 and 75 of the Bidding Law.

2. The business investment project contract (hereinafter referred to as the project contract) shall comprise the basic contents specified in Article 73 of the Bidding Law, Appendix III to this Decree, and the law on land, real estate, and construction, and specialized laws (if any).

3. Within 5 working days from the effective date of the project contract, the bid solicitor shall post principal information of the contract on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System. Information to be posted includes:

a) Name of the project; identification number of the contract; time of contract signing;

b) Name and address of the competent agency;

c) Name address of the bid-winning investor; name address of the economic organization established by the bid-winning investor (if any);

d) Objectives and scale of the project;

dd) Expected project implementation schedule; land area and land use term;

e) Project implementation location;

g) Expected total investment capital;

h) One of the pieces of information specified at Points c and d Clause 2 Article 19, of this Decree;

i) Other contents (if any).

Chapter III

PROCESS AND PROCEDURES FOR INVESTOR SELECTION FOR PROJECTS APPLYING THE FORM OF OPEN BIDDING UNDER THE TWO-STAGE SINGLE-ENVELOPE METHOD

Article 32. Preparation for first-stage bidding

1. The two-stage single-envelope method shall be applied to open bidding for selection of investors to implement business investment projects with special socio-economic development requirements of sectors, regions and localities in which specific technical, economic, social and environmental standards have not been determined in accordance with Clause 3 Article 35 of the Bidding Law.

2. Procedures for preparation for first-stage bidding include:

a) The formulation and approval of the table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities shall comply with Article 12 of this Decree, in which the specific progress for each stage shall be defined;

b) The disclosure of information on the business investment project shall be carried out in accordance with Point c Clause 11 of this Article;

c) First-stage bidding dossiers shall be prepared in accordance with Clause 3 of this Article;

d) First-stage bidding dossier appraisal and approval must comply with Clause 3 Article 14 of this Decree.

3. The first-stage bidding dossier, which must comprise the following principal information, shall be prepared in compliant with grounds specified in Article 13 of this Decree:

a) General information about the project, including the project's name; objectives; investment scale; investment capital; project implementation location; current status of land use, land area for project implementation; land use purposes; approved planning norms; time limit and project implementation schedule;

b) Instructions for preparation and submission of first-stage bid dossiers;

c) Requirements on eligibility of investors as specified in Article 5 of the Bidding Law;

d) Requirements for subjects and conditions eligible for land allocation or lease by the State in accordance with the land law;

dd) Requirements regarding the investor not being banned from dealing in real estate or having its operation suspended or terminated under a court judgment or ruling, or a decision of a competent state agency as prescribed by the law on real estate business (for real estate projects);

e) Requirements on the investors’ declaration of the history of disputes, complaints and lawsuits related to contracts already or being performed;

g) Preliminary requirements on the business investment plan; land use efficiency, sectoral and local development investment efficiency for the investor to discuss with the bid solicitor;

h) Other necessary contents (if any).

For the first-stage bidding dossier, the investor is not required to make proposals on land use efficiency, sectoral and local development investment efficiency, or take bid security.

Article 33. Organization of first-stage bidding

1. First-stage bid invitation must comply with Clause 1 Article 17 of this Decree.

2. The issuance, modification and clarification of bidding dossiers must comply with Clauses 2, 3 and 4 Article 17 of this Decree.

3. The preparation, submission, receipt, management, modification, replacement and withdrawal of bid dossiers must comply with Article 18 of this Decree.

4. Bid opening:

a) Bid opening shall be publicly carried out within 2 hours after the time of bid closing. The order of opening bid dossiers must comply with Article 19 of this Decree. The bid solicitor shall only read information and make a record of bid opening, including information specified at Points a, b, e and h Clause 2 Article 19 of this Decree;

b) A representative of the bid solicitor shall sign the original of the bid application form, the power of attorney of the at-law representative of the investor (if any); consortium agreement (if any); and important contents of each bid dossier.

5. Exchange of opinions on first-stage bid dossiers:

a) Based on the requirements set out in the bidding dossier and the investor's proposals in the first-stage bid dossier, the bid solicitor shall hold discussions with each investor in order to finalize the requirements on the business investment plan, land use efficiency, and sectoral and local development investment efficiency of the project, so as to serve as a basis for completing the second-stage bidding dossier;

b) The exchange of opinions on first-stage bid dossiers must not change the contents of decisions on approval of investment policy (for projects subject to investment policy approval), or contents of the document approving the business investment project information (for projects not subject to investment policy approval);

c) Results of exchanging shall be made in a record with signatures and certification of representatives of the bid solicitor and investors participating in the bidding, and shall be sent directly to such investors.

Article 34. Preparation for, and organization of second-stage bidding

1. The second-stage bidding dossiers shall be prepared in compliant with grounds specified in Article 13 of this Decree, and results of exchange of opinions on first-stage bid dossiers.

2. Contents of second-stage bid dossiers must comply with Clauses 1 and 2 Article 14 of this Decree.

3. Second-stage bidding dossier appraisal and approval must comply with Clause 3 Article 14 of this Decree.

4. Organization of bidding:

a) The bid solicitor shall invite investors that have submitted first-stage bid dossiers to receive second-stage bidding dossiers. The modification and clarification of second-stage bidding dossiers must comply with Clauses 3 and 4 Article 17 of this Decree;

b) The preparation, submission, receipt, management, modification, replacement and withdrawal of bid dossiers must comply with Article 18 of this Decree;

c) Bid opening must comply with Article 19 of this Decree.

Article 35. Evaluation of second-stage bid dossiers

1. Principles of evaluation of bid dossiers must comply with Article 20 of this Decree.

2. The clarification of bid dossiers must comply with Article 21 of this Decree.

3. The evaluation of second-stage bid dossiers must comply with Article 22 of this Decree.

Article 36. Submission, appraisal, approval and publicization of investor selection results; contract negotiation, finalization and conclusion, disclosure of project contract information

1. The submission, appraisal, approval and publicization of investor selection results must comply with Articles 28 and 29 of this Decree.

2. The contract negotiation, finalization and conclusion; and disclosure of information on project contracts must comply with Articles 30 and 31 of this Decree.

Chapter IV

PROCESS AND PROCEDURES FOR SELECTION OF INVESTORS FOR PROJECTS FOR WHICH THE NUMBER OF INVESTORS EXPRESSING INTEREST MUST BE DETERMINED

Article 37. Application of procedures for invitation for expression of interest

1. The procedures for invitation for expression of interest applied to projects for which the number of investors expressing interest must be determined under specialized laws are prescribed at Points e, g, and h Clause 2, or Point b Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree. These procedures are not required for projects applying the investor appointment method as specified in Clause 2a Article 34 of the Bidding Law, or projects applying the method of investor selection in special cases as specified in Article 34a of the Bidding Law.

2. International invitation for expression of interest shall apply to business investment projects specified in Clause 1 of this Article, except for the cases specified at Points a, b, and d Clause 2 Article 11 of the Bidding Law, or Clause 3 Article 11 of the Bidding Law, based on the opinions of the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other relevant agencies (if any), and other cases as prescribed by specialized laws.

3. The competent person shall assign an agency, organization, or unit attached or subordinate to a ministry, a ministerial-level agency, or a provincial-level People's Committee, or a commune-level People's Committee, to act as the solicitor for expression of interest.

4. The solicitor for expression of interest shall follow the order and procedures specified in Articles 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43 of this Decree.

5. The agency, organization, or unit attached or subordinate to a ministry, a ministerial-level agency, a provincial-level People's Committee, or an Economic Zone Management Board, or the commune-level People's Committee, specified in Clause 3 of this Article, shall post the information and the invitation for expression of interest on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System.

Article 38. Preparation for invitation for expression of interest

Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provincial-level People’s Committees, and Economic Zone Management Boards shall assign their attached or subordinate agencies, organizations or units, or commune-level People’s Committees, to disclose project information on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System before inviting the expression of interest, in accordance with one of the following two cases:

1. For projects subject to investment policy approval, the ministry, ministerial-level agency, provincial-level People's Committee, or Economic Zone Management Board shall assign an attached or subordinate agency, organization, or unit, or the commune-level People's Committee, to post the decision on investment policy approval.

2. For projects not subject to investment policy approval, based on the project proposal dossier formulated and approved in accordance with Article 11 of this Decree, the ministry, ministerial-level agency, provincial-level People's Committee, or Economic Zone Management Board shall assign an attached or subordinate agency, organization, or unit, or the commune-level People's Committee, to post the information specified at Points b, c, d, and e Clause 2 Article 47 of the Bidding Law.

Article 39. Preparation and approval of dossiers of invitation for expression of interest

1. The solicitor for expression of interest shall assign the expert team to prepare dossiers of invitation for expression of interest according to the information specified in Clause 2 of this Article, for investors to formulate their dossiers of registration for project implementation. The dossier of invitation for expression of interest shall be prepared based on Clauses 1, 2, and 4 Article 13 of this Decree.

The preparation of dossiers of invitation for expression of interest may be carried out before documents specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 4 Article 13 of this Decree are approved by competent authorities, provided such dossiers conform with such bases.

2. A dossier of invitation for expression of interest must comprise:

a) Instructions for investors;

b) Requirements on eligibility of investors specified in Article 5 of the Bidding Law;

c) Requirements on the subjects and conditions for land allocation or lease by the State, in accordance with the land law (applicable to land-using investment projects);

d) Requirements regarding the investor not being banned from dealing in real estate or having its operation suspended or terminated under a court judgment or ruling, or a decision of a competent state agency as prescribed by the law on real estate business (for real estate projects);

dd) Methods and criteria for preliminary evaluation of the investor's capacity, as specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article;

e) Forms for expression of interest;

b) Information on, and requirements for implementation of, the land-using investment project;

h) Other relevant contents (if any).

3. The pass/fail method shall be applied for preliminary evaluation of the investor's capacity. An investor shall be evaluated as satisfying the preliminary capacity requirements when all criteria are evaluated as pass.

4. Criteria for preliminary evaluation of investors’ capacity include:

a) Requirements on the investors’ equity as prescribed at Point a Clause 1 Article 50 of this Decree;

b) For investment projects on renovation or reconstruction of apartment buildings, in addition to the criteria specified in Point a of this Clause, criteria for preliminary evaluation of investors’ capacity include requirements for a preliminary compensation and resettlement plan in accordance with the housing law.

5. For investment projects planned for implementation on a land fund with land-attached assets that must be handled as public property at an agency, organization, or unit, in accordance with the law on management and use of public property, the dossier of invitation for expression of interest shall comprise the contents on sale of the land-attached assets, or reimbursement of the residual value of the land-attached assets that are demolished or dismantled, as specified in Clause 4 Article 51 of this Decree.

Investors shall commit in the dossiers of registration for project implementation on the payment of an amount equal to the value of the public assets determined in the dossier of invitation for expression of interest.

6. In case the project applies domestic invitation for expression of interest, and the application of advanced techniques, technologies and international management experience needs to be promoted, the dossier of invitation for expression of interest may comply with Clause 3 Article 50 of this Decree.

7. The dossier of invitation for expression of interest may only set out requirements aimed at selecting an investor satisfying eligibility and capacity to implement the project; it must not set out any conditions aimed at restricting the participation of investors or at creating an advantage for one or more investors, causing unequal competition.

8. The dossier of invitation for expression of interest shall be formulated and approved concurrently in the course of deciding on investment policy approval (for projects subject to investment policy approval under the law on investment), or in the course of formulating and approving information on the business investment project (for projects not subject to investment policy approval), or after such decisions are approved by the competent level.

Article 40. Notices of invitation for expression of interest, issuance, modification and clarification of dossiers of invitation for expression of interest; extension of time limits for submission of dossiers of registration for project implementation

1. Notices of invitation for expression of interest shall be posted on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System in accordance with Clause 2 Article 8 of the Bidding Law. For projects subject to international invitation for expression of interest under Clause 2 Article 37 of this Decree, a notice of invitation for expression of interest must be posted in English and Vietnamese on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System and websites of the line ministry, provincial-level People’s Committee (if any), or on an English newspaper published in Vietnam.

2. Dossiers of invitation for expression of interest shall be issued on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System. The solicitor for expression of interest shall upload free of charge complete files of dossiers of invitation for expression of interest on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System.

3. In case of modifying the dossiers of invitation for expression of interest after issuance, the solicitor for expression of interest must post on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System the decision on modification together with the modifications of dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, and the modified dossiers of invitation for expression of interest. The posting of the modification decision on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System shall be carried out at least 5 working days before the deadline for submission of dossiers of registration for project implementation.

4. Clarification of dossiers of invitation for expression of interest:

a) Where clarification of the dossier of invitation for expression of interest is required, the investor shall send a clarification request to the solicitor for expression of interest on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System at least 5 working days before the submission deadline for project implementation registration dossiers;

b) Documents clarifying the dossier of invitation for expression of interest shall be posted on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System at least 2 working days before the deadline for submitting dossier of registration for project implementation;

c) The clarification of the dossier of invitation for expression of interest must not contravene contents of the dossier of invitation for expression of interest posted on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System. If the clarification leads to modification of the dossier of invitation for expression of interest, such modification must comply with Clause 3 of this Article;

d) The decision on modification and documents clarifying the dossier of invitation for expression of interest constitute an integral part of the dossier of invitation for expression of interest.

5. Where extension of the submission deadline is required, the solicitor for expression of interest shall post the extension notice together with the extension approval decision on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, clearly stating the reason for extension and the new bid closing time.

Article 41. Preparation, submission, receipt, modification, withdrawal and clarification of dossiers of registration for project implementation

1. The investor shall prepare and submit a dossier of registration for implementation of the project on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System as required by the dossier of invitation for expression of interest. The period for preparation of the dossiers of registration for project implementation must be at least 20 working days, counting from the first day of issuance of the dossier of invitation for expression of interest to the date of bid closing.

2. The dossier of registration for project implementation of an investor must comprise: the document registering for project implementation; the dossier on the eligibility and capacity of the investor; and other relevant documents (if any).

3. The modification and withdrawal of the dossier of registration for project implementation shall only be carried out before the deadline for submission of the dossier of registration for project implementation.

4. The investor shall clarify his/her/its dossier of registration for project implementation at the request of the solicitor for expression of interest, or for self-clarifying and supplementing documents evidencing his/her/its eligibility and capacity, where the investor discovers that his/her/its dossier of registration for project implementation lacks information on the eligibility or capacity that it already has but that was not submitted together with the dossier. The clarification of the dossier shall be carried out on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, ensuring that it does not change the substance of the eligibility and capacity of the investor.

Article 42. Bid opening and evaluation of dossiers of registration for implementation of business investment projects

1. The bid opening shall be carried out on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System within 2 hours after the deadline for submission of dossiers of registration for implementation of the business investment project.

2. The solicitor for expression of interest shall organize the evaluation of dossiers of registration for implementation of the business investment project submitted by investors. The dossier of registration for project implementation shall be evaluated based on the method, criteria for evaluation and other requirements stated in the dossier of invitation for expression of interest, submitted dossiers of registration for project implementation and documents clarifying dossiers of registration for project implementation.

Article 43. Submission, approval and publicization of results of invitation for expression of interest

1. Based on the evaluation result of the dossiers of registration for implementation of the business investment project, the solicitor for expression of interest shall submit it to the competent person for consideration and approval of the result of invitation for expression of interest and for organization of investor selection, as follows:

a) In case there are two or more investors satisfying conditions of invitation of expression of interest, the open bidding for selection of investors shall be organized;

b) Where only one investor registers and satisfies the conditions for expression of interest, or where multiple investors register but only one investor satisfies the conditions for expression of interest, the procedures for investor approval shall be carried out in accordance with the law on investment, without having to carry out the procedures for investment policy approval;

c) Where no investor satisfies the conditions for expression of interest, a notice of termination of the procedures for invitation for expression of interest shall be issued.

2. For projects specified at Point a Clause 1 of this Article, the solicitor for expression of interest shall submit to the competent person for approval the table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities, comprising the contents specified in Clause 2 Article 12 of this Decree, submitted to the competent person for approval concurrently with the document approving the result of invitation for expression of interest; in which the form of bidding for investor selection shall be determined as follows:

a) Domestic open bidding, if no foreign investor satisfies the conditions for expression of interest;

b) International open bidding, if there is at least one foreign investor satisfying conditions of invitation for expression of interest.

3. For the case specified at Point c Clause 1 of this Article, the competent person shall notify in writing the termination of the procedures for invitation for expression of interest. Where the procedures for invitation for expression of interest are to be re-carried out, one of the following two procedures shall be considered for decision:

a) Re-carrying out the procedures for invitation for expression of interest within a period decided by the competent person;

b) Reviewing and modifying the dossier of invitation for expression of interest, while ensuring the compliance with the decision of investment policy approval, or written approval of the project information, and re-carrying out the procedures for invitation for expression of interest.

4. Based on the competent person’s decision as specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the solicitor for expression of interest shall upload the result of invitation for expression of interest and the table tracking the progress of investor-selection activities, or written notice of termination of the procedures for invitation for expression of interest on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System.

Article 44. Order and procedures for bidding for selection of investors

The order and procedures for open bidding for selection of investors shall comply with regulations of Section 2 thru Section 7 of Chapter II or Chapter III of this Decree.

Chapter V

PROCESS AND PROCEDURES FOR INVESTOR SELECTION APPLYING THE METHOD OF INVESTOR SELECTION IN SPECIAL CASES, AND INVESTOR APPOINTMENT

Section 1

PROCESS AND PROCEDURES FOR SELECTION OF INVESTORS IN SPECIAL CASES

Article 45. Projects applying investor selection in special cases

Projects applying the form of investor selection in special cases as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 34a of the Bidding Law include:

1. Projects subject to requirements on assurance of national defense and security, external affairs and territorial borders, based on opinions of the Ministry of Natural Defence, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, specified at Point a Clause 1 Article 34a of the Bidding Law.

2. Projects subject to the requirements on the assurance of national interests and performance of national political tasks under Point a Clause 1 Article 34a of the Bidding Law, which are those implemented under directions in Resolutions, Conclusions, and directives of the Party Central Committee, the Political Bureau and the Secretariat and key leaders of the Party and the State.

3. Projects prescribed at Point b Clause 1 Article 34a of the Bidding Law in strategic sectors, key or nationally important development investment projects in the fields of science, technology, and innovation, that require task assignment or placement of orders.

4. Projects subject to specific requirements on investment procedures, investor selection, land allocation, land lease and sea area allocation procedures, or those with special conditions as prescribed at Point c Clause 1 Article 34a of the Bidding Law, including:

a) Projects that need to be implemented immediately to ensure timely completion in accordance with instructions set out in the resolutions of the National Assembly and the National Assembly Standing Committee; Government’s resolutions; decisions, directives or notices of opinions of the Government’s leaders; resolutions of the Executive Boards of provincial-level Party Committees; notices of opinions or conclusions of the Standing Boards of provincial-level Party Committees; or resolutions of provincial-level People’s Councils;

b) Projects that need to be implemented immediately to ensure connection and synchronization of technical infrastructure among project components in accordance with instructions set out in resolutions of the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee or the Government; decisions, directives or notices of opinions of the Government’s leaders; resolutions of the Executive Boards of provincial-level Party Committees; notices of opinions or conclusions of the Standing Boards of provincial-level Party Committees; or resolutions of provincial-level People’s Councils, in order to meet requirements for efficient, synchronized and continuous management, exploitation and operation;

c) Projects for construction of nuclear power plants as prescribed by the law on atomic energy;

d) Offshore wind power projects in accordance with the law on electricity, which are impossible to be implemented if applying the investor selection methods specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 2a Article 34 of the Bidding Law;

dd) A chain of projects proposed by investors, comprising a project subject to bidding for investor selection as specified in Article 4 of this Decree and the investor's existing operational project, in order to form and develop an industry cluster or value chain so as to ensure the efficiency of the overall exploitation and operation of the chain of projects in conformity with the sectoral master plan;

e) Projects other than those specified at Points a, b, c, d and dd of this Clause, which are impossible to be implemented if applying any of the investor selection methods specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 2a Article 34 of the Bidding Law.

Article 46. Order and procedures for contractor selection in special cases

1. During the process of formulation of dossiers of request for investment policy approval in accordance with the law on investment or formulation of project proposal dossiers under Article 11 of this Decree, attached or subordinate agencies, organizations, or units of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees, other agencies; commune-level People's Committees or investors shall propose the application of the method of investor selection in special cases under Article 45 of this Decree and propose the investors to implement the projects (if any).

2. Procedures for investor selection in special cases shall be as follows:

a) For a project subject to investment policy approval by the National Assembly or the Prime Minister, after the investment policy is approved, the competent agency shall assign an attached/subordinate agency, organization or unit (below referred to as the specialized agency) to review and evaluate the investor’s financial capacity and project implementation conditions according to the approved investment policy. The contents of the assessment shall comply with Clause 3 of this Article. Based on the evaluation report of the specialized agency, the competent agency shall decide on investor selection in the special case;

Based on the evaluation report of the specialized agency, the competent agency shall decide on investor selection in the special case for the project, and approve the results of investor selection in the special case according to the contents specified at Point d and Point dd Clause 2 Article 28 of this Decree;

b) With respect to a project not falling under the case specified at Point a of this Clause, or a project not subject to investment policy approval, the competent agency shall review and evaluate the investor’s financial capacity and project implementation conditions as specified in Clause 3 of this Article during the process of appraising the dossier of request for investment policy approval or reviewing the project proposal dossier.

The competent agency shall decide to approve the investment policy in accordance with the law regulations on investment, or approve the project information as prescribed in Article 11 of this Decree, and shall concurrently approve the results of investor selection in the special case according to the contents specified at Point d and Point dd Clause 2 Article 28 of this Decree;

c) The order and time for organization of the appraisal of the dossier of request for investment policy approval, or for consideration of the project proposal dossier, as specified in this Clause, shall comply with the corresponding law regulations on investment or Article 11 of this Decree;

d) The decision on approval of the results of investor selection specified at Point a or Point b of this Clause shall be published in accordance with Point d Clause 2 Article 7 of the Bidding Law.

3. The investor's financial capacity and conditions for project implementation shall include:

a) With respect to a land-using investment project proposed by the investor, the land fund expected to be used for project implementation must satisfy the conditions specified in Clause 4 Article 4 of this Decree;

b) The ability to arrange equity and mobilize loans as specified in Article 50 of this Decree;

c) The ability to implement the plans on construction, operation, commercial operation, exploitation, and management of the construction works according to decision on approval of the investment policy of the project or the document on approval of the project information, meeting the requirements on progress, quality, investment efficiency, or other specific conditions of the project;

d) Requirements on the efficiency of land use, or the efficiency of investment in the development of the sector, field, or locality, as prescribed in Article 52 or Article 53 of this Decree;

dd) Other requirements as determined by the competent agency.

4. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees shall, when necessary, organize negotiations, and finalize and sign contracts with the selected investors. For projects specified in Clauses 1 and 2, and at Points a and b, Clause 4, Article 45 of this Decree, the investors shall organize the project construction investment concurrently with contract negotiation, finalization and signing. The publicization of major information of the project contract must comply with Point dd Clause 2 Article 7 of the Law on Bidding.

If no contract is signed, a decision on investor selection in special cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall concurrently serve as the decision on investor approval in accordance with the law on investment.

The investor selected in a special case shall implement the project in accordance with Chapter VII of this Decree.

5. For a project that must be implemented immediately to meet urgent and important requirements on socio-economic development and national defense and security assurance as directed in resolutions, conclusions and directives of the Party Central Committee, the Political Bureau, the Secretariat, and key leaders of the Party and the State, the investor selection shall be carried out as follows:

a) An investor shall formulate a project dossier comprising the contents specified at Point b of this Clause and submit it to the attached or subordinate agency, organization or unit of the Ministry of National Defense or the Ministry of Public Security for review and evaluation under Point c of this Clause. In case the investor has formulated a dossier of request for investment policy approval in accordance with the law on investment, this dossier shall be submitted instead of the dossier specified at Point b of this Clause;

b) A project dossier must comprise a preliminary project proposal, including information on the objectives, scale, total investment capital, land use area, implementation time, implementation progress, plans on work investment, construction, operation, commercial operation, exploitation and management, the proposal on efficiency of land use or efficiency of investment in the development of the sector, field, or locality; mechanisms and policies for project implementation, including the proposal on application of the method of investor selection in special cases for project implementation, investment incentives and guarantees (if any); a capacity dossier comprising a general introduction of the investor’s main business sectors and fields; the investor’s equity and capital arrangement ability; introduction of completed projects and works (if any); commitments regarding the investor’s responsibility in allocating capital, meeting requirements on project implementation progress, work construction quality, use of resources, land and labor, fulfillment of social responsibility and technology transfer, commitments regarding obligations during the operation and exploitation processes, and commitments to meeting specific requirements of the project (if any), and other related commitments;

c) The evaluation contents include the conformity of the preliminary project proposal with the master plan and orientations on the project’s work construction and specific investor selection criteria determined by the Ministry of National Defence or the Ministry of Public Security; the feasibility of the plans on work construction, operation, commercial operation, exploitation and management; the conformity of the proposal on the efficiency of land use or the efficiency of investment in the development of the sector, field, or locality as prescribed in Article 52 or Article 53 of this Decree; the investor’s capability to meet the conditions on national security and defense assurance and the requirements on urgent implementation progress as directed by competent authorities (compensation, support and resettlement work; time of construction commencement and completion, and putting of the construction works into exploitation and use); the ability to fulfill other obligations as proposed by the investor (if any); evaluation of the investor’s financial capacity to implement the project; and other necessary contents as required by the Ministry of National Defence or the Ministry of Public Security;

d) After the investor selection decision is issued, the investor shall formulate a dossier of request for investment policy approval or a dossier of project (for a project not subject to investment policy approval) and carry out related procedures in accordance with the law on investment.

6. For projects for which investment policy or project information has been approved by competent authorities, if specific conditions arise as specified in Article 45 of this Decree, the competent agencies shall decide on the application of the method of investor selection in special cases and approve the selected investors under Point a or Point b Clause 2 of this Article.

7. In case the order and procedures specified in Clauses 1, 2, 4 and 5 of this Article are applied but fail to meet the specific requirements of a project, the competent agency may, during the process of carrying out the procedures for investment policy approval in accordance with the law on investment or for project information approval under Article 11 of this Decree, formulate a plan on investor selection in special cases so as to ensure that the selected investor meets the specific requirements of the project.

8. For projects involving land allocation or land lease not through auction or bidding, which must satisfy specific conditions specified in Article 45 of this Decree, ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees shall consider applying the corresponding order and procedures specified in Clauses 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 of this Article. The decision on application of the method of investor selection in special cases and investor approval shall concurrently serve as the decision on investor approval in accordance with the law on investment.

9. Annually, competent agencies shall report to the Ministry of Finance on the results of project implementation by selected investors, ensuring satisfaction of requirements on project implementation progress, quality and efficiency, for the latter to incorporate this information in the report on bidding activities to be submitted to the Prime Minister.

Section 2

INVESTOR APPOINTMENT

Article 47. Projects applying the method of investor appointment

1. Projects applying the method of investor appointment specified in Clause 2a, Article 34 of the Bidding Law include:

a) Projects proposed by investors that own or have the right to use technologies on the list of strategic technologies and strategic technology products in accordance with the law on science, technology and innovation and the law on high technology;

b) Projects for which the investors that have previously deployed digital infrastructure and digital platforms need to be selected so as to ensure technical compatibility, synchronization and connectivity;

c) Projects of which the implementation progress needs to be accelerated to promote socio-economic development and ensure national interests as proposed by the investors in accordance with Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Projects of which the implementation progress needs to be accelerated to promote socio-economic development and ensure national interests as proposed by the investors, including:

a) Projects that need to be implemented to prevent, immediately remedy or promptly address the consequences caused by disasters, fires, unexpected accidents, incidents, catastrophes or other force majeure events;

b) National important projects eligible for application of the method of investor appointment under the National Assembly’s resolutions;

c) Projects that fall into cases eligible for investor appointment in accordance with specialized law regulations;

d) Projects of which the implementation progress needs to be accelerated to serve national- or provincial-level celebrations or events;

dd) Projects involving sea encroachment activities to create the momentum for local socio-economic development as directed in Resolutions of Executive Boards of provincial-level Party Committees, and notices of opinions and conclusions of Standing Bodies of provincial-level Party Committees, and resolutions of provincial-level People’s Councils;

e) Urban development projects following the transit-oriented development (TOD) model within the scope of the national railway project in accordance with the railway law.

3. Annually, competent agencies shall report to the Ministry of Finance on the implementation of projects by appointed investors, ensuring that the projects meet progress, quality and efficiency requirements, for the latter to incorporate such information in the report on bidding activities to be submitted to the Prime Minister.

Article 48. Procedures for appointment of investors

1. Procedures for appointment of investors

a) The ordinary procedures shall be applied to projects for which the competent agencies formulate dossiers of request for investment policy approval (for projects subject to investment policy approval in accordance with the law on investment) or dossiers of project proposal (for projects not subject to investment policy approval);

b) The fast-tract procedures shall be applied to projects proposed by the investors.

The appointed investor shall implement the project as prescribed in Chapter VII of this Decree.

2. The ordinary procedures for appointment of investors specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article shall be carried out as follows:

a) Based on the decision on investment policy approval or document on approval of the investment project information, the attached or subordinate agency, organization or unit shall propose the competent agency to consider and decide to apply the investor appointment method, which shall serve as the basis for approving the tables for monitoring the progress of investor selection activities as prescribed in Article 12 of this Decree;

b) Formulating the dossier of requirements:

The bid solicitor shall formulate the dossier of requirements, comprising the contents specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 14 of this Decree, except for the requirement for the investor to make bid security.

The competent person or the bid solicitor (in case it is authorized to approve the dossier of requirements) does not need to appraise the dossier of requirements; when it is necessary to appraise the dossier of requirements, it shall organize the appraisal of the dossier of requirements according to Article 58 of this Decree before dossier approval;

c) Approving the dossier of requirements:

The competent person or the bid solicitor shall approve the dossier of requirements, ensuring its conformity with the bases specified in Article 13 of this Decree, identifying the investor proposed for appointment, and send the dossier of requirements to the investor;

d) Preparing and submitting the dossier of proposals:

The investor proposed for appointment shall prepare and submit a dossier of proposals according to the requirements set in the dossier of requirements;

dd) Evaluating the dossier of proposals:

The bid solicitor shall evaluate the dossier of proposals based on the evaluation method and criteria specified in the dossier of requirements.

During the evaluation process of the dossier of proposals, the investor may clarify, modify and supplement the dossier of proposals;

e) Approving and publicizing the investor appointment result:

The competent agency is not required to appraise the investor appointment result; when it is necessary to appraise the investor appointment result, it shall organize the appraisal according to Article 59 of this Decree before approval.

The approval of the investor appointment result must comply with Article 28 of this Decree, without having to approve the list of investors meeting the technical requirements and to rank investors.

The publicization of the investor appointment result must comply with Article 29 of this Decree;

g) Negotiating, finalizing, signing and publicizing the project contract:

The bid solicitor and the investor shall negotiate and finalize the contract under Article 30 of this Decree. The signing and publicization of major information of the project contract must comply with Article 31 of this Decree.

In case the negotiation or finalization of the contract with the investor is unsuccessful, the bid solicitor shall report thereon to the competent person for consideration and decision on bid cancellation under Point a, Clause 2, Article 17 of the Bidding Law.

3. The fast-track procedures for investor appointment specified at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article shall be carried out as follows:

a) After obtaining a decision on investment policy approval or document on approval of the project information, the bid solicitor shall submit to the competent agency a draft decision on approval of the investor selection result, along with the draft contract, explaining the basis for applying the method of investor appointment;

b) The competent agency shall approve the investor appointment result; the approval decision must include the contents specified at Points a, b and d, Clause 2, Article 28 of this Decree. The bid solicitor shall post the investor appointment result under Article 29 of this Decree;

c) Based on the decision on investment policy approval or the document on approval of the project information, and the decision on approval of the investor appointment result, the bid solicitor shall formulate requirements on the investor’s capacity and request the investor to propose the land use efficiency or investment efficiency for the development of the sector, field or locality. The bid solicitor shall evaluate the investor’s proposal based on the “pass” and “fail” criteria.

In case the investor fully meets the requirements, the bid solicitor shall negotiate and finalize the draft contract with the investor and relevant parties (if any) regarding the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the parties in project implementation and other necessary contents (if any). In case the contract negotiation or finalization with the investor is unsuccessful, the bid solicitor shall report thereon to the competent agency for consideration and decision on bid cancellation under Point a, Clause 2, Article 17 of the Bidding Law;

d) Based on the negotiation result, the signing of the contract and posting of major information of the contract must comply with Article 31 of this Decree.

4. For the projects specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 47 of this Decree, when it is requested to accelerate the implementation progress, investors shall commence work construction concurrently with the negotiation, finalization and signing of the contracts.

5. For the projects specified in Clause 1, Article 47 of this Decree for which requirements on national defense and security assurance arise as directed in resolutions, conclusions and directives of the Party Central Committee, the Political Bureau, the Secretariat, and key leaders of the Party and the State, the investor selection must comply with Clause 5, Article 46 of this Decree.

Chapter VI

METHODS AND STANDARDS FOR EVALUATION OF BID DOSSIERS

Article 49. Evaluation methods

1. Investors’ bid dossiers shall be evaluated based on methods and standards specified in Article 62 of the Bidding Law, detailed standards and criteria specified in Articles 50, 51, 52 and 53 of this Decree. A scale of 100 or 1,000 points shall be used to evaluate a bid dossier.

2. For projects specified at Point a Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree, general scores shall be developed on the basis of combination of scores of capacity, business investment plan, land use efficiency, provided the total score ratio must be 100%.

a) Score of capacity accounts for from 20% to 30% of the total scores;

b) Score of business investment plan accounts for from 20% to 30% of the total scores;

c) Score of land use efficiency accounts for from 40% to 60% of the total scores.

3. For projects specified in Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree (except for projects specified in Clauses 4 and 6 of this Article), general scores shall be developed on the basis of combination of scores of capacity, business investment plan, sectoral and local development investment efficiency, provided the total score ratio must be 100%.

a) Score of capacity accounts for from 30% to 40% of the total scores;

b) Score of business investment plan accounts for from 30% to 50% of the total scores;

c) Score of sectoral and local development investment efficiency accounts for from 10% to 40% of the total scores.

4. For electricity business investment projects specified at Point h Clause 2 Article 4 of this Decree, general scores shall be developed on the basis of combination of scores of capacity, business investment plan, sectoral and local development investment efficiency, provided the total score ratio must be 100%. The score percentage shall comply with the law on electricity.

5. The investor must obtain the following minimum scores to be evaluated and ranked:

a) The minimum general score must not be lower than 70% of the total score;

b) The minimum score of a standard or detailed standard must not be lower than 60% of the maximum score of such standard. For a project applying the single-stage two-envelope method, the minimum score of a standard or detailed standard specified in Articles 50 and 51 of this Decree must not be lower than 70% of the maximum score of such standard;

c) The minimum score of each criterion must not be lower than 50% of the maximum score of such criterion.

The investor with the minimum score of each standard or criterion specified in this Clause and the highest general score shall be ranked first.

6. For a business investment project with specific requirements on conditions for sectoral development, management and business investment as prescribed by the law on investment and specialized laws, the bidding dossier may provide a fixed regulation on one or several criteria for evaluation of the business investment plan of the investor, or land use efficiency, sectoral and local development investment efficiency without developing a point scale for such fixed criteria.

Article 50. Criteria for capacity evaluation

1. Standards for evaluation of capacity in term of finance, capital arrangement ability include the following criteria:

a) Requirements on equity, determined based on the total investment capital of the project;

Requirements on the minimum equity for real estate projects and projects specified at Points d, dd and h Clause 2 Article 4 of this Decree shall be determined in accordance with the law on real estate business.

In case of joint-name, the join-name investor's equity must be equal to total equity of joint-name members, each joint-name member must satisfy the requirement corresponding to the equity contribution according to the joint-name agreement. The investor leading a joint-name must have an equity holding rate of at least 30%, while each joint-name member must have an equity holding rate of at least 15%.

The following investors shall not be required to prove their equity arrangement ability: science and technology enterprises, innovative startup enterprises, innovation centers, and innovative startup supporting organizations, in accordance with the law on science, technology and innovation; hi-tech incubators, hi-tech enterprise incubators, strategic technology enterprise incubators, high-tech enterprises, and enterprises manufacturing high-tech products, in accordance with the law on high technology;

b) Requirements on loans mobilization ability of the investor; in case of join-name, the loans of the joint-name investor is equal to total loans of joint-name members;

c) History of disputes, complaints and lawsuits related to projects already or being performed;

d) The investor's investment activity record in the province or centrally-run city where the project is implemented, comprising: the results regarding the progress and quality of project implementation; and the history of suspension or termination of investment activities (if any);

dd) Requirements on financial criteria (if any).

2. The bidding dossier does not provide criteria for evaluation of experience in implementing similar projects, but must provide the principle for handling cases in which investors submit documents evidencing their experience in implementing similar projects for use as grounds for consideration for being the bid winner in accordance with Clause 6, Article 63 of this Decree.

3. In case the project applies domestic bidding form, but the application of advanced techniques, technologies and international management experience needs to be promoted, the bidding dossier may provide regulations to allow the domestic investors to use a partner that is a foreign contractor.

4. For a business investment project of which the procedures of invitation for expression of interest have been carried out, and two or more investors satisfy requirements of the dossier of invitation for expression of interest under Point a Clause 1 Article 43 of this Decree, standards for capacity evaluation in the bidding dossier must be updated and supplemented on the basis of the approved dossier of invitation for expression of interest, provisions of Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, and documents specified in Article 13 of this Decree.

Article 51. Standards for evaluation of investors’ business investment plans

1. Technical evaluation criteria:

a) Requirements on the conformity of the investment plan proposed by the investor (including scope, scale and preliminary total costs for project implementation, duration, progress and construction investment phasing, diagram of spatial organization and architecture, landscape, ensuring synchronization with the overall project) with the master plan approved by competent authorities in accordance with the laws on planning and construction, specialized law and relevant laws;

b) Requirements on feasibility of technology application solutions proposed by the investor (if any); technology transfer requirements (if any);

c) Requirements on conformity with investment and business conditions in accordance with the investment law and specialized laws (if any); requirements on plans for operation and business organization;

d) For projects specified at Point a Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree, standards for technical evaluation include the criteria specified at Points a, b, c of this Clause and requirements on the synchronization of technical infrastructure systems, social infrastructure with housing in accordance with the law on construction, urban and rural planning, and housing; requirements on the conformity of the investment plan proposed by the investor with the housing development program and plan;

dd) For projects on condominium renovation and reconstruction, standards for technical evaluation include the criteria specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause, and requirements on duration for project implementation, deadline for completing compensation, support, resettlement and temporary accommodation arrangement, requirements on the conformity of the investment plan proposed by the investor with the housing development program and plan, condominium renovation and reconstruction plan as prescribed by the housing law;

e) For investment projects to build domestic solid waste treatment works, standards for technical evaluation include the criteria specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause, and requirements on the conformity of the technology proposed by the investor with regulations on criteria for domestic solid waste treatment technology, requirements on solid waste treatment quality provided by the investor in accordance with the law on environmental protection;

g) For projects on dredging combined with product recovery for maritime infrastructure, inland waterway infrastructure in seaport waters, inland waterway waters, standards for technical evaluation include the criteria specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause, and specialized technical requirements, requirements on scope and size of dredging, volume of salvaged products;

h) For investment projects to build water supply works, standards for technical evaluation include the criteria specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause, and requirements on clean water quality, reducing water loss rate and ensuring safe, continuous and stable water supply as prescribed by the law on production, supply and consumption of clean water;

i) For projects in the field of socialization encouragement, standards for technical evaluation include the criteria specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause, and requirements on the quality of goods and services provided by investors; requirements on the conformity of the investment plan proposed by investors with regulations on types, criteria, scale, and standards of socialized facilities; requirements on solutions for applying advanced, modern, and high-tech medical examination and treatment equipment (for projects in the medical sector);

k) For market investment and construction projects, standards for technical evaluation include the criteria specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause, and requirements on the conformity of the investment plan proposed by the investor, with criteria, standards, regulations on markets, technical requirements, solutions to ensure security and order, fire prevention and fighting, food safety, and environmental sanitation;

l) For projects for investment in the construction of new airports, the standards for technical evaluation include the criteria specified at Points a, b, and c of this Clause, and other requirements in accordance with the civil aviation law (if any);

m) For electricity business investment projects, standards for technical evaluation include the criteria specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause, and other standards as guided by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (if any).

2. Social evaluation standard:

a) Requirements on plans, expenses for compensation, support and resettlement in accordance with the land law (if any);

In case where the project contains requirement for the investor's advance payment for compensation, support and resettlement, the bidding dossier must regulate principle of payment of expenses for compensation, support and resettlement in accordance with the land law. The investor must make commitments in the bid dossier to advance capital for the performance of compensation, support and resettlement according to the requirements in the bidding dossier of the competent agency on the basis of the compensation and resettlement support plan approved in accordance with the land law;

b) Requirements on the ability to contribute to social welfare for local workers through the use of local workers, human resource training, average income level and average income growth rate; social assistance activities for social protection beneficiaries or other social welfare activities that the investor contributes to the locality, in conformity with demands of the locality where the project is implemented;

c) For projects that encourage socialization in the fields of health and education, social evaluation standard includes the criteria specified at Points a and b of this Clause, and requirements on meeting the needs and benefits of health care, education and training benefits for people;

d) For market construction investment projects, social evaluation standard includes the criteria specified at Point a of this Clause and requirements for contributions to social welfare and social security in accordance with local needs (meeting the needs of local people for buying and selling goods; creating jobs for local people; financial contributions, commitments to market development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas when selected); requirements for plans to improve the quality of services at the market (training for workers and businesses at market, and business households at market on food safety, commercial civilization, sales skills, application of digital skills in sales to improve the quality of services at the market);

dd) For projects on condominium renovation and reconstruction, social evaluation standard includes the criteria specified at Point b of this Clause and requirements on plans for compensation and resettlement, including contents proposed by the bid solicitor in accordance with the housing law, on the basis of every specific project, in compliant with the plan approved in the dossier of invitation for expression of interest.

3. Environmental evaluation standard:

The bid solicitor and the expert team shall determine one or more of the following criteria to develop environmental evaluation standards in the bidding dossier in accordance with the project implementation requirements:

a) Requirements on the conformity of the provided goods and services with the law on environment; priority given to investors proposing solutions for waste reduction, promoting environmentally friendly products and services;

b) Requirements for environmental protection, clean production and energy saving; priority given to investors mobilizing loans from green finance and green credit sources;

c) Requirements on land use indicators, land use coefficients in accordance with the land law and construction law; requirements on natural resource use as prescribed by law; ability to preserve biodiversity, improve land, natural resources, natural ecosystems in the project implementation area in accordance with the law on environmental protection;

d) For projects on dredging combined with product recovery for maritime infrastructure, inland waterway infrastructure in seaport waters, inland waterway waters, environmental evaluation standard includes the criteria specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause and requirements on the conformity of provided goods and services with environmental laws; requirements on dredging solutions for seaport waters, inland waterway waters to limit product recovery affecting seaport waters, inland waterway waters;

dd) Requirements on applying solutions to minimize negative impacts on the environment, prioritizing the transfer and application of advanced technology, high technology, environmentally friendly technology, the best available techniques (for projects in the group with high risk of negative impacts on the environment as prescribed by the law on environmental protection).

4. For investment projects proposed to be implemented on land with assets attached thereto being the public assets at an agency, organization, or unit in accordance with the law on management and use of public assets (hereinafter referred to as assets attached to land), the sale of the assets attached to land to the investor, or the investor's obligation to reimburse the residual value of the assets attached to land that are demolished or removed, shall be provided for in the bidding dossier in accordance with the following regulations:

a) In case the assets attached to land are demolished or removed under a decision of the competent authority, the residual value of the assets attached to land shall be determined based on the accounting books at the time of the competent authority's decision on demolition or removal.

In case the value of assets attached to the land has not yet been determined at the time of preparation of the bidding dossier, the bidding dossier shall define that the investor commits to paying the value of the assets attached to the land after such value is determined by competent authorities in accordance with the law on management and use of public assets.

In case the assets attached to the land have not been recorded in accounting books, the agency receiving the assets shall, based on the Ministry of Finance’s guidance on the regime for calculation of wear and depreciation of fixed assets at agencies, organizations and units, determine the residual value of the assets at the time of their dismantlement or destruction.

b) In case of sale of assets attached to the land for which competent authorities have decided the selling price in accordance with the law on management and use of public assets before making of the bidding dossier, the bidding dossier shall clearly state information on the selling price of the assets attached to the land.

In case, at the time of making of the bidding dossier, competent authorities have not yet decided the selling price of the assets, the bidding dossier shall include information on the value of the assets determined in accounting books at the time competent authorities decide on the sale of the assets and regulations that the investor commits to paying the value of the assets attached to the land to be decided by competent authorities in accordance with the law on management and use of public assets.

c) Investors shall commit in their bid dossiers on the payment of an amount equal to the value of the public assets determined in the bidding dossier. This value shall be independent from the obligation of remittance into the state budget proposed by the investors under Article 52 or 53 of this Decree, and obligations on payment of land use levy, land rental and other financial obligations of the investors to the state budget in accordance with law.

Article 52. Evaluation standard for land use efficiency

1. Evaluation standard for land use efficiency shall be applied for projects specified at Point a Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree and shall be identified in the bidding dossier as specified in Clause 3, Clause 4 of this Article.

This Clause shall not apply where the project under consideration is implemented in an area with difficult or extremely difficult socio-economic conditions in accordance with the law on investment. In this case, the investor shall propose the rate of payment to the state budget in the bid dossier (M) as a basis for evaluating the investor's bid dossier, and make payment to the state budget in accordance with Clause 7 of this Article.

2. The investor shall propose the rate of payment to the State budget in the bid dossier (M) not fewer than the minimum rate of payment to the state budget (m) specified in the bidding dossier.

3. The rate m shall be determined based on the average rate of payment to the state budget proposed by bid-winning investors of all urban area and rural residential area projects for which bidding results have been issued within the provincial-level administrative area during the latest 03 consecutive years preceding the date of the written approval of the tables for monitoring the progress of investor selection activities and which fully satisfy the following conditions:

a) Using the bidding results of urban area projects (in case the project under consideration is an urban area project) or the bidding results of rural residential area projects (in case the project under consideration is a rural residential area project);

b) Having a land use area equal to at least 50% of the land use area of the project under consideration;

c) Having a total investment capital equal to at least 50% of the total investment capital of the project under consideration (applicable in case there is no project satisfying the condition specified at Point b of this Clause).

4. In case urban area and rural residential area projects, for which bidding was organized during the latest 03 consecutive years preceding the date of the written approval of the table for monitoring the progress of investor selection activities, used the price floor paid to the state budget as the standard for evaluating bid dossiers, the rate m shall be determined based on the average rate of increase between the amount paid to the state budget proposed by investors in their bid dossiers and the price floor paid to the state budget specified in bidding dossiers of all projects for which bidding results have been issued and satisfy the conditions specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

5. In case a locality reorganizes provincial-level administrative units during the period specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article, reference projects shall be determined as follows:

a) All projects for which bidding results were issued during the period preceding July 01, 2025, within the former provinces where works or work items of the project under consideration are located;

b) All projects within the new province for which bidding results were issued during the period from July 01, 2025, to the date of the written approval of the table for monitoring the progress of investor selection activities.

6. In case reference projects cannot be determined as specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article, based on the socio-economic conditions of each locality where the project is implemented, the bidding dossier shall specify the evaluation standard for land use efficiency as follows:

a) In case a project under consideration is an urban area project, the standard specified at Point d or dd Clause 1 Article 53 of this Decree shall be used as the basis for the investor to make a proposal in the bid dossier;

b) In case a project under consideration is a rural residential area project, the bidding dossier shall not specify the rate m. The investor shall propose the rate of payment to the state budget in the bid dossier (M) as a basis for evaluating the investor's bid dossier, and make payment to the state budget in accordance with Clause 7 of this Article.

7. The payment of M value to the state budget shall be carried out as follows:

a) The value paid to the state budget shall be determined based on the rate M proposed by the investor in the bid dossier and the land use levy and land rental payable by the bid-winning investor in accordance with the land law, based on the following formula:

Value paid to the state budget at the time of payment of land use levy and land rental = M x Land use levy and land rental payable by the investor at the time of payment of land use levy and land rental

b) The value determined at Point a of this Clause shall be paid under the other revenues item of the state budget of which the collection shall be managed by the tax administration agency, and be accounted for as revenue wholly retained by the central budget, for projects managed by central agencies; or be accounted for as revenue wholly retained by the local budget, for projects managed by localities.

The order and procedures for collection and payment of this amount shall be the same as those applicable to the amount of land use levy and land rental in accordance with the law on the state budget and the law on tax administration. This value is independent of the obligation to pay land use levy and land rental and other financial obligations of the investor to the state budget as prescribed by law regulations;

c) The form, progress and deadline for payment of the value specified at Point a of this Clause, measures for handling the investor’s failure to make payment or failure to make payment according to the schedule committed in the contract must be specifically stipulated in the contract.

8. The chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee shall assign the bid solicitor to coordinate with the provincial-level Department of Finance in compiling statistics on the reference projects specified in Clauses 3, 4 and 5 of this Article as a basis for determining the rate m in the bidding dossier.

Article 53. Standards for evaluation of sectoral and local development investment efficiency

1. Standard for evaluation of sectoral and local development investment efficiency shall be applied to projects specified in Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree. Based on requirements for development of sectors, fields and localities, except for projects specified in Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article, standards for evaluation of sectoral and local development investment efficiency shall be developed on the basis of one of the following standards:

a) Minimum value in cash paid to the state budget;

b) Minimum proportion of revenue paid to the state budget;

c) Price frame, maximum price associated with the specific quantity, output and type of goods or services exploited from the project in accordance with the law on price and specialized laws;

d) Minimum number of public works without business purpose based on the list of projects and works requiring investment of the locality where the project is implemented;

dd) Minimum value of social assistance activities or other social welfare activities for social protection beneficiaries, determined by the value in cash or the number of people supported based on the list of social protection beneficiaries or social assistance activities of the locality where the project is implemented;

e) Maximum threshold of type, level of toxicity and total amount of pollutants discharged into the environment in accordance with the law on environmental protection;

g) Land use area, maximum land use coefficient.

2. For a business investment project in the electricity sector, the evaluation standards for sectoral and local development investment efficiency shall comply with the law on electricity.

3. For an investment project on construction of a new airport, the evaluation standards for sectoral and local development investment efficiency shall comply with the law on civil aviation.

4. For an investment project on condominium renovation and reconstruction, standards for evaluation of sectoral and local development investment efficiency is the maximum period of time for the investor to hand over the houses for resettlement in accordance with the housing law as prescribed in the bidding dossier.

5. Projects on dredging combined with product recovery for maritime infrastructure, inland waterway infrastructure in seaport waters, inland waterway waters shall apply the standard of value in cash paid to the state budget as follows:

a) Minimum value of the difference between dredging costs and the value of salvaged products in case the project's dredging costs are less than or equal to the value of salvaged products;

b) Maximum value of the difference between dredging costs and the value of salvaged products in case the project's dredging costs are greater than the value of salvaged products.

6. The values and ratios specified at Points a and b Clause 1 and Clause 5 of this Article are independent of the investor's obligations to the state budget as prescribed by law regulations.

7. The payment to the state budget of the values specified at Points a and b Clause 1, Clause 5 of this Article shall be as follows:

a) The value paid to the state budget shall be determined based on the value proposed by the investor in the bid dossier;

b) The value determined at Point a of this Clause shall be paid under the other revenues item of the state budget of which the collection shall be managed by the tax administration agency, and be accounted for as revenue wholly retained by the central budget, for projects managed by central agencies; or be accounted for as revenue wholly retained by the local budget, for projects managed by localities.

The order and procedures for collection and payment of this amount shall comply with the law on the state budget;

c) The form, progress and deadline for payment of the value specified at Point a of this Clause, measures for handling the investor’s failure to make payment or failure to make payment according to the schedule committed in the contract must be specifically stipulated in the contract.

8. The investor shall propose the value in terms of sectoral and local development investment efficiency in the bid dossier, which must be between the minimum level and maximum or ceiling level based on the evaluation standards specified in the bidding dossier.

Article 54. Principles of approval of winning investors

1. Investors may be considered and proposed to be the bid winner when fully satisfying the following conditions:

a) Having a valid bid dossier;

b) Satisfying requirements on capacity;

c) Satisfying requirements on business investment plan;

d) Satisfying the requirements on land use efficiency (in case of applying the evaluation standard for land use efficiency);

dd) Satisfying the requirements on sectoral and local development investment efficiency (in case of applying standards for evaluation of sectoral and local development investment efficiency);

e) Having the highest general scores on capacity, business investment plan, land use efficiency and sectoral and local development investment efficiency.

2. For unselected investors, notices of investor selection results must clearly state the reason(s) for not winning.

Chapter VII

ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF BUSINESS INVESTMENT PROJECTS

Article 55. Establishment of economic organizations for implementation of business investment projects

1. The bid-winning investor (independently or as a consortium) shall implement the project or establish an economic organization for implementation of the business investment project. For a land-using investment project, the bid-winning foreign investor shall establish an economic organization for being allocated or leased land for implementing the project in accordance with the land law.

The establishment, management organization, operation, dissolution of an economic organization established by the bid-winning investor to implement a business investment project shall comply with the law applicable to each type of economic organization, the laws on investment, enterprises, land, real estate business and specialized laws.

2. In case of establishing an economic enterprise to implement a business investment project in accordance with Clause 1 of this Article, the investor must propose such in the bid dossier, dossier of proposals.

3. An economic organization established by the bid-winning investor under Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article must have 100% of its charter capital held by the bid-winning investor, while satisfying the conditions for being allocated or leased land in accordance with the land law (applicable to land-using investment projects), and conditions for establishment, management organization, operation and dissolution according to the corresponding law applicable to each type of economic organization, the laws on investment, enterprises, land, real estate business and specialized laws.

4. The economic organization established by the bid-winning investor shall take over the rights and obligations of the bid-winning investor as committed in the bid dossier and dossier of proposals and specified in the project contract; be allocated or leased land by the State for implementation of the land-using investment project in accordance with the law on land; and fulfill the financial obligations to pay land use levy and land rental in accordance with the law on land (applicable to land-using investment projects).

Article 56. Implementation of business investment projects by bid-winning investors and economic organizations established by bid-winning investors

1. The bid-winning investor or economic organization established by the bid-winning investor shall implement the business investment project in accordance with the contract, and the laws on enterprises, investment, construction, land, real estate business and other relevant laws.

2. The bid-winning investor or the economic organization established by the bid-winning investor shall carry out contract performance security as specified in Article 75 of the Bidding Law.

For a business investment project divided into multiple investment phases, the payment and refund of contract performance security shall be applied to each phase of project implementation as agreed in the project contract. The order, procedures and dossier for refund of contract performance security and handling of the difference between the amount advanced by the investor for compensation, support and resettlement expenses and the amount of contract performance security shall comply with the corresponding provisions on procedures for investment project performance security by investors under the law on investment.

3. For a land-using investment project, the bid-winning investor or economic organization established by the bid-winning investor shall advance the capital to carry out compensation, support and resettlement in accordance with the law on land. If the investor fails to advance the capital within the time limit from the date of receiving the competent state agency’s request, he/she/it shall not be refunded the contract performance security in accordance with Point b Clause 4 Article 75 of the Bidding Law. In this case, the refund of expenses for compensation, support and resettlement paid in advance by the bid-winning investor shall comply with the land law.

4. During the course of implementation of the business investment project, the bid-winning investor or economic organization established by the bid-winning investor may partially or wholly transfer the project when satisfying the following conditions:

a) Conditions as prescribed by the law on investment; the law on real estate business (applicable to real estate projects); specialized law and other relevant laws;

b) Conditions specified in Clause 2 Article 76 of the Bidding Law.

5. The transfer of shares and contributed capital by members or shareholders in an economic organization established by the bid-winning investor before the project is exploited or operated must meet the following conditions:

a) Being approved by the competent person;

b) The transferee investor must meet the operational conditions in accordance with the relevant law applicable to each type of economic organization, and the laws on investment, enterprises, land, and real estate business, and specialized laws; and take over the rights and obligations to implement the investment project as committed by the transferor in the bid dossier, dossier of proposals and project contract;

c) From the time the project is put into commercial exploitation and operation, the transfer of shares and capital contributions must comply with the law on enterprises and the relevant law applicable to each type of economic organization, without having to meet the conditions specified at Points a and b of this Clause.

6. The transfer of a business investment project or the transfer of shares or capital contributions in an economic organization specified in Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article must be specified in a contract.

Based on the provisions of the contract, the competent person shall consider and approve the proposal for the transfer of the business investment project or the transfer of shares or capital contributions in the economic organization.

In case of approval, the competent person shall assign the bid solicitor to review and modify the contract.

7. In case where the transfer of a project, transfer of shares or capital contributions specified in Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article results in the adjustment of the investment project, after obtaining approval from the competent person specified in Clause 5 of this Article, the transferor or economic organization shall carry out procedures for adjustment of the investment project in accordance with Clause 10 of this Article before modifying the project contract.

8. In case where the transfer of a project, transfer of shares or capital contributions specified in Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article gives rise to financial obligations toward the State as prescribed by law regulations, the bid-winning investor or economic organization established by the bid-winning investor must fulfill financial obligations towards the State.

9. The bid-winning investor or economic organization established by the bid-winning investor may contribute capital, or increase charter capital to implement other business investment projects (if any) without affecting rights and obligations committed in the bid dossier, dossier of proposals and project contract.

10. In case it is required to adjust an investment project during the course of implementation, resulting in changes to the contents of the project contract specified in Clause 1 Article 76 of the Bidding Law, or to adjust an investment project not subject to investment policy approval, the competent person shall comply with the following regulations:

a) For a project subject toc investment policy approval in accordance with the law on investment, the competent person shall assign the bid solicitor to coordinate with the local investment registration agency in guiding the investor or the economic organization established by the bid-winning investor to carry out procedures for adjustment of the investment project in accordance with the law on investment;

b) For a project not subject to investment policy approval in accordance with the law on investment, if the adjusted contents require adjustment of the investment project in accordance with the law on investment, the competent person shall modify the decision on approval of the investor selection result as specified in Clause 4 Article 28 of this Decree before modifying or supplementing the project contract. If the adjusted contents do not require adjustment of the investment project in accordance with the law on investment, the project contract shall be modified or supplemented without modification of the decision on approval of the investor selection result.

In case of adjustment of a project under this Clause, the competent person shall assign the bid solicitor to request the investor to update and commit to ensuring satisfaction of the technical and financial capacity requirements for project implementation and review the contract contents for modification or supplementation after the investment project is modified.

Article 57. Implementation of business investment projects by investors approved under the law on investment

1. The approved investor shall implement the business investment project according to the decision on investor approval, the laws on enterprises, investment, construction, land, real estate business, specialized law and other relevant laws.

2. The approved investor (independently or as a consortium) shall implement the project or establish an economic organization for implementation of the business investment project. The establishment, management organization, operation, dissolution of an economic organization established by the approved investor to implement a business investment project shall comply with the law applicable to each type of economic organization, the laws on investment, enterprises, land, real estate business and specialized laws.

3. Land allocation and land lease shall comply with the laws on land and investment.

Chapter VIII

CONTENTS OF APPRAISAL, APPRAISAL AND APPROVAL RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE PROCESS OF INVESTOR SELECTION

Article 58. Appraisal of a bidding dossier

1. A dossier submitted for appraisal and approval must comprise:

a) The bid solicitor’s written request for approval of the bidding dossier;

b) The draft bidding dossier;

c) The copy of the decision on approval of investment policy (for projects subject to investment policy approval in accordance with the investment law), or a document on approval of the business investment project information (for projects not subject to investment policy approval);

d) Other documents as prescribed by specialized law and relevant laws.

2. Appraisal contents include:

a) Checking legal bases and documents serving as grounds for making the bidding dossier;

b) Checking the conformity of the bidding dossier with the size, objectives, scope of work and implementation period of the project; and the bidding dossier's compliance with the bidding law and other relevant laws;

c) Considering other divergent opinions (if any) of organizations and individuals involved in making the bidding dossier;

d) Other relevant contents.

3. Appraisal report contents include:

a) An overview of the project information, and legal bases for making the bidding dossier;

b) Summary opinions of relevant agencies and units (if any);

c) Remarks and opinions of the appraisal team on contents specified in Clause 2 of this Article; opinions agreeing or disagreeing with contents of the draft bidding dossier;

d) Recommendations and proposals of the appraisal team about the approval of the bidding dossier; proposals on handling measures for cases in which the bidding dossier is non-compliant with the bidding law and other relevant laws; proposals in cases where there are insufficient grounds for approval of the bidding dossier;

dd) Other opinions (if any).

4. Before signing in the appraisal report, the appraisal team shall hold a meeting between the parties to discuss and resolve issues with different opinions of the bidding dossier (if any).

Article 59. Appraisal of investor selection results

1. A dossier submitted for appraisal and approval must comprise:

a) The bid solicitor's written request for approval of contractor selection results;

b) The expert team’s report on results of evaluation of bid dossiers;

c) Copies of the bidding dossier, record of bid closing and bid opening, bid dossiers of investors and other relevant documents.

2. Appraisal contents include:

a) Checking documents used as the basis for organizing the bidding for investor selection;

b) Examining the compliance with time-related regulations during the organization of bidding for investor selection;

c) Examining the evaluation of bid dossiers; the observance of the bidding law and other relevant laws in the course of evaluation of bid dossiers;

d) Considering divergent opinions (if any) between the bid solicitor and expert team; among individuals in the expert team;

dd) Other relevant contents (if any).

3. Appraisal report contents include:

a) Summary of the project information, legal bases for organizing the bidding for investor selection;

b) Summary of implementation organization and proposals of the bid solicitor on investor selection results;

c) Summary opinions of relevant agencies and units (if any);

d) Remarks and opinions of the appraisal team on contents specified in Clause 2 of this Article; ensuring competitiveness, fairness, transparency and economic efficiency, and responsibility for explanation during the bidding process for investor selection; opinions agreeing or disagreeing with investor selection results;

dd) Recommendations and petitions of the appraisal team about the approval of investor selection results; proposals on handling measures in cases of noncompliance with the bidding law and other relevant laws during the bidding for investor selection; petitions in cases where there are insufficient grounds for approval of investor selection results;

e) Other opinions (if any).

Article 60. Responsibilities of Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees and Heads of the Economic Zone Management Boards

1. To approve investor selection results.

2. To approve or assign the head of an attached/subordinate agency, organization or unit of a ministry, ministerial-level agency, provincial-level People’s Committee, Economic Zone Management Board; or the chairperson of a commune-level People’s Committee to approve a dossier of invitation for expression of interest, results of invitation for expression of interest.

3. To approve a bidding dossier or assign the head of an attached/subordinate agency, organization or unit of a ministry, ministerial-level agency, provincial-level People’s Committee, Economic Zone Management Board; or the chairperson of a commune-level People’s Committee to approve a bidding dossier.

4. To perform other tasks under the responsibility of competent persons prescribed in Article 77 of the Bidding Law.

5. Ministers and heads of ministerial-level agencies shall decentralize to agencies, organizations or units attached or subordinate to ministries or ministerial-level agencies in accordance with the law on organization of the Government, or chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall decentralize to agencies, organizations or units attached or subordinate to provincial-level People’s Committees or to commune-level People’s Committees in accordance with the law on organization of local administration, the performance of the responsibilities of competent persons specified in Article 77 of the Bidding Law.

Article 61. Responsibilities of attached and subordinate agencies, organizations and units of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provincial-level People’s Committees, Economic Zone Management Boards; and commune-level People’s Committees

1. To perform the tasks under the responsibility of bid solicitors as prescribed in Article 79 of the Bidding Law; to approval of the list of investors satisfying technical requirements.

2. To perform the tasks under the responsibility of the solicitor for expression of interest as prescribed in Clause 4 Article 37 of this Decree.

3. To perform other tasks related to investor selection as authorized or decentralized by the competent authorities.

Article 62. Responsibilities of appraisal teams

1. An appraisal team shall be agencies, organizations and units that are independent from the bid solicitor and the expert team, and are assigned tasks by the competent person, including:

a) Attached and subordinate agencies, organizations and units of ministries or ministerial-level agencies, or Economic Zone Management Boards, for projects for which the bidding dossiers and investor selection results are approved by ministers, the heads of ministerial-level agencies or the heads of Economic Zone Management Boards, except the cases specified in Clause 3 of this Article;

b) Departments of Finance of provinces and centrally-run cities, for projects for which the bidding dossiers and investor selection results are approved by Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees, except the cases specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

When necessary, the competent person shall consider and decide to establish an appraisal team composed of individuals with appropriate capacity and experience from subordinate agencies, organizations or units.

2. In case the bid solicitor is assigned to approve bidding dossiers in accordance with Point d Clause 2 Article 79 of the Bidding Law, and Clause 3 Article 60 of this Decree, the bid solicitor shall establish an appraisal team or assign tasks to an affiliated unit to organize the appraisal of the contents of bidding dossiers.

3. In case an organization or individual assigned to conduct appraisal as specified in Clause 1 or 2 of this Article does not have sufficient capacity, a consultant may be hired as specified in Clause 2 Article 7 of this Decree to conduct the appraisal, provided that the consultant satisfies the conditions applicable to members of an appraisal team as specified in Clause 3 Article 1 of this Decree.

Chapter IX

HANDLING OF CASES AND INSPECTION, SUPERVISION OF BIDDING ACTIVITIES IN INVESTOR SELECTION

Article 63. Handling of cases in the investor selection process

The solicitors for expression of interest, or the bid solicitors, shall decide on the handling of cases (in cases they are assigned to approve the dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, the results of the invitation for expressions of interest, the bidding dossiers, or the dossiers of proposals), or shall report to the competent person for decision on the handling of the cases, in the following cases:

1. In case where no investor submits a dossier of registration for project implementation or a bid dossier by the bid closing time:

a) Permit the extension of the deadline for bid closing for no more than 30 days; or

b) Decide to cancel the notice of invitation for expression of interest, notice of invitation for bids.

Depending on the conditions of each project, the dossier of invitation for expression of interest or bidding dossier may be considered for modification or supplementation during the handling of the case as specified in this Clause, ensuring conformity with the investment policy approval decision or document on approval of project information.

2. In case fewer than 3 investors submit dossiers of registration for project implementation or bid dossiers by the bid closing time, to settle within no more than 3 working days after the time of bid closing in either of the following ways:

a) Permitting the extension of the deadline for bid closing, at the same time, reviewing and modifying dossiers of invitation for expression of interest or bidding dossiers (if necessary) in order to allow more investors to register to implement the project or participate in the bidding. In this case, the new time of bid closing and corresponding deadlines shall be clearly specified so that investors may modify or supplement their submitted dossiers of registration for project implementation or bid dossiers. In case of modification of dossiers of invitation for expression of interest or bidding dossiers, the investors that have submitted their dossiers of registration for project implementation or bid dossiers may modify, replace or withdraw their submitted dossiers;

b) Permitting the immediate opening of bids for evaluation.

3. If detecting that a bidding dossier contains contents leading to unclear or different understandings in the course of evaluation of bid dossiers, or causing falsification of investor selection results, the following steps shall be carried out:

a) Modifying or clarifying the bidding dossier, ensuring not contravention of the decision on approval of investment policy (for projects subject to investment policy approval as prescribed by the law on investment), documents on approval of the project information (for projects not subject to investment policy approval), the bidding law and specialized laws;

b) Notifying all investors that have submitted bid dossiers of the modification of the bidding dossier and requesting them to additionally submit their bid dossiers with respect to modified contents or other contents of the bid dossiers if such contents are impacted by the modified contents of the bidding dossier (if necessary);

c) Organizing reevaluation of bid dossiers.

4. In case, during the evaluation of dossiers of registration for project implementation, bid dossiers or dossiers of proposals, a change in policies, laws or planning, or a force majeure event results in changes to the evaluation standards in the dossier of invitation for expression of interest, bidding dossier or dossier of requirements, either of the following methods shall be applied:

a) In case the change results in falsification of the result of invitation for expression of interest or investor selection result, the procedures for invitation for expression of interest shall be terminated or the bid cancellation shall be implemented as specified at Point b Clause 2 Article 17 of the Bidding Law;

b) In case the change does not result in falsification of the result of invitation for expression of interest or investor selection result, the investors that have submitted dossiers of registration for project implementation, bid dossiers or dossiers of proposals shall be notified to resubmit their dossiers, and the evaluation shall continue based on the modified or supplemented dossier of invitation for expression of interest, bidding dossier or dossier of requirements.

5. In case after selecting a shortlist for a business investment project applying restricted bidding, if fewer than 3 investors are qualified, the bid solicitor shall report such to the competent person for consideration and approval of the shortlist with fewer than 3 investors.

6. After evaluating the bid dossiers, if two or more investors have the highest and equal overall scores, priority will be given to the investor with experience in implementing similar projects for consideration and proposal to be the bid winner. In case investors with experience in implementing similar projects are evaluated equally, the investor with a higher score in land use efficiency, for the projects specified at Point a Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree, or the investor with a higher score in sectoral and local development investment efficiency, for the projects specified at Point b Clause 1 or Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree, shall be considered and proposed to be the bid winner.

7. At the time of contract signing, if the bid-winning investor fails to satisfy the requirements on technical and financial capacity to implement the business investment project as required by the bidding dossier, the next-ranked investor shall be invited to contract negotiation and finalization. In this case, the invited investor shall restore the validity of the bid dossier and bid security if the bid dossier has become invalid and the bid security has been refunded or released.

8. In case a joint-name investor wins the bid but has not yet signed a project contract or the project contract has been signed but not yet taken effect, when there is any change to the equity contribution ratio in the joint-name, the bid solicitor shall evaluate and update information about the investor’s capacity in accordance with Article 50 of this Decree, ensuring that the investor is qualified and ensuring the minimum equity holding rate of each member in accordance with Article 50 of this Decree. After updating the capacity information, the bid solicitor shall report such to the competent person for consideration and decision for further procedures as prescribed in this Decree.

9. In case there is an incident leading to the Vietnam National E-Procurement System not being able to operate and the troubleshooting is expected to take place in a long time, the Ministry of Finance shall notify on the System the method of organizing investor selection during such period, including organization of the offline investor selection.

10. In case the solicitor for expression of interest, the bid solicitor upload information other than that approved before the time of bid closing on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, the solicitor for expression of interest or the bid solicitor shall cancel the uploaded information for re-posting.

11. In case a branch, enterprise or representative office is separated from a legal entity as prescribed by the civil law, the receiving investor or the investor formed from the branch, enterprise or representative office shall inherit the capacity in bidding that such branch, enterprise or representative office has performed.

12. In case an investor is merged while participating in the bidding, the merging investor may continue to participate in the bidding and shall take over the bidding capacity of the merged investor.

13. For a project applying the investor appointment method, the investor may propose bid closing and bid opening times earlier than those specified in the dossier of requirements. In this case, the bid solicitor shall report to the competent person for consideration and approval.

14. In case, due to a force majeure event, a partner proposed by the investor in the bid dossier or dossier of proposals is unable to participate in contract performance, the investor may replace such partner with another partner to implement the project. In this case, the investor shall notify the bid solicitor and commit that such partner has capacity equivalent to or higher than that of the partner proposed by the investor in the bid dossier or dossier of proposals and that the replacement does not affect other proposals in the bid dossier or dossier of proposals.

15. In addition to the cases specified from Clause 1 thru Clause 14 of this Article, the solicitor for expression of interest or bid solicitor shall report any circumstances arising in the investor selection process to a competent person for consideration and decision in adherence to the bidding’s objectives of competition, fairness, transparency, economic efficiency, and explanation responsibility.

Article 64. Inspection of bidding for investor selection

1. Competence to examine bidding activities for investor selection:

a) The Ministry of Finance shall examine investor selection activities in ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities according to its functions and competence or at the request of the Prime Minister;

b) Line agencies shall examine investor selection activities for projects under their management;

c) For projects for which a ministry or ministerial-level agency is the agency deciding to organize bidding for investor selection, the minister or the head of the ministerial-level agency shall assign the agency, organization or unit responsible for managing bidding activities to examine bidding activities for investor selection;

d) For locally managed projects, provincial-level Departments of Finance shall examine investor selection activities.

2. Contents of the inspection of bidding for investor selection:

a) The issuance of documents guiding and directing the selection of investors;

b) Announcement of business investment projects (for projects subject to investment policy approval); formulation, approval and disclosure of information on business investment projects (for projects not subject to investment policy approval);

c) Formulation and approval of dossiers of invitation for expression of interest; evaluation of dossiers of registration for project implementation, and approval of results of invitation for expression of interest;

d) Formulation, appraisal and approval of bidding dossiers; evaluation of bid dossiers, appraisal and approval of investor selection results;

dd) Contents of the signed contracts and compliance with legal bases during the contract signing and performance;

e) Other necessary contents.

3. Responsibilities of inspection teams and their members, inspected organizations, individuals and units, principles of organization, forms, methods, time, funding, process and procedures for inspection shall comply with corresponding regulations of Articles 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129 and 130 of the Government's Decree No. 214/2025/ND-CP dated August 04, 2025, detailing a number of articles of and measures to implement the Law on Bidding regarding contractor selection.

Article 65. Supervision of bidding for investor selection

1. The supervision of investor selection as prescribed at Point a Clause 3 Article 86 of the Bidding Law shall be integrated with the supervision of investment projects or overall investment supervision of the state management agency in charge of investment or registration agency in charge of investment in accordance with the law on investment.

2. Competence to supervise the bidding for investor selection:

a) Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of Economic Zone Management Boards shall assume the prime responsibility for, and organize the supervision of bidding activities for investor selection for projects under their competence or management;

b) Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall assume the prime responsibility for, and organize the supervision of bidding activities for investor selection for projects under their competence in localities. Provincial-level Departments of Finance shall assist Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees in organizing the supervision of bidding activities for investor selection in the concerned localities;

c) The competent person shall assign an individual or subordinate unit that has expertise in bidding and is independent from the bid solicitor, expert team or appraisal team, to supervise bidding activities for all projects applying the investor appointment method or the method of investor selection in special cases, or other projects when necessary.

3. The competent authorities specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall decide on cases of supervision of bidding activities for investor selection in the decisions on approval of investment policy or document on approval of information on the business investment project for the following projects:

a) Projects subject to investor selection in special cases as specified in Article 45 of this Decree;

b) Projects subject to investor appointment as defined in Article 47 of this Decree;

c) Projects that need to be supervised at the request of a competent superior agencies;

d) Projects that do not fall into the cases specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause but for which the competent persons decide to carry out supervision (if necessary).

4. Contents of supervision of investor selection:

a) Announcement of business investment projects (for projects subject to investment policy approval); formulation, approval and disclosure of information on business investment projects (for projects not subject to investment policy approval);

b) Formulation, appraisal and approval of bidding dossiers; formulation and approval of dossiers of requirements;

c) Evaluation of bid dossiers, dossiers of proposals;

d) Appraisal of investor selection results;

dd) Contract negotiation, finalization and conclusion;

e) Settlement of petitions in bidding for investor selection (if any);

g) The compliance of the investor with the schedule and quality of project implementation as per the signed contract;

h) Other necessary contents to ensure that the investor selection and contract performance meet the requirements for quality, schedule, and effectiveness;

i) For projects falling into the cases specified at Points a and b Clause 3 of this Article, in addition to the contents specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd, e, g and h of this Clause, the supervision contents shall include: the application of investor selection methods, progress and results of the application; assessment of the results of applying the investor appointment method and the method of investor selection in special cases; assessment of the project implementation process by the bid-winning investor, ensuring compliance with the commitments under the project contract.

5. Order and procedures for supervision of bidding activities for investor selection:

a) Preparation for supervision: after the table for monitoring the progress of investor selection activities is approved or at the request of a competent superior agency, the competent person shall assign an agency or unit to carry out the supervision of bidding activities for investor selection and provide a written notification to the bid solicitor about the project to be supervised, the contents of the supervision, and the information of the agency or unit carrying out the supervision;

b) Implementation of supervision: The agency or unit carrying out the supervision shall assign individuals to directly participate in the supervision of the project in accordance with the supervision contents or request the bid solicitor to provide a written report on the supervision contents and to provide the relevant dossiers and documents to the agency or unit carrying out the supervision according to the schedule of the project;

c) Report on supervision results: The agency or unit carrying out the supervision shall regularly provide a written report on the supervision results to the competent person. In case of detecting any acts or contents that do not comply with the bidding law or other relevant laws, the agency or unit carrying out the supervision must propose to the competent person the handling measures to ensure the schedule and effectiveness of the project.

6. Responsibilities of individuals or agencies, units supervising bidding activities:

a) To be honest and objective; not to cause harassment to the bid solicitor, expert team or appraisal team during the supervision process;

b) To request the bid solicitor, expert team or appraisal team to provide relevant documents and materials to support the supervision process;

c) To receive feedback from investors and organizations, individuals related to investor selection for the projects under supervision;

d) Keeping information confidential in accordance with the law regulations;

dd) To he held responsible for the results of their supervision;

e) Assuming other responsibilities in accordance with the law regulations on bidding and other relevant laws.

7. After the contract term, the agency competent to perform the state management of investment shall supervise the investment project, or carry out overall investment supervision in accordance with the law on investment, ensuring that the investors fully follow commitments in the implementation of the investment project.

Article 66. Handling of violations in bidding activities for investor selection

1. The period of prohibition from participation in bidding activities for violating organizations and individuals, including also persons under the management of competent agencies, solicitors for expression of interest, the bid solicitors, expert teams and appraisal teams shall be:

a) Ban from participation in bidding activities for a period of between 03 years and 05 years for one of the acts of violation of Clauses 1, 2, 4 and Point a Clause 3 Article 16 of the Bidding Law;

b) Ban from participation in bidding activities for a period of between 1 year and 3 years, for one of the acts of violation of Point c Clause 3; and Clause 5 Article 16 of the Bidding Law;

c) Ban from participation in bidding activities for a period of between 06 months and 01 year for one of the acts of violation of Points a, b, c, d, dd and e Clause 6 and Clause 7 Article 16 of the Bidding Law.

2. For joint-name investors, the prohibition from participation in bidding activities for investor selection specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be applied:

a) Only to the joint-name members that commit the acts of violation specified at Point c, Clause 3; Clause 4; Points b, c, d and dd, Clause 5; Points a, b, c, d, dd and e, Clause 6; and Clause 7, Article 16 of the Bidding Law;

b) To all joint-name members in case one or more than one member commits acts of violation other than those specified at Point a of this Clause.

3. The statute of limitations for applying the measure of prohibition from participation in bidding activities for investor selection specified in Clause 1 of this Article is 10 years, counting from the date the act of violation is committed.

4. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees shall consider and issue decisions on prohibition from participation in bidding activities under the management of their ministries, sectors or localities within 15 working days after receiving one of the following documents:

a) Written requests from bid solicitors, accompanied by papers proving acts of violation;

b) Recommendations in inspection conclusions of inspection agencies or examination conclusions of examination teams;

c) Petition settlement results from the petition settlement council;

d) Other documents of competent state agencies that identify the violation.

5. Based on 03 valid decisions on prohibition of the participation in bidding activities from the same or different competent persons that have been posted on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, the heads of central agencies or the Chairpersons of provincial-level People's Committees shall consider and issue decisions on prohibition of the participation in bidding activities within the management scope of the ministries, sectors, localities for a period of 05 years for the violators.

6. Based on 05 valid decisions on prohibition of the participation in bidding activities from the same or different heads of central agencies or the Chairpersons of provincial-level People's Committees that have been posted on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, the Minister of Finance shall issue decisions on prohibition of the participation in bidding activities nationwide for a period of 05 years for the violators. The decisions on prohibition of the participation in bidding activities nationwide shall be posted on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System by the Ministry of Finance.

7. A decision on prohibition of the participation in bidding activities consists of the following contents:

a) Names of the violator;

b) Contents of violation, legal basis for handling of the violation; ban period for each act of violation; total ban period (for cases of 2 or more acts of violation); scope of ban;

c) Effect of the decision.

Chapter X

SETTLEMENT OF PETITIONS IN BIDDING FOR INVESTOR SELECTION

Article 67. Conditions for consideration and settlement of petitions

1. To be eligible for consideration and settlement, a petition about matters arising before the investor selection result is announced must fully satisfy the following conditions:

a) The petition is made by an agency or organization expressing interest in the project, for petitions related to contents of the bidding dossier; in case the petition is about other matters arising during the investor selection process, it must be made by an investor participating in the bidding;

b) The petition must contain the signature and stamp (if any) by the lawful representative of the petition-submitting investor, agency or organization or be digitally signed via the account and sent on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System according to the roadmap for online investor selection;

c) The investor must send the petition to the bid solicitor and competent person within the time limit specified in Clause 1, Article 68 of this Decree.

2. To be eligible for consideration and settlement, a petition about the investor selection result must fully satisfy the following conditions:

a) The petition must be made by an investor participating in the bidding;

b) The petition must contain the signature and stamp (if any) by the lawful representative of the petition-submitting investor or be digitally signed via the account and sent on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System according to the roadmap for online investor selection;

c) The investor concerned has yet to initiate a lawsuit or file a complaint or denunciation on the same matter as the petition;

d) The petition must be related to the result of evaluation of the bid dossier;

dd) The investor that files the petition must pay petition settlement expenses to the standing body assisting the Chairperson of the Petition Settlement Council (below referred to as the Standing Body). Within 3 working days after receiving the investor’s petition, the Standing Body shall send a notice to the investor about the petition settlement expenses and the method of payment. The investor shall pay petition settlement expenses within 2 working days after receiving the notice from the Standing Body. The investor failing to pay petition settlement expenses shall be deemed to have failed to meet the conditions for consideration and settlement of petitions;

e) The investor must file the petition to the competent person or Standing Body within the time limit specified in Clause 2, Article 68 of this Decree.

3. In case a petition of an investor, agency or organization does not satisfy the conditions specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the person in charge of petition settlement shall notify in writing the refusal of consideration and settlement of the petition to the investor, agency or organization.

Article 68. Procedures for settlement of petitions

1. A petition about matters arising before the investor selection result is announced shall be settled as follows:

a) The investor, agency or organization shall file the petition about the bidding dossier to the bid solicitor before the bid closing time. The investor shall file the petition about other contents concerning the organization of investor selection to the bid solicitor before the investor selection result is announced.

b) The bid solicitor shall issue a petition settlement decision to the concerned investor, agency or organization within 7 working days after receiving the latter’s petition;

c) In case the investor, agency or organization disagrees with the petition settlement result, or past the time limit specified at Point b of this Clause, the bid solicitor has yet to issue a petition settlement decision, the investor, agency or organization may file a petition to the competent person within 5 working days after the deadline for petition settlement or after receiving the petition settlement decision from the bid solicitor;

d) The competent person shall issue a petition settlement decision to the concerned investor, agency or organization within 7 working days after receiving the latter’s petition.

2. A petition about the contractor selection result shall be settled as follows:

a) The investor shall file the petition to the bid solicitor within 10 working days after the investor selection result is published on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System;

b) The bid solicitor shall issue a petition settlement decision to the concerned investor within 7 working days after receiving the investor’s petition;

c) In case the investor disagrees with the petition settlement result, or past the time limit specified at Point b of this Clause, the bid solicitor has yet to issue a petition settlement decision, the investor may file a petition to the standing body of the Petition Settlement Council under Clause 1, Article 69 of this Decree within 5 working days after the deadline for petition settlement or after receiving the petition settlement decision;

d) The Petition Settlement Council shall, within 20 working days after being established, consider the investor’s petition and report thereon to the competent person for consideration and decision;

dd) The competent person shall issue a decision on settlement of the petition about the investor selection result within 5 working days after receiving a report of the Petition Settlement Council;

e) In case of necessity, the Petition Settlement Council shall report to the competent person for consideration the suspension of conclusion and performance of the contract. If approving the proposal, within 5 working days after receiving the Council’s report, the competent person shall send to the bid solicitor a notice of suspension of the conclusion and performance of the contract, clearly stating the period of suspension.

3. The petition settlement decision shall be sent to the concerned investor, agency or organization within 5 working days from the date it is issued by the bid solicitor or competent person. The petition settlement decision must have the conclusion on the contents of the investor’s petition:

a) In case the petition is concluded to be correct, the petition settlement decision must clearly state the measures, methods and time limit to remedy consequences (if any);

b) In case the investor’s petition is concluded to be incorrect, the written reply must clearly explain the reason.

4. In case of disagreement with the petition settlement decision of the bid solicitor or the competent person, the Petition Settlement Council and the investor may initiate a lawsuit at court.

5. Investors may withdraw their petitions any time during the process of settlement. A written request for petition withdrawal must contain the signature and stamp (if any) of the lawful representative of the investor or the person who signed the bid application form.

Article 69. Composition, responsibilities and operation of petition settlement councils

1. Petition settlement councils and their standing bodies:

a) The Petition Settlement Council established by the Minister of Finance shall settle petitions at the request of the Prime Minister;

b) The Petition Settlement Council established by a minister, the head of a ministerial-level agency or the chairperson of an Economic Zone Management Board shall settle petitions for the projects for which the concerned ministry, ministerial-level agency or Economic Zone Management Board serves as the competent agency. The agency or unit assigned to manage bidding activities of the ministry, ministerial-level agency or Economic Zone Management Board shall act as the Standing Body of the Council;

c) The Petition Settlement Council established by the chairperson of a provincial-level People’s Committee shall settle petitions for projects for which the provincial-level People’s Committee serves as the competent agency; the provincial-level Department of Finance shall act as the Standing Body of the Council.

The standing body shall perform administrative tasks specified by the chairperson of petition settlement council; receive and manage money amounts paid by the petition-filing investor.

2. The composition of Petition Settlement Councils:

a) A Petition Settlement Council shall be composed of a chairperson, vice chairperson (if necessary), the Standing Body, representatives of related agencies and representatives of professional associations, experts and scientists (if any);

b) The chairperson of the Petition Settlement Council specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article is a representative of the Ministry of Finance. The Chairperson of a Petition Settlement Council specified at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article is a representative of the agency, organization and unit assigned to manage bidding activities of the agency establishing the Council. The Chairperson of a Petition Settlement Council specified at Point c, Clause 1 of this Article is a representative of the provincial-level Department of Finance;

c) Members of a Petition Settlement Council may not be persons having family relationships as specified in the Law on Enterprises with the person signing the petition, members of the expert team or appraisal team and the person signing to the decision on approval of the investor selection result.

3. A petition settlement council shall operate as follows:

a) The Petition Settlement Council shall be established within 5 working days from the date the Standing Body receives a petition submitted by an investor in accordance with Point e Clause 2 Article 67 of this Decree;

b) The Petition Settlement Council shall operate on a case-by-case basis, work on a collegial basis and as directed by the Council’s chairperson and make decisions by majority. Members may reserve their opinions and shall take responsibility before law for their opinions;

c) The Petition Settlement Council may request the investor, bid solicitor and related individuals, agencies, organizations and units to provide information on the project and other relevant information to perform its tasks;

d) The Petition Settlement Council shall automatically dissolve upon completion of its tasks.

Chapter XI

ONLINE SELECTION OF INVESTORS

Article 70. Roadmap for application of online investor selection

1. From January 1, 2027: Carry out the procedure of submitting project proposal dossiers (for projects not subject to approval of investment policy, proposed by investors); to carry out the procedure of online invitation for expression of interest as specified in Article 71 of this Decree on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System (hereinafter referred to as the System).

2. From April 1, 2027: Carry out online selection of investors for business investment projects for which open bidding or restricted bidding is organized according to the single-stage single-envelope method or single-stage two-envelope method in accordance with Article 72 of this Decree on the System.

3. For business investment projects subject to online selection of investors according to the roadmap defined in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article, and the investor selection information shall be disclosed on the System in accordance with Clause 2 Article 7 of the Bidding Law.

Article 71. Procedures for online submission of project proposal dossiers and invitation for expression of interest

1. Online submission of project proposal dossiers, for projects not subject to approval of investment policy:

a) The investor shall submit the project proposal dossier on the System. Sych a project proposal dossier shall comprise the contents specified at Point a Clause 3 Article 11 of this Decree;

b) The competent person shall organize the consideration of the investor's project proposal dossier and approve the project information as specified at Points d and dd Clause 3 Article 11 of this Decree;

c) Within 02 working days from the date the information on the business investment project is approved, the competent person shall organize the return of results and upload the information on the business investment project on the System.

2. Electronic notices of invitation for expression of interest, distribution of electronic dossiers of invitation for expression of interest:

a) Electronic notices of invitation for expression of interest (hereinafter referred to as E-NIEIs) shall be posted on the System in accordance with Clause 2 Article 8 of the Bidding Law;

b) Electronic dossiers of invitation for expression of interest (hereinafter referred to as E-DIEIs) shall be distributed at the same time as E-NIEIs on the System. The solicitor for expression of interest shall upload free of charge and complete files of E-DIEIs on the System;

c) The modification, cancellation of E-NIEIs shall only be carried out before the deadline for online submission of electronic dossiers of registration for project implementation, except for the case there is no investor submitting electronic dossiers of registration for project implementation.

3. Modification and clarification of E-DIEIs; extension of the time limits for submission of electronic dossiers of registration for project implementation:

a) In case of modifying the E-DIEIs after distribution, the solicitor for expression of interest must post on the System the decision on modification together with the modifications of E-DIEIs, and the modified E-DIEIs.

b) Clarification of E-DIEIs:

If needing clarification of an E-DIEI, at least 5 working days before the deadline for submission of electronic dossiers of registration for project implementation, the investor shall send a request for clarification to the solicitor for expression of interest via the System for consideration and settlement.

Documents clarifying an E-DIEI shall be posted on the System at least 2 working days before the deadline for submission of electronic dossiers of registration for project implementation. Clarification of an E-DIEI must not be contravention of the contents of an E-DIEI already posted on the System.

If the clarification of an E-DIEI leads to modification of the E-DIEI, such modification must comply with Point a of this Clause.

c) In case of extending the time limit for submission of an electronic dossier of registration for project implementation on the System, the solicitor for expression of interest shall upload the notice of extension and the decision on approval of extension on the System, clearly stating the reason for extension and the new bid closing time.

4. Submission, modification, replacement and withdrawal of an electronic dossier of registration for project implementation:

a) Submission of an electronic dossier of registration for project implementation:

The investor shall create and attach an electronic dossier of registration for project implementation on the System.

The investor shall submit only one electronic dossier of registration for project implementation for an E-NIEI when participating in the online bidding. In case of joint-name, the head of the joint-name (as defined in the joint-name agreement) shall submit an electronic dossier of registration for project implementation after obtaining the approval of all joint-name members.

Information recorded on the System shall be used as a basis for settlement of petitions or disputes (if any), including information about the sender, the receiver, sending time, sending status, the number of files attached on the System when the investor submits an electronic dossier of registration for project implementation.

b) Clarification of an electronic dossier of registration for project implementation:

The investor shall clarify the electronic dossier of registration for project implementation at requests of the solicitor for expression of interest, or self-clarify or supplement documents proving the eligibility and capacity when the investor detects that the electronic dossier of registration for project implementation lacks of information or documents on the investor's eligibility and capacity which have not yet been submitted together with the dossier. The clarification of an electronic dossier of registration for project implementation shall be carried out on the System.

c) Modification, replacement and withdrawal of an electronic dossier of registration for project implementation:

After submission, the investor may modify, replace or withdraw the electronic dossier of registration for project implementation. The investor is not allowed to withdraw a dossier that has been submitted after the deadline for submission of electronic dossiers of registration for project implementation.

5. Opening bids:

Electronic dossiers of registration for project implementation shall be opened for evaluation. The records of opening electronic dossiers of registration for project implementation shall be publicized on the System within 2 hours after the time of bid closing.

6. Evaluation of electronic dossiers of registration for project implementation:

After opening bids, the solicitor for expression of interest shall access in the System and evaluate electronic dossiers of registration for project implementation submitted by investors.

7. After obtaining results of evaluation of electronic dossiers of registration for project implementation, the approved results of invitation for expression of interest, including the list of investors satisfying requirements of E-DIEIs shall be posted on the System.

Article 72. Procedures for online investor selection

1. Online bid invitation and distribution of online bidding dossiers:

a) Electronic notices of invitation for bids (hereinafter referred to as E-NIBs) shall be posted on the System in accordance with Clause 2 Article 8 of the Bidding Law.

b) Electronic bidding dossiers (hereinafter referred to as E-BiDs) shall be distributed on the System at the same time as E-NIBs. The bid solicitor shall upload free of charge and complete files of E-BiDs on the System.

c) The modification or cancellation of E-NIEs shall be carried out only before the time of bid closing, unless no investor submits E-BDs.

2. Modification and clarification of E-BiDs:

a) In case of modifying the E-BiDs after distribution, the bid solicitor must post on the System the decision on modification together with the modifications of E-BiDs, and the modified E-BiDs.

b) Clarification of E-BiDs:

If needing clarification of E-BiDs, the investor shall send a request for clarification to the bid solicitor via the System within the time limit specified in the E-BiDs for consideration and settlement.

Clarifying documents shall be posted on the System at least 2 working days before the time of bid closing. Clarification of E-BiDs must not be contravention of the contents of E-BiDs already posted on the System.

If the receipt of the request for clarification of E-BiDs leads to modification of these E-BiDs, such modification must comply with Point a of this Clause.

c) In case of extending the time limit for submission of E-BDs on the System, the bid solicitor shall upload the notice of extension on the System, clearly stating the reason for extension and the new bid closing time.

3. Submission, modification, replacement and withdrawal of E-BDs:

a) Submission of E-BDs:

The investor shall create and attach E-BDs on the System, implement electronic bid security (if any) on the System.

The investor shall submit only one E-BD for an E-NIB when participating in the online bidding. In case of joint-name, the head of the joint-name (as defined in the joint-name agreement) shall submit an E-BD after obtaining the approval of all joint-name members.

Information recorded on the System shall be used as a basis for settlement of petitions or disputes (if any), including information about the sender, the receiver, sending time, sending status, the number of files attached on the System when the investor submits an E-BD.

b) Clarification of E-BDs:

The investor shall clarify the E-BD at requests of the bid solicitor, or self-clarify or supplement documents proving the legal status and capacity when the investor detects that the E-BD lacks of information or documents on the investor's eligibility and capacity which have not yet been submitted together with the dossier. The clarification of an E-BD shall be carried out on the System.

c) Modification, replacement and withdrawal of an E-BD:

After submission, the investor may modify, replace or withdraw the E-BD. The investor is not allowed to withdraw the dossier that has been submitted after the time of bid closing.

4. Opening bids:

The bid solicitor shall open and decode E-BDs for evaluation. The records of opening E-BDs shall be publicized on the System within 2 hours after the time of bid closing.

5. Evaluation of E-BDs:

After opening bids, the bid solicitor shall access in the System and evaluate E-BDs submitted by investors.

6. After evaluating E-BDs, the investor selection results shall be approved and publicized on the System within the time limit prescribed in Clause 4 Article 8 of the Bidding Law.

7. For online selection of investors, in case of having any petitions regarding the investor selection, the investors shall file petitions on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System according to the roadmap specified in Article 70 of this Decree. During the period on which online selection of investors has not yet been applied, investors shall file petitions to the administrative departments of the persons competent to resolve petitions.

Article 73. National database on investors

1. The national database on investors on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System as specified at Point c Clause 2 Article 84 of the Law on Bidding includes:

a) Information about investors’ legal status;

b) Information on capacity of investors, including: financial statements or documents on financial capacity (if any);

c) History of suspension or termination of investment activities of investors in provinces and centrally run cities (if any);

d) Information about handling of investors’ violations against bidding laws;

dd) Information on investors’ contract performance results, including: Contract performance progress, breach of contract, termination of contract and reasons;

e) Other information about investors.

2. The investors shall register on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System in accordance with Point d Clause 1 Article 5 of the Bidding Law before the investor selection results are approved and published, and regularly update and take responsibility for the accuracy of the information specified at Points a and b Clause 1 of this Article. The order for registration and updating of the investors’ information on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System shall comply with corresponding regulations in the Government's Decree No. 214/2025/ND-CP dated August 04, 2025, detailing a number of articles of, and measures for implementing, the Law on Bidding regarding contractor selection.

3. The information specified at Points c and d Clause 1 of this Article shall be published and updated on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System by the provincial-level Departments of Finance or the agencies managing bidding activities at ministries, ministerial-level agencies, another agencies.

4. The information specified at Point dd Clause 1 of this Article shall be published and updated on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System by the bid solicitor.

5. The national database on investors specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be widely published on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, accessed and used by investors in the process of submitting project proposal dossiers and preparing dossiers in the process of participating in invitations for expression of interest and bidding, and serve as a basis for competent agencies to organize investor selection and supervise bidding activities for investor selection.

Chapter XII

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 74. Amending and supplementing Article 6 of the Government’s Decree No. 257/2025/ND-CP dated October 08, 2025, detailing the implementation of projects applying the Build-Transfer (BT) contracts

1. To add Point h after Point g Clause 3 as follows:

“h) In case the land fund expected to be used for payment has not yet been provided with infrastructure but the land price in the land price table inclusive of infrastructure construction costs or the land price in the land price table applicable to an area or location with similar infrastructure conditions inclusive of infrastructure construction costs must be used to determine the value of the land fund expected to be used for payment specified at Points d and e of this Clause, infrastructure construction costs may be deducted when determining the value of the land fund expected to be used for payment as specified in Clauses 5, 6 and 7 of this Article.”

2. To add Clauses 5, 6 and 7 after Clause 4 as follows:

“5. Infrastructure construction costs deductible as specified at Point h Clause 3 of this Article shall be determined based on the construction investment ratio announced by competent agencies. In case the announced construction investment ratio is not appropriate or has not yet been announced, such costs shall be determined in accordance with the law on construction.

6. An area or location with similar infrastructure conditions specified at Point h Clause 3 of this Article means an area or location having the same land use purpose as the new land use purpose under the master plan of the land fund expected to be used for payment; at the same time, having one or more of the following conditions in comparison with the land fund expected to be used for payment:

a) Having similar norms for residential land, commercial or service land and other land compared with the density and norms under the master plan of the land fund expected to be used for payment;

b) Having a similar level of completion of technical infrastructure and social infrastructure compared with the master plan of the land fund expected to be used for payment;

c) Being located at the shortest distance from the land fund expected to be used for payment within the commune-level administrative unit. In case there is no area or location with similar infrastructure conditions within the commune-level administrative unit, such area or location shall be determined within the provincial-level administrative unit.

7. In case there is no area or location with similar infrastructure conditions within the provincial-level administrative unit that satisfies the conditions specified at Points a, b and c Clause 6 of this Article, the highest land price in the land price table applicable to an area or location having the same land use purpose as the new land use purpose under the master plan of the land fund expected to be used for payment shall be used to determine the value of the land fund expected to be used for payment.”

Article 75. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect from August 21, 2026, except for the provisions in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Article 74 of this Decree takes effect from the date of its signing.

3. From the effective date of this Decree, the following decrees shall cease to be effective:

a) Decree No. 23/2024/ND-CP dated February 27, 2024 of the Government, detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Bidding Law regarding selection of investors to implement projects falling into cases subject to organization of bidding in accordance with specialized laws;

b) Decree No. 115/2024/ND-CP dated September 16, 2024 of the Government, detailing a number of articles of and measures to implement the Bidding Law regarding selection of investors to implement land-using investment projects, except for Article 69 of the Decree;

c) Decree No. 225/2025/ND-CP dated August 15, 2025 of the Government, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decrees detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures for implementing, the Bidding Law regarding investor selection.

4. In case where the legal documents, that take effect after the effective date of this Decree, supplement or annul regulations on projects subject to bidding organization for investor selection, and requirements for sectoral management corresponding to the conditions and criteria specified in Article 4, 49, 50, 51, 52 and 53 of this Decree:

a) In case where the specialized laws stipulate more projects subject to bidding organization as prescribed at Point i Clause 2 Article 4 of this Decree, the selection of investors to implement business investment projects shall be carried out according to the order and procedures specified in the Bidding Law and this Decree; methods and standards for evaluating dossiers of registration for project implementation, bidding dossiers, dossiers of proposals of other contents (if any) shall comply with the specialized laws, ensuring competition, fairness, transparency, economic efficiency and explanation responsibility;

b) In case where the specialized laws annul regulations on bidding for investor selection for projects specified in Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree, such specialized laws shall be applied;

c) Legal documents supplementing or annulling regulations on projects subject to bidding organization for investor selection specified at Points a and b of this Clause must be informed to the Ministry of Finance by line ministries within 5 working days from the date on which such legal documents are issued for posting on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System.

5. During the period from the date this Decree is signed for promulgation to the date preceding its effective date, the bid solicitors may consider and select the application of Article 52 of this Decree or continue to apply the Government’s Decree No. 115/2024/ND-CP dated September 16, 2024, detailing a number of articles of and measures to implement the Bidding Law regarding selection of investors to implement land-using investment projects (which was amended and supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 225/2025/ND-CP dated August 15, 2025, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decrees detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures for implementing, the Bidding Law regarding investor selection), to organize the formulation of the bidding dossiers or dossiers of requirements and submit them to the competent persons for approval.

Article 76. Transitional provisions

1. For a project for which a decision on approval of investment policy was issued before the effective date of this Decree and which is now determined as not being subject to investment policy approval in accordance with the law on investment, but for which invitation for expression of interest or bidding has not yet been organized, the competent person shall, depending on the specific conditions of each project, consider and decide according to either of the following cases:

a) In case the decision on approval of investment policy of the project remains consistent with the master plan and project implementation conditions, the invitation for expression of interest and bidding shall be organized based on the decision on approval of investment policy of the project;

b) In case the decision on approval of investment policy of the project is no longer consistent with the master plan and project implementation conditions, to organize the approval of information on the business investment project in accordance with this Decree for invitation for expression of interest and organize bidding for investor selection.

2. For projects of which bidding dossiers and dossiers of requirements have been distributed and the bid opening has been conducted before the effective date of this Decree, such bid dossiers and dossiers of proposals shall continue to be appraised according to the distributed bidding dossiers and dossiers of requirements.

3. For projects for which dossiers of invitation for expression of interest are being formulated; or bidding dossiers, dossier of requirements are being formulated or appraised, but by the effective date of this Decree, dossiers of invitation for expression of interest or bidding dossiers, dossier of requirements have not yet been approved, or have been approved but have not yet been issued, the solicitors for expression of interest or bid solicitors shall formulate or modify dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, bidding dossiers or dossier of requirements in accordance with Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15 (as amended and supplemented under Law No. 57/2024/QH15 and Law No. 90/2025/QH15) and this Decree;

4. For projects for which dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, bidding dossiers or dossiers of requirements were issued but bid opening has not yet been conducted by the effective date of this Decree, the solicitors for expression of interest or bid solicitors shall report to competent persons for consideration the continuation of the bid opening, evaluation of project implementation registration dossiers, bid dossiers or dossiers of proposals under the issued dossiers or extension of the bid opening time to modify or supplement dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, bidding dossiers, dossiers of requirements in accordance with Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15 (as amended and supplemented under Law No. 57/2024/QH15 and Law No. 90/2025/QH15) and this Decree.

5. For projects for which the investor selection results have been approved but the contracts have not been negotiated, finalized or concluded by the effective date of this Decree, the competent agencies shall organize the negotiation, finalization and conclusion of the contracts and management of contract performance based on the investor selection results and bid dossiers, dossier of proposals, bidding dossiers, dossier of requirements issued under Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15 (as amended and supplemented under Law No. 57/2024/QH15) and detailing and guiding documents.

6. Project contracts signed before the effective date of this Decree shall continue to be implemented. In case it is necessary to modify or supplement a project contract but the law applicable at the time of contract conclusion has no provisions thereon, or when it is necessary to modify or supplement a project contract to ensure the project’s efficiency, the concerned parties may agree on modifications and supplements under Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15 (as amended and supplemented under Law No. 57/2024/QH15 and Law No. 90/2025/QH15), this Decree and relevant laws in effect at the time of contract modification or supplementation.

Article 77. Responsibility of implementation

1. The Minister of Finance shall:

a) Issue document and dossier templates for selection of investors;

b) Develop and improve the functions of the Vietnam National E-Procurement System, ensuring conformity with the roadmap for application of online investor selection specified in Article 70 of this Decree.

2. Line ministers shall:

a) Provide guidance on applying standards for evaluation of sectoral and local development investment efficiency specified in Article 53 of this Decree, and method for determining such standards in accordance with specific conditions of sectors and fields under the management, if necessary;

b) In addition to the responsibility specified at Point a of this Clause, the Minister of Industry and Trade shall promulgate guidance on the implementation of Point m Clause 1 Article 51 of this Decree when necessary;

c) The score percentage specified in Clause 4 Article 49, the technical evaluation standard specified at Point m Clause 1 Article 51, and the evaluation standard for sectoral and local development investment efficiency specified in Clause 2 Article 53 of this Decree for business investment projects in the electricity sector shall continue to apply in accordance with the law on electricity and the guiding documents of the Minister of Industry and Trade until amending, supplementing or replacing documents are issued.

3. On an annual basis, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, other central agencies, provincial-level People’s Committees and other agencies and organizations stipulated by Clause 3 Article 2 of the Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15 shall send reports on the bidding for investor selection to the Ministry of Finance for summarization and reporting to the Prime Minister.

4. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, other central agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees shall organize the implementation of processes and procedures among agencies and units for investor selection in the electronic environment.

5. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities shall, within their ambit of functions and powers, implement this Decree.
 

* All Appendices are not translated herein.