1. Expanded Scope of Application under the 2023 Bidding Law
Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 2 of the 2023 Bidding Law, the scope of regulated entities has been supplemented to include contractor selection activities for executing:
- Bidding packages under investment projects of state-owned enterprises as stipulated by the Law on Enterprises and enterprises with 100% charter capital held by state-owned enterprises;
- Bidding packages for equipping technical-material infrastructure, machinery, and equipment supporting science and technology development financed by the science and technology development funds of state-owned enterprises.
2. Supplemented Prohibited Acts in Bidding Activities
Accordingly, compared to the 2013 Bidding Law, the 2023 Bidding Law supplements and details prohibited practices in bidding activities as follows:
- Bid rigging (collusion), encompassing the following acts:
+ Colluding, orchestrating, or coercing one or more parties to prepare bid dossiers or withdraw submitted bids to enable a designated party to win the contract;
+ Colluding and arranging to refuse goods or service delivery, refusing subcontractor agreements, or executing other collusive arrangements to restrain competition and enable a designated party to win the contract;
+ Capable and experienced contractors/investors who submitted bids meeting solicitation requirements intentionally withholding verification documentation when requested by the procuring entity for clarification or document reconciliation, aimed at assisting another bidder in winning the contract.
| Bid rigging (collusion), including the following acts:
- Arranging for bid withdrawal or cancellation of previously submitted bids to enable one or more conspiring parties to win; - Arranging for one or more parties to prepare bids on behalf of participating parties to ensure a designated bidder wins; - Arranging refusal to supply goods, refusing subcontract execution, or imposing other detrimental terms on non-conspiring parties. (Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 89 of the 2013 Bidding Law) |
- Obstruction, encompassing the following acts:
+ Destroying, falsifying, altering, concealing evidence, or submitting fraudulent reports; threatening or soliciting any party to obstruct clarification of bribery, fraud, or collusion with supervisory, inspection, examination, or auditing authorities;
+ Obstructing competent persons, investors, procuring entities, contractors, or project developers in contractor/investor selection procedures;
+ Obstructing authorized state agencies tasked with monitoring, inspection, examination, or auditing of bidding operations;
+ Willfully submitting fraudulent complaints, denunciations, or petitions to sabotage and delay procurement procedures;
+ Violating cybersecurity and information security laws to tamper with or disrupt national e-procurement systems.
| Obstruction, including the following acts:
- Destroying, falsifying, altering, concealing evidence, or making false reports; threatening, harassing, or soliciting any party to impede the clarification of bribery, fraud, or collusion with competent supervisory, inspection, examination, or audit bodies; - Acts of obstruction targeting contractors, investors, or competent monitoring, inspection, examination, and auditing authorities. (Pursuant to Clause 5, Article 89 of the 2013 Bidding Law) |
3. New Provisions on Grounds for Bid Cancellation
Under Clauses 1 and 2, Article 17 of the 2023 Bidding Law, bid cancellation grounds are delineated as follows:
- Grounds for canceling contractor selection include:
+ All expressions of interest, prequalification applications, bid dossiers, or proposals fail to satisfy requirements set out in expression of interest requests, prequalification documents, bidding dossiers, or requests for proposals;
+ Material changes in investment objectives or scope in approved investment decisions alter the scope of work and evaluation criteria specified in bidding documents;
+ Bidding documents violate the 2023 Bidding Law or relevant statutory regulations, resulting in the selected contractor failing to fulfill execution qualifications;
+ The winning bidder commits prohibited practices under Article 16 of the 2023 Bidding Law;
+ Any entity other than the winning contractor engages in prohibited acts under Article 16 of the 2023 Bidding Law leading to distorted contractor selection outcomes.
- Grounds for canceling investor selection include:
+ All submitted bids fail to satisfy solicitation requirements;
+ Unforeseen force majeure causes alterations to objectives, scale, location, capital investment, or project timelines, altering evaluation benchmarks;
+ Bidding documents contain non-compliant provisions distorting investor selection outcomes or resulting in the selected investor failing to meet requirements;
+ The winning investor commits prohibited practices under Article 16 of the 2023 Bidding Law;
+ Third-party organizations or individuals commit prohibited acts under Article 16 distorting investor selection results.
| Under Article 17 of the 2013 Bidding Law, bid cancellation grounds comprised:
- All bids or proposals failed to satisfy solicitation requirements; - Changes in project investment goals or scope stated in bidding documents; - Bidding dossiers failed to comply with procurement legislation, resulting in selected contractors/investors lacking execution capability; - Verified evidence of bribery, collusion, fraud, or abuse of power unlawfully manipulating procurement outcomes. |
4. Expansion of Bidding Packages Eligible for Direct Contracting (Single-Source Selection)
Under Article 23 of the 2023 Bidding Law, several special procurement cases previously governed under Decision No. 17/2019/QD-TTg have been formally codified into law, encompassing:
- Packages for transporting national reserve commodities for emergency relief and foreign aid requiring immediate delivery;
- Packages for renting temporary storage warehouses, stevedoring, and handling detained goods at seaports or centralized customs inspection depots where only a single logistics provider operates within port boundaries;
- Packages for procuring specialized sports weapons serving annual training and tournament operations of clubs, schools, and professional sports academies.
5. Additional Packages Eligible for Competitive Quotation (Shopping)
Pursuant to Article 24 of the 2023 Bidding Law, competitive quotation applies to packages with a value not exceeding VND 5 billion falling under the following categories:
(1) Packages for standard, simple non-consulting services;
(2) Packages for common goods readily available in the market with standardized technical specifications and equivalent quality;
(3) Simple works/construction packages with approved construction drawing design dossiers;
(4) Mixed packages supplying goods and works, wherein construction components satisfy item (3).
| Under Clause 1, Article 23 of the 2013 Bidding Law, competitive quotation applied to packages within statutory government caps falling under:
- Common, simple non-consulting service packages; - Packages procuring common, off-the-shelf goods with standardized specifications and equivalent quality; - Simple construction packages with approved construction drawing designs. |
Thus, the 2023 Bidding Law has officially added mixed goods and civil works packages to the eligibility scope of competitive shopping.
6. Revised Regulations on Package Price Determination
Under Clause 2, Article 39 of the 2023 Bidding Law governing package price:
- Package price represents the approved package budget in the contractor selection plan. Package price covers total execution expenditures, including contingency reserves, statutory fees, charges, and taxes. Package price may be updated within 28 days prior to bid opening when necessary;
- For divided packages, the total package price and estimated budget for each separate part must be specified;
- For packages applying option-to-purchase-additional-goods under Clause 8, Article 39 of the 2023 Bidding Law, the package price excludes the value of additional purchase options.
The Government provides detailed regulations regarding package price composition within contractor selection plans.
| Under Clause 2, Article 35 of the 2013 Bidding Law, package pricing was defined:
- Determined based on total investment or approved budget estimates (if any) for projects, or recurrent operational procurement budgets. The price accounted for all execution costs, contingencies, fees, and taxes, updatable within 28 days before bid opening; - For consulting services preparing pre-feasibility or feasibility studies, package pricing was determined based on statistical historical benchmark averages, unit cost norms, or preliminary total investment estimates; - For packages divided into parts, estimated allocations for each separate section were required. |
Accordingly, the 2023 Bidding Law delegates detailed authority to the Government to provide specific regulations regarding package price components in contractor selection plans.
7. New Mechanisms for Procurement of Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals, Testing Supplies, and Medical Equipment
Provisions governing procurement of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, testing supplies, and medical devices under Article 55 of the 2023 Bidding Law state:
- Medical examination and treatment facilities may select suppliers of chemicals, testing supplies, and medical equipment via the following modalities:
+ Selecting contractors supplying chemicals and testing supplies where the winning contractor is obligated to provide compatible medical equipment to utilize said chemicals and reagents as required by the investor; the contractor retains ownership and transfers only equipment usage rights to the healthcare facility;
+ Selecting contractors based on technical service unit volume:
++ The contractor provides chemicals, diagnostic reagents, medical equipment, replacement spare parts, and associated maintenance services to operate the medical equipment based on the service quantity requested in bidding documents, without providing machine operational personnel.
++ The contractor transfers usage rights only, retaining equipment ownership. Package price and bid value are determined based on projected technical service volume. Contract duration shall not exceed 05 years;
+ Outright procurement of medical equipment, chemicals, and testing supplies with immediate transfer of ownership upon contract effect;
+ Standard contractor selection for medical equipment in accordance with general procurement legislation;
+ Contractor selection for chemicals and testing supplies to operate pre-existing medical systems;
+ Contractor selection for technical healthcare services under the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment.
- For non-reimbursable pharmaceuticals outside the health insurance drug list, or commercial vaccine procurement for paid immunization services, healthcare institutions possess full autonomous authority to decide procurement on principles of transparency, cost efficiency, and accountability.
- Where private healthcare establishments opt out of applying the 2023 Bidding Law, reimbursement from health insurance funds shall strictly adhere to ceiling winning unit prices achieved by public provincial or central hospitals, or equivalent technical facilities within the same locality.
| Provisions under Article 48 of the 2013 Bidding Law:
- Methods, plans, procedures, and evaluation for pharmaceutical and medical supply procurement conformed to standard Chapters II, III, and IV of the 2013 Law. - Price negotiation applied to single-source or dual-source drugs, original proprietary medicines, rare medications, and on-patent specialized drugs. - Winning bidders were selected based on statutory compliance and technical proposals fulfilling therapeutic efficacy, storage, and shelf-life requirements. |
8. Concrete Preferential Treatment in Pharmaceutical Procurement
Under Article 56 of the 2023 Bidding Law:
- Preferences in medicine procurement adhere to Article 10 of the 2023 Bidding Law alongside provisions:
+ For medicines where at least 03 domestic manufacturers meet Ministry of Health technical criteria, clinical quality, and competitive price, the investor decides whether to mandate domestic-origin bidding;
+ For medicines certified by the Ministry of Health as having at least 03 domestic producers on EU-GMP compliant production lines fulfilling quality, price, and supply capacity standards, tender dossiers MUST mandate bidders to quote domestic-manufactured drugs exclusively.
- The Ministry of Health is responsible for publishing the official preferential pharmaceutical catalog.
| Under Article 50 of the 2013 Bidding Law:
Preferences complied with Article 14. For domestic medicines certified by the Ministry of Health as fulfilling therapeutic, pricing, and volume demands, solicitation dossiers were required to forbid imported drug bids. |
9. New Regulations on Inspection, Examination, and Supervision of Bidding Activities
Provisions on bidding inspection, examination, and oversight under Article 86 of the 2023 Bidding Law:
- Bidding Inspection: Conducted targeting organizations and individuals involved in regulated procurement; organized in compliance with inspection laws.
- Bidding Examination: Executed periodically or ad-hoc under decisions by competent heads; reviewing guidance documents, selection plans, procurement preparation, execution, and contract administration; conducted on-site or via written audits.
- Bidding Supervision: Competent persons and state procurement agencies exercise continuous supervision over procuring entities to guarantee compliance; community oversight is spearheaded by Vietnam Fatherland Front committees at all administrative levels.
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Under Article 87 of the 2013 Bidding Law: - Inspection: Handled as specialized administrative inspection under statutory inspection regulations. - Examination: Regular and unannounced audits examining bidding legal promulgation, personnel training, contractor selection plans, tender execution, and contract performance. - Supervision: Routine monitoring carried out by competent persons to ensure tender compliance. |
See further details in the 2023 Bidding Law effective January 1, 2024, superseding the 2013 Bidding Law.
