Public Procurement World

Vietnam

Select a Topic
Start Comparison
1. The Laws
Jump to
1. The Laws Start Comparison
a. What is the applicable legislation?

Key legal documents forming the legal framework for bidding activities in Vietnam include:

b. Does the legislation relate to or interact with any applicable trade agreement, such as the European Union procurement rules, WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) or the procurement requirements of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”)?

Although Vietnam has become a member of several international organizations, including the World Trade Organization ("WTO") and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ("ASEAN"), Vietnam has not made any commitments to any agreement on government procurement under such organization (for example, the WTO Government Procurement Agreement ("WTO GPA")). However, on 5 December 2012, Vietnam had submitted a written request to the Government Procurement Committee to participate in the Committee as an observer.

Vietnam and EU had officially concluded negotiation of the European Union - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement ("EVFTA") on 1 December 2015. The text of the agreement was announced on 1 February 2016. At present, both Vietnam and the European Union are reviewing the agreement and plan to sign the agreement in 2017. The EVFTA is expected to come into effect in 2018.

Most EVFTA's commitments on government procurement are compatible with Vietnamese legislations on bidding. These commitments are essential obligations of general international tendering practices (such as definitions, basic principles relating to tender documentation, etc), or general obligations on transparency and competition in tendering process and procedure (such as issues relating to notice of intended procurement and post-award information, etc). The Bidding Law is considered as compatible with major commitments in EVFTA regarding Government Procurement.[1] For example the principle of using electronic means under the Bidding law is compatible with the commitments under the EVFTA on government procurement.

 

[1] VCCI Report on the review and assessment of Vietnamese Law with regard to EVFTA.

c. What are the basic underlying principles of the legal framework?

Basic principles underlying Vietnam's bidding legal framework are fairness, transparency and economic efficiency.[1] These principles, which can be found in provisions on bidding information (which requires certain kinds of information to be published in a bidding newsletter and on the bidding website of the State bidding administrative body), include: assurance of competitiveness in bidding process; prohibited acts in bidding; and provision on currency to be used in bidding (in Vietnam, the currency to be used in bidding should be stipulated in the bidding invitation documents on the principle of one currency for one specific volume).

 

[1] Articles 2.2, 3.2 Bidding Law.

d. Is aerospace and defense procurement treated differently from other types of procurement?

The Bidding Law's scope covers projects financed by the State for procurement of assets for the purpose of maintaining regular activities of state bodies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-political-occupational organizations, social organizations, socio-occupational organizations and units of the armed forces.[1] However, as of the date hereof, there have been no specific regulations issued by the relevant ministries or agencies regarding aerospace and defense procurement due to the sensitivity of this matter and for national security purpose. Therefore aerospace and defense procurements information are not easily accessed through public information, i.e. newspaper, online.

 

[1] Article 1.1(d), Bidding Law.

{{ $store.state.loadingScreen.message }} ...