Comments on amending the Law on Bidding and the Law on Enterprises

On the afternoon of May 15, in Hanoi, chaired by Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Politburo member, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly, the 18th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee (13th tenure) gave opinions on two projects: the Law on Bidding (amended) and the Law on amending and supplementing Article 170 of the Law on Enterprises.

According to the Government's submission, the promulgation of the 2005 Law on Bidding and the 2009 Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of Laws Related to Basic Construction Investment, together with the system of documents guiding the implementation of these two laws, has contributed to establishing a transparent and competitive environment for bidding activities in accordance with international practices, creating a basis for investors to select contractors with sufficient capacity and experience to provide goods, services, and works, helping to save the State's limited capital.

However, in recent times, bidding activities using State capital have also revealed some shortcomings, which are prominently shown in aspects such as: Professionalism and expertise in bidding activities are not uniform and limited in some localities; the quality and efficiency of some preparatory work for bidding activities are not high; post-bidding management issues have not been carried out regularly and have not received due attention.

With the above analysis, the delegates said: The promulgation of the Law on Bidding (amended) is necessary to unify the contents of other legal documents regulating bidding activities, contributing to handling the relationship between this Law and other laws related to the selection of contractors and investors for bidding packages and projects using State capital, promptly overcoming limitations, difficulties and obstacles, meeting the requirements of bidding management.

Regarding the bidding activities specified in Clause 1, some opinions agree with the criteria for determining projects for development investment purposes using State capital as stipulated in Point a, but propose to have stricter regulations on contractor selection activities in cases where projects for development investment purposes use State capital from VND 500 billion or more and account for 30% or more of the total investment.

Also related to this issue, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong proposed not to stipulate criteria for determining the scale of State capital in investment projects using State capital in absolute monetary terms because it does not ensure the stability of the Law, and this provision will become outdated after a short time. Furthermore, the regulation of the absolute value of 500 billion VND as in the draft Law does not have a convincing basis.

Regarding the eligibility of contractors and investors as stipulated in Article 5, members of the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed with the regulation that foreign contractors participating in international bidding in Vietnam must form a joint venture or sign a contract with a Vietnamese subcontractor and must use domestic labor to create more favorable conditions for domestic contractors to participate in bidding packages.

However, Chairman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee Phung Quoc Hien suggested that the Draft Law should specify the criteria for "inability to perform" by Vietnamese contractors or workers, and at the same time, supplement the provisions on sanctions for cases where foreign contractors do not comply with this provision.

Regarding the issue of bid designation stipulated in Article 17, there are opinions suggesting that it should not be regulated in an expansive manner as in the draft Law, bid designation should only be applied in cases of force majeure due to natural disasters, enemy attacks, incidents that need to be resolved immediately; cases due to requests from foreign sponsors and some other conditions as stipulated in the 2005 Law on Bidding.

However, through discussion, most members of the National Assembly Standing Committee said that the draft Law specifically stipulates the responsibilities of individuals for each activity in the bidding process, including the responsibilities of the person with the authority to decide on the application of designated bidding, thus limiting the situation of taking advantage of widespread designated bidding and evading responsibility in the designated bidding process.

Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan basically agreed with the contents of the Government's submission. The Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly requested the drafting committee to absorb the opinions of members of the National Assembly Standing Committee, coordinate with the verification agency to continue researching, overcome shortcomings and limitations, and soon complete the Draft Law on Bidding (amended) to submit to the National Assembly at the upcoming 5th Session.

Regarding the Draft Law amending and supplementing Article 170 of the Law on Enterprises, members of the National Assembly Standing Committee basically agreed to amend Article 170 of the Law on Enterprises. However, some delegates were concerned and asked the Government to clarify how many of the 3,000 enterprises that did not re-register were allowed to re-register; how many enterprises whose licenses had not expired were allowed to expand their business lines, with what capital and number of employees, and in what fields were they operating?

Members of the National Assembly Standing Committee also agreed with the amendments in Points a and b, Clause 2, Article 170 of the Enterprise Law. However, there were also opinions suggesting that enterprises should only be allowed to re-register or expand their business lines if their investment activities do not violate the law and are in line with Vietnam's planning and policies to attract foreign investment.

At the end of the working session, members of the National Assembly Standing Committee approved the amendment of Article 170 of the Enterprise Law, and at the same time requested the Government, ministries and branches involved in organizing the implementation of Article 170 of the Enterprise Law, drawing experience in urging and inspecting the implementation of effective legal regulations, ensuring the strictness of the law./.

According to (TTXVN) - LT