Suggestions for amending the Law on Bidding and the Law on Enterprises.

On the afternoon of May 15th, in Hanoi, under the chairmanship of Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Member of the Political Bureau and Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly, the 18th session of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (13th term) gave opinions on two draft laws: the Law on Bidding (amended) and the Law amending and supplementing Article 170 of the Enterprise Law.

According to the Government's report, the promulgation of the 2005 Bidding Law and the 2009 Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of laws related to basic construction investment, along with the system of guiding documents for 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 supply goods, services, and works, helping to save limited state capital.

However, in recent times, bidding activities using state capital have also revealed some shortcomings, most notably in the following areas: the level of expertise and professionalism in bidding activities is uneven and limited in some localities; the quality and effectiveness of some preparatory work for bidding activities are not high; and post-bidding management is not carried out regularly and has not received adequate attention.

Based on the above analysis, the delegates argued that: Enacting the amended Law on Bidding is necessary to unify the contents of other legal documents regulating bidding activities, contributing to resolving 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, and meeting the requirements of managing bidding activities.

Regarding the bidding activities stipulated in Clause 1, some opinions agree with the criteria for identifying projects for investment and development purposes using state capital as stipulated in point a, but suggest stricter control over contractor selection activities in cases where projects for investment and development purposes using state capital are worth 500 billion VND or more and account for 30% or more of the total investment.

Also related to this issue, National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong suggested that the criteria for determining the scale of state capital in investment projects using state capital should not be stipulated in absolute monetary terms because it does not ensure the stability of the Law, and this regulation would become outdated after a short time. Furthermore, the provision of an absolute value of 500 billion VND as in the draft Law lacks convincing justification.

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

However, the Chairman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee, Phung Quoc Hien, suggested that the draft law should specify the criteria for defining the "inability to perform" of Vietnamese contractors or workers, and also add provisions for sanctions against foreign contractors who fail to comply with this regulation.

Regarding the issue of direct contracting as stipulated in Article 17, some opinions suggest that it should not be broadened as proposed in the draft Law. Direct contracting should only be applied in cases of force majeure due to natural disasters, acts of war, incidents requiring immediate remediation; cases due to requirements of foreign donors; and other conditions as stipulated in the 2005 Law on Bidding.

However, after discussion, most members of the National Assembly Standing Committee believed that the draft Law specifically stipulated the responsibilities of individuals for each activity in the bidding process, including the responsibility of those authorized to make decisions on applying direct contracting. Therefore, it will limit the widespread abuse of direct contracting and the evasion of responsibility during the direct contracting process.

National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan basically agreed with the contents of the Government's submission. She requested the drafting committee to incorporate the opinions of the members of the National Assembly Standing Committee, coordinate with the reviewing agency to continue researching and addressing existing shortcomings and limitations, and promptly finalize the revised Law on Bidding to be submitted to the National Assembly at the upcoming 5th Session.

Regarding the draft law amending and supplementing Article 170 of the Enterprise Law, members of the National Assembly Standing Committee generally agreed with the amendment of Article 170 of the Enterprise Law. However, some delegates expressed concerns and requested the Government to clarify how many of the 3,000 enterprises that did not re-register had expired licenses and requested re-registration; how many had not yet expired licenses and requested to expand their business lines, with what capital, number of employees, and in what fields they are currently operating?

Members of the National Assembly Standing Committee also agreed with the amendments to points a and b, Clause 2, Article 170 of the Enterprise Law. However, some suggested 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 consistent with Vietnam's planning and foreign investment attraction policies.

At the end of the working session, the members of the National Assembly Standing Committee approved the amendment of Article 170 of the Enterprise Law, and requested the Government and relevant ministries and agencies to organize the implementation of Article 170 of the Enterprise Law, drawing lessons from the monitoring and inspection of the enforcement of existing legal regulations, ensuring the strict enforcement of the law.

According to (VNA) - LT