Identifying shortcomings in bidding activities - Part 1: Market opens but there are few customers

In recent years, together with the Law on Public Investment and the Law on Management and Use of State Assets, the Law on Bidding is a tool for the State to supervise investment activities and the management and use of public assets. However, in the process of implementing bidding, there have been many problems and difficulties, leading to bidding not achieving high results, even many agencies and units encounter difficulties because "no one comes to bid"...

In 2021, Nghe An Fisheries Sub-Department was awarded a large patrol ship by Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance. However, this ship was used, its inspection period had expired, and the repair cost would be over 3 billion VND, mobilized from the budget, so it had to go through bidding. However, in the province, there is no specialized consulting unit on ships to assess the level of damage and the equipment that needs to be replaced, so after 1 year of announcement, the investor did not receive any application. The Fisheries Sub-Department then had to "send" a document to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Finance requesting to invite a number of consultants from Hanoi and Hai Phong to evaluate, and only after the results were available would a bidding invitation be organized for repairs. It was not until the end of 2022 that the ship repair was carried out.

Trực xử lý hồ sơ mời thầu trên hệ thống Cục quản lý đấu thầu, Bộ Kế hoạch đầu tư.
Directly process bidding documents on the Bidding Management Department system, Ministry of Planning and Investment.

In 2021 and 2022, Nghe An Irrigation Department will purchase equipment and materials for flood and storm prevention, including sand and gravel bags and reserve materials at key locations. The unit has posted 3 times on the national network but no units have participated. Therefore, the unit must continue to announce a 4th time. Only then did 1 unit participate.

Also in 2022, the Department of Science and Technology organized a bidding for a package of purchasing quality measurement management equipment lines worth 15 billion VND at the Provincial Department of Quality Measurement. Mr. Tran Quoc Thanh - Director of the Department of Science and Technology said: The procurement policy was approved by the province and allocated budget from the second quarter of 2022. After completing the procedures to transfer to the Financial Support and Consulting Center to carry out centralized procurement, according to regulations, there must be a consulting contractor participating, but after waiting for more than 8 months, because no unit participated, at the end of 2022, the above package was cut, transferring 10 billion VND, the remaining 5 billion VND was transferred to 2023. This year, after inviting a consultant from the Institute of Quality Measurement to advise on the configuration of the equipment line, the file was transferred to the Financial Support and Consulting Center to carry out the next procedures, but after more than 2 months, there has been no response or reply.

Kiểm tra các vật tư phòng, chống lụt bão tại kho dự trữ.
Check flood and storm prevention materials in stock.

These are 3 of many units using the state budget in the province that organized bidding but had no bidders participating. According to statistics from the Nghe An Department of Finance, in 2022, the whole province proposed to centrally purchase assets and equipment worth 141 billion VND, of which 28.6 billion VND was won, 112.4 billion VND was returned to the budget; invited to bid for 11 specialized cars, after announcing 3-4 times of bidding according to regulations but only 1 car won the bid (Department of Forestry), 10 cars had no bidders. The 2021 equipment supply package of 45 billion VND of the Department of Health was transferred to bidding in 2022 despite being invited 4 times, but the price appraisal enterprise refused so it could not be implemented; the 2022 Department of Education and Training bid package of 30 billion VND was also canceled because the participating contractor committed errors, and has not been extended to date.

Mr. Vuong Dinh Nhuan - Director of the Provincial Traffic Project Management Board shared: The purpose of public bidding is to find good construction solutions to save the budget. But there are projects that have not saved much. For example, a large traffic project in the area, the province invited public bidding but when it was announced, it was found that the winning bidder only paid 100 million VND lower than the bidding price given by the investor, which is too low, the budget savings rate has not been achieved.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien - Head of Bidding, Appraisal and Investment Supervision Department, Department of Planning and Investment said: The purpose of bidding is to choose the best construction plan with the same value to ensure the quality of the project, thereby increasing savings for the budget. In 2022, the whole province organized to receive and approve 3,143 bidding packages of all kinds, worth 20,320.04 billion VND. Except for bidding packages according to regulations that are designated for bidding; works, projects or asset procurement packages from 100 million VND or more must be publicly invited for bidding. In fact, transparent and competitive bidding will select good plans, contributing to increasing savings for the budget.

Ảnh trên xuống, trái sang: Thi công giai đoạn 2 đại lộ Vinh - Cửa Lò; Gói thầu đầu tư đường vào KCN Hoàng Mai 2, xã Quỳnh Thắng do Ban quản lý các công trình xây dựng và dân dụng tỉnh quản lý; Thi công mương và đường Lê Viết Lượng do UBND phường Hưng Bình đầu tư mời thầu; Đường ven biển từ Nghi Hải đến Nam Cấm đã hoàn thành 2 phần 3 khối lượng; Dự án Nguyễn Sỹ Sách kéo dài thi công theo hình thức đấu thầu trọn gói nhưng do khó GPMB nên phải điều chỉnh dự toán; Thi công cầu vượt Quốc lộ 48B tại xã Quỳnh Mỹ (Quỳnh Lưu).
Photos from top to bottom, left to right: Construction of phase 2 of Vinh - Cua Lo boulevard; Bidding package for road investment into Hoang Mai 2 Industrial Park, Quynh Thang commune managed by the Provincial Construction and Civil Works Management Board; Construction of Le Viet Luong ditch and road invested and invited for bidding by Hung Binh Ward People's Committee; Coastal road from Nghi Hai to Nam Cam has completed 2/3 of the volume; Nguyen Sy Sach project is extended under the form of lump-sum bidding but due to difficulties in site clearance, the estimate must be adjusted; Construction of National Highway 48B overpass in Quynh My commune (Quynh Luu).

A bidding expert analyzed: In principle, bidding information is posted on the national bidding network so contractors nationwide can participate, but in reality, bidding packages in some localities are often won by local businesses because of advantages in equipment and labor. It is also possible that contractors inform each other and give way. The above reality shows that violations and distortions in bidding activities are increasingly sophisticated.

On the other hand, although the province has not discovered any cases of collusion or bid-selling, the budget savings rate through bidding is currently quite low. While the national average is 5.6% and some ministries, branches, corporations, general companies and localities are from 9-12%, Nghe An's savings rate in 2021 is 1.42% (VND 75,769 billion) and in 2022 is 1.79% (VND 363.47 billion). Not only that, since 2021, centralized procurement has arisen with inadequacies and obstacles that have left many investors "helpless".

Nạp hồ sơ năng lực đấu thầu bản cứng qua Trung tâm Phục vụ hành chính công của tỉnh.
Submit hard copy of bidding capacity profile through the Provincial Public Administration Service Center.

In addition, from the practice of supervision and urging, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien - Head of Bidding, Appraisal and Investment Supervision Department, Department of Planning and Investment said: Assets, equipment or consumables in the fields of health, quality measurement or textbooks... have long been bid by vertical sector, now switched to public bidding, but in the current context, very few consulting and price appraisal contractors participate, so the bidding is not successful.

A representative of the Medical Equipment and Supplies Joint Stock Company in Vinh City, a unit that often participates in drug bidding sessions for medical facilities in Nghe An, shared: Regulations and bidding mechanisms in the medical field are still lacking and rigid. It is true that after the negative incidents related to Viet A Company or AIC International Consulting Company were discovered, hospitals are more cautious, consultants and price appraisers of drugs and medical supplies are hesitant to go to distant provinces. If the above problems and difficulties are not resolved soon, they will greatly affect the expertise and quality of service at public hospitals.

Các trang thiết bị y tế chuyên dụng mới ra đời rất khó đánh giá nên khó thu hút nhà thầu tư vấn và cung cấp khi mua sắm tập trung.
New specialized medical equipment is difficult to evaluate, making it difficult to attract consultants and suppliers when purchasing centrally.