Applying Resolution 188, Ho Chi Minh City Metro Line 2 has selected a consulting contractor.

When applying the bidding mechanism according to Resolution 188, the investor of Metro Line 2 quickly selected a consulting contractor. This is a critical package that determines the progress of the entire project.

The entire Metro Line 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong) is approximately 11km long, including 9km underground, 9 underground stations and 1 elevated station - Photo: PHUONG NHI

The Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board (the investor) has just approved the results of the contractor selection for the consulting package to prepare the revised feasibility study report, FEED design, and bidding for the construction project of metro line 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong).

The awarded contractor is a consortium comprising Guangzhou Metro Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd., Southern Transport Design and Consulting Joint Stock Company, and ARTELIA SAS Port and Marine Engineering Design and Consulting Joint Stock Company, with a winning bid of over 175.4 billion VND. The consortium will have a contract execution period of 12 months.

The Metro Line 2 project has a total investment of approximately 47,890 billion VND. Although approved in 2010, the project's implementation has continuously faced difficulties and obstacles, causing the completion date to be postponed until 2030.

Faced with difficulties in continuing implementation with ODA funding, along with new mechanisms from Resolution 188, Ho Chi Minh City has decided to switch to using its own budget to implement the project. The city has also developed a plan to simultaneously invest in and complete 7 metro lines with a total length of 355km within 10 years, from now until 2035. Of these, Metro Line 2 is scheduled to begin construction at the end of 2025.

In reality, Metro Line 2 has 7 main construction packages, but so far only package CP1 - the construction of the office building at the Tham Luong depot - has been completed.

In 2022, the Metro Team Line 2 consortium unilaterally terminated the IC consulting contract after a long period of negotiations due to a failure to reach an agreement with the investor.

The updating and issuance of tender documents for the remaining major construction packages has therefore also been delayed.

Subsequently, the investor tendered for a project control and construction supervision consultant (CS2B consultant) to carry out the remaining work. During the bidding process, the city decided to change the funding source for the Metro Line 2 project from ODA to public investment. Therefore, the investor also stopped the bidding to ensure compliance with regulations and the new situation.

Following Resolution 188, the investor applied a direct contracting mechanism to select a consulting contractor to prepare the revised feasibility study report, FEED design, and bidding process for Metro Line 2. This is one of the priority and urgent bidding packages, crucial to the project's critical path.

The consulting consortium will be responsible for preparing a revised feasibility report to reflect the current situation, including expanding the project's scale, updating technological requirements and standards, and network connectivity. Simultaneously, they will act as a bidding consultant to select construction contractors, ensuring the project commences by the end of 2025 as planned by the city.

The time required to select a consulting contractor for Metro Line 2 has been significantly shortened.

In reality, if the aforementioned consulting contract were awarded through a standard bidding process, it would take approximately 6-9 months to select a contractor. This does not include any additional delays due to unforeseen circumstances such as contract cancellation or re-bidding.

However, when applying the direct contracting mechanism according to Resolution 188, a contractor can be selected in just over a month.

Source: https://ttbc-hcm.gov.vn/ap-dung-nghi-quyet-188-metro-so-2-tp-hcm-da-chon-duoc-nha-thau-tu-van-1019519.html