Official investor response

The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the investor of the Long Thanh Airport project, has issued a written response to a complaint from the Hoa Lu Consortium, one of the three consortia participating in the bidding for package 5.10 worth over VND 35,200 billion to build Long Thanh International Airport.

Accordingly, ACV affirmed that it had correctly evaluated the technical proposal. The Hoa Lu consortium's submission of the proposal was not in accordance with the proper procedures, affecting the reputation of all parties involved.

ACV stated that, based on the bid documents submitted on June 12th by the participating bidders, the bidding authority and the expert selection team evaluated the technical proposals based on the criteria, requirements, and standards stipulated in the bidding documents, ensuring compliance with the procedures and regulations of the law on bidding.

According to ACV, during the evaluation of bid documents and clarifications required by law on bidding, the bidding authority issued written requests to bidders to supplement and clarify information in accordance with regulations, ensuring objectivity, fairness, and transparency for all bidders.

Clarifying the technical proposals adheres to the principle of not altering the fundamental content of the submitted bid documents, ensuring fair competition among participating bidders.

The contractor's technical proposal, including the explanation, technical documents, and drawings, is sufficient to serve as a basis for the bidding party and the expert panel to evaluate it according to the standards stipulated in the approved and published bidding documents on the national online bidding system.

*The Long Thanh Airport is a key project.*

ACV stated that the list of contractors meeting the technical requirements has been approved by the investor based on the results of the technical proposal evaluation. The bidding party has also notified all participating contractors of the list of contractors meeting the technical requirements.

According to the Long Thanh Airport investor, regulations stipulate that for unsuccessful bidders, the notification of the bidding results must clearly state the reasons for their failure. The investor will announce the bidding results upon the issuance of a Decision approving the bidding results, clearly stating the winning bidder (if any) and the reasons for the unsuccessful bids to all participating bidders.

Regarding the complaint resolution process, ACV stated that, according to the Bidding Law and Decree 63/2014, the contractor's complaint documents must be sent to the investor, the bidding party, and signed by the legal representative of the Hoa Lu Joint Venture.

If Hoa Lu Joint Venture disagrees with the outcome of the complaint resolution by the investor and the bidding party, it has the right to submit a written complaint to the competent authority within 5 working days from the expiration date.

According to ACV, because the bidding process is still underway, all relevant information is kept confidential in accordance with the law on bidding. Therefore, the petition sent by the Hoa Luu Joint Venture to various levels of leadership, management, agencies, and the investor is not in line with the complaint resolution process.

According to ACV, this could affect the reputation of the contractor, the investor, and the bidding party. Therefore, the investor requests the Hoa Lu Joint Venture to strictly comply with the regulations of the Bidding Law.

Speaking to VietNamNet on July 6th, a representative of the State Capital Management Committee, the unit holding over 95% of the capital in ACV, said that ACV is urgently implementing the project in accordance with the directives of the Government and the Prime Minister to commence construction in August.

In response to the question of whether Package 5.10 of the Long Thanh Airport terminal construction project would proceed to the second round (financial round, after the technical round) and whether the Hoa Lu Joint Venture's complaint would affect the project's progress, the representative stated that the bidding process for Package 5.10 was conducted in accordance with regulations and the plan.

Earlier on August 1st, ACV announced that the Vietur consortium met the technical requirements for package 5.10. This means that the other two consortiums, Hoa Lu and CHEC-BCEG-Vietnam Contractors (led by China Harbour Engineering of China), were eliminated from the bidding process.

The Hoa Lu consortium, led by Coteccons, comprises eight contractors: Hoa Binh , Central, An Phong, Delta, Unicons, Thanh An, and Power Line Engineering (PLE - Thailand). This is the only consortium led by a domestic contractor and had previously committed to completing the project by August 2026 if it won the bid.

The Vietur consortium consists of 10 members, led by the ICISTAS Industrial and Trade-Construction Group. This consortium includes Newtecons, Ricons, and SOL E&C, owned by Mr. Nguyen Ba Duong.

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