Untangling the bottleneck in the bidding process.

The Ministry of Finance is drafting a Decree amending and supplementing several articles of Decree No. 214/2025/ND-CP detailing some provisions and measures for implementing the Law on Bidding regarding contractor selection. One of the notable contents of the draft Decree is the proposal to expand the cases in which direct contracting can be applied and to increase the application limit for some bidding packages.

Direct contracting is a special form of contractor selection, applied in certain cases to ensure the progress, urgency, or specificity of the project. Alongside its achievements, the direct contracting process also reveals several limitations. Regulations regarding the cases in which direct contracting is applicable and the value limits for project packages are relatively narrow, failing to keep pace with current practical requirements, especially for projects needing rapid implementation to fulfill major policies of the Party and State, as well as tasks related to science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation. The practice of splitting project packages into smaller parts to qualify for direct contracting, and the selection of contractors without competition, if not strictly controlled, can easily lead to negative consequences, vested interests, and the waste and misappropriation of state budget funds.

According to Article 78 of Decree No. 214/2025/ND-CP, bidding packages that require immediate and urgent implementation, or those necessary to ensure connectivity and synchronization between projects as directed by National Assembly Resolutions, Government Resolutions, Decisions, Directives, and official notices of Government leaders, may be awarded through direct contracting.

That's the regulation, but in practice, the Ministry of Finance believes that some bidding packages have been directed to be implemented through resolutions, conclusions, and directives from the Central Committee of the Communist Party, the Politburo, the Secretariat, key leaders of the Party and State, and provincial Party committees and People's Councils, but the direct contracting method has not yet been applied.

Furthermore, current legislation stipulates that: for procurement packages not forming a project with a package value not exceeding 500 million VND; for consulting service packages within a project with a package value not exceeding 800 million VND; and for non-consulting service, goods, construction, or mixed packages within a project with a package value not exceeding 2 billion VND, direct contracting may be applied. Many ministries, sectors, and localities argue that this limit on direct contracting is no longer appropriate in practice.

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Proposal to raise the limit for direct contracting to a maximum of 3 billion VND.According to many ministries, sectors, and localities, the current limits and levels for direct contracting are no longer suitable for practical realities, and many small-value packages still have to comply with cumbersome procedures.

To address this bottleneck, the draft Decree has been amended to include additional cases for direct contracting, such as: packages where direct contracting is applied as directed in Resolutions, Conclusions, and guiding documents of the Central Committee of the Party, the Politburo, the Secretariat, key leaders of the Party and State, the Party Committee, and the People's Council at the provincial level; packages belonging to public investment projects that require direct contracting to select a contractor to implement the package meeting the progress, quality, and efficiency requirements of the package and project; and amendments to construction packages, expanding and upgrading databases to cover all packages (goods, consulting, mixed packages, etc.) to ensure suitability with the specific characteristics of the fields of science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

The draft Decree adds several cases where direct contracting is permitted to meet the requirements for project progress, quality, and efficiency. This is seen as a solution to address one of the biggest current bottlenecks: delays in project progress and disbursement of public investment funds.

In addition, the draft decree also stipulates raising the limit for direct contracting for procurement packages not forming projects from 500 million VND to 1 billion VND, and for project-based procurement packages (regardless of the type of package) from 2 billion VND to 3 billion VND. This adjustment is consistent with reality as the price levels, investment costs, and scale of public procurement activities have changed significantly.

The new regulations contribute to removing procedural bottlenecks and creating a flexible mechanism for the rapid implementation of public investment projects and digital transformation projects. Raising the limits does not mean loosening management, but rather focuses state management resources on larger-scale, more complex, and higher-risk bidding packages. This revision of regulations on direct contracting reflects a proactive management approach, prioritizing the effectiveness of task execution.

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A more open mechanism does not mean lax enforcement. Direct contracting is a unique mechanism with the potential for abuse if not strictly controlled. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance transparency and accountability of project owners when implementing direct contracting. Along with this, it is crucial to strengthen inspections and audits, apply digital technology in monitoring bidding activities, and strictly hold accountable those who commit violations. Only then can we prevent losses, waste, and corruption in the implementation of projects through direct contracting.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/go-nut-that-chi-dinh-thau-10421043.html