Many priorities and incentives in bidding
The Government recently submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee a draft law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Bidding; the Law on Investment under the public-private partnership model; the Customs Law; the Law on Export Tax and Import Tax; the Investment Law; the Law on Public Investment; and the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets.
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| Bidding activities. (Illustration photo) |
In particular, regarding the amendment and supplementation of a number of articles of the Law on Bidding, a number of regulations have been amended to ensure the autonomy and self-determination in contractor selection activities of organizations and individuals in charge of implementing scientific and technological tasks.
In addition, amend regulations on incentives for innovative enterprises; science and technology organizations; digital technology products and services in the direction of prioritizing the assessment of capacity, experience, and adding points or money for these subjects.
Amending regulations on methods of evaluating bid documents for bid packages with content in the fields of strategic technology and telecommunications to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the bid packages.
Regarding bidding activities of state-owned enterprises and public service units, this draft Law also amends the provisions on the scope of application of the Bidding Law in the direction of: Only applying this Law to projects of state-owned enterprises that use more than 50% of state budget capital in the total investment of the project.
For bidding packages belonging to projects using less than 50% of the budget capital and other investment projects, state-owned enterprises shall decide on the selection of contractors on the basis of publicity, transparency, economic efficiency and accountability.
On the other hand, allowing public service units of groups 1 and 2 to decide on their own contractor selection when conducting bidding activities without using the state budget aims to enhance the autonomy and self-responsibility of these units.
Cut down and simplify procedures
Notably, the draft Law (amended) has added regulations on domestic and international bidding to promote technology transfer and access to advanced foreign technology in the fields of science and technology, innovation and digital transformation;
Supplementing the principle allowing investors and competent persons to base on the scale, nature and actual conditions of the bid package to choose to apply appropriate forms of contractor selection (bidding, designated bidding or other forms as prescribed by law) on the basis of ensuring transparency, economic efficiency and accountability.
Supplement and expand the cases of applying the form of bidding and selecting contractors and investors in special cases for bidding packages and projects that need to ensure national interests or have special requirements for research, application and development of science and technology, meeting the requirements of accelerating the implementation progress of large, important and urgent projects.
At the same time, improve the quality and efficiency of bidding activities in the following directions: Supplementing regulations on bidding with conditions on savings ratio to ensure the selection of contractors that meet requirements on quality and cost, and shorten bidding time.
Supplementing the regulation that the proposed winning bid price ratio must not be lower than the bid package price to overcome the situation of low bidding prices leading to failure to ensure the quality and effectiveness of bid package and project implementation.
Supplementing regulations on monitoring bidding activities to enhance the responsibility of competent persons. At the same time, preventing and combating negativity and corruption in bidding.
In particular, cutting down, simplifying procedures, shortening bidding time in the direction of: Abolish the procedure for evaluating contractor selection results; eliminate some procedures, online bidding operations and some bid evaluation criteria to shorten time and cut down on procedures in bidding.
Abolish the role of the bidding party and transfer some of the bidding party's tasks to expert groups and investors to streamline and eliminate intermediate levels in the contractor selection process; do not apply competition guarantees to public service units and enterprises under the same management agency.
Regarding decentralization, delegation of authority, and amendment of regulations on bid designation and competitive bidding, the Law only stipulates principles and assigns the Government to specify details on these forms in order to create a flexible, proactive, and timely mechanism for the Government to stipulate cases of bid designation when necessary to speed up the implementation of large, important, and urgent projects.
Need to ensure effective use of state capital
Regarding the amendment and supplementation of a number of articles of the Law on Bidding, Permanent Deputy Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Le Quang Manh said that the draft Law proposes to narrow the scope of regulation, only applying to investment projects using 50% or more of the state budget capital in the total investment of state-owned enterprises.
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| Permanent Deputy Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Le Quang Manh |
This regulation helps increase autonomy and free up resources for state-owned enterprises, but it is necessary to clarify the legal basis, practices, criteria for determining the 50% rate and assess policy impacts.
Besides, this is a major policy change, the Government is requested to report and seek opinions from competent authorities before submitting it to the National Assembly for consideration and decision.
Regarding the approval of winning bids for construction packages, the draft Law supplements the provision that the winning bid price must not be lower than the bid package price according to the rate prescribed by the Government, in order to prevent the situation of bidding too low and poor quality construction.
According to Mr. Le Quang Manh, the regulation of "floor price" can reduce price competition, not thoroughly handle the problem of construction capacity and lack flexibility with small-scale projects and works.
Therefore, it is recommended that the Government consider additional and alternative solutions such as strictly controlling construction quality from the beginning through a monitoring mechanism and requiring contractors to commit to longer-term warranties if they offer low prices; perfecting strong sanctions against contractors who violate contracts, including banning them from participating in bidding for a certain period of time.
The draft law also adds provisions allowing investors and competent persons to choose and apply forms of selecting contractors and investors.
The Economic and Financial Committee believes that this is a major amendment and was added after the legal dossier was appraised by the Ministry of Justice. Therefore, it is recommended that the Government report and explain and carefully assess the policy impact so that the National Assembly Standing Committee and the National Assembly have a basis for consideration and decision.
In addition, the contents on bidding designation, transferring the task of the "inviting party" in selecting contractors to the investor and expert team, incentives in bidding, allowing investors to choose the form of selecting contractors and investors, adding "technical evaluation methods", bidding in the field of science and technology, public service units... are also amended in the direction of increasing autonomy, streamlining procedures and processes, but need to ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency in using state capital.
| Some opinions suggested that the Government clarify principles, policy impacts and complete detailed regulations to ensure effective implementation and avoid negative developments in bidding. |
Source: https://congthuong.vn/rut-ngan-thoi-gian-cat-giam-thu-tuc-trong-dau-thau-385136.html
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