Son Hai Group case: How is the contractor selection process carried out?

Regarding the case of Son Hai Group being rejected from the bidding package for the construction of the Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh expressway (section through Binh Phuoc ), on the afternoon of May 28, answering a reporter from VTC News Electronic Newspaper, Mr. Dinh Tien Hai - Director of the Binh Phuoc Province Construction Investment Project Management Board, the project investor, affirmed that the bidding process was carried out transparently and publicly online.

Specifically, the consulting unit that prepares bidding documents and evaluates bidding documents is Van Phu Consulting Joint Stock Company, with a team of experts established by this consulting unit.

On February 24, 2025, the Binh Phuoc Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board approved the bidding documents for the package on the national bidding network. This document was revised and re-approved on March 6, 2025, and then publicly released.

On March 17, 2025, the bidding package was opened online with the participation of 5 contractors: Son Hai Group Co., Ltd., Cienco4 Group Joint Stock Company, IB2500057961 Expressway Joint Venture, Binh Phuoc Expressway Joint Venture, and HCM - TDM - CT Expressway Joint Venture.

During the process of evaluating the bidding documents, some issues arose that needed clarification. The Project Management Board organized the implementation according to regulations and at the same time sought opinions from relevant authorities.

The comments were answered in documents from the Bidding Management Department (April 17, 2025), the Department of Economics - Construction Investment Management (April 29, 2025), and the Vietnam Register (May 5, 2025).

On May 6, 2025, the Expert Team prepared an evaluation report on the national bidding network in accordance with regulations. Based on this evaluation report, the Project Management Board organized the appraisal and approval of the contractor selection results on the national bidding network.

The results of contractor selection are also made public on the national bidding network, with a full evaluation report from the E-HSDT evaluation expert team attached.

Accordingly, the winning bidder was the HCM - TDM - CT Expressway Joint Venture, with a bid price of VND 866.46 billion (saving VND 14.26 billion, a reduction of 1.62%). The remaining bidder did not win the bid for the reason: The contractor's E-HSDT did not meet the technical requirements of the technical evaluation criteria of E-HSMT.

According to Mr. Hai, if contractors have any recommendations regarding the content of their E-HSDT evaluation, they can completely comply with the provisions of Articles 90 and 91 of the 2023 Law on Bidding.

Up to now, the Management Board has received the petition from Son Hai Group, therefore, it will carry out the petition settlement process to ensure compliance with legal regulations.

Previously, on May 26, Son Hai Group Company Limited (Son Hai Group) sent a document to the Binh Phuoc Province Investment and Construction Project Management Board, protesting the results of the selection of contractors for the construction package of the Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh expressway, section through Binh Phuoc.

Son Hai Group proposed that despite being the unit with the lowest bid price, it failed the bid. Meanwhile, the unit with the highest bid price won the bid.

Claiming that "the investor showed signs of violating the law in bidding" leading to a huge risk of loss and waste of more than 113 billion VND of state money, Son Hai Group spoke out against the investor's bidding decision.

The 70km Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh Expressway project passes through 3 provinces: Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc. The project has a total investment of 25,000 billion VND, is a key traffic project, of special importance to the socio-economic development of the Southeast region.
Of which, the section through Binh Phuoc province has a total length of about 6.6km, a design speed of 100km/h, and a scale of 4 lanes.
The starting point borders Binh Duong province and the ending point is Chon Thanh town (Binh Phuoc), the total cost is 1,474 billion VND, of which the central budget is expected to be 1,000 billion VND, the rest is the local budget.
Project implementation period is from 2024 to 2026. In 2024, investment preparation, preparation and approval of investment policy report, preparation and approval of feasibility study report, organization of contractor selection, construction commencement; in 2025 - 2026, construction will continue and strive to complete the project and put it into use by the end of 2026.

Thy Hue

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/vu-tap-doan-son-hai-quy-trinh-lua-chon-nha-thau-duoc-thuc-hien-the-nao-ar945745.html