Director of the Directorate for Road of Việt Nam Nguyễn Văn Huyện talks to Thời báo Kinh tế Việt Nam (Việt Nam Economic Times) about how online bidding works.

Would you please explain the revenues and disbursement results of the Road Maintenance Fund in the first quarter of 2018?

According to the National Road Maintenance Fund, its revenues reached VNĐ1.8 trillion (US$78 million), 21 per cent higher than last year. On average, we earned more than VNĐ28 billion ($1.2 million) per day.

Regarding disbursement results, the fund’s council has meted out money to road maintenance agencies according to the quota plan given by the Ministry of Finance. 25 per cent of the planned fund for 2018 has been disbursed.

The agencies so far have disbursed over VNĐ1.4billion ($61,000), approximately 70 per cent fund given to them.

The second quarter’s fund and disbursement plan is on the way. How is the process of bidding for road maintenance going?

In the beginning of 2018, in order to increase transparency in selecting contractors, the Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam (DRVN) demanded companies submit their roadmap for the online bidding process and made sure that at least 40 per cent of the bidding packages (for components such as counselling, building, repairing, and purchasing) this year are conducted online.

The packages must be priced in the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) in two methods: Single-envelope bidding or double-envelope bidding. By 2019, all bidding packages will be online.

Would you elaborate on the higher transparency as a result of online bidding process?

After the calls for bids are opened online, the DRVN will continually update the documents, data, blueprints, ingredients’ quality, pricing and so on onto the online files and the final costs would be calculated automatically for all bidders to name their prices. The bidding process is open 24/24 and won’t require any paperwork or a sign of approval from a council.

The bidders of course won’t know who their competitors are.

After the bidding process, the Department of Public Procurement will present the list of participating contractors to the transport ministry as well as the DRVN, and the list will be stored in the database of the planning ministry.

The lowest bidder will be invited over by the DRVN to be questioned on their capacity, whether they meet technical requirements for the construction. If the lowest bidder is deemed unsatisfactory, the second lowest will be invited over, and so on, the whole process would ensure the transparency of the online process.

Would you please tell us more about the distribution of the road maintenance fund’s revenues after the bidding has been completed?

The expected revenues of VNĐ6.8trillion ($296 million) in 2018 will be transferred entirely to the finance ministry. The fund only provides the list of bidders, the disbursement of fund for winning bidders would be the responsibility of the finance ministry.

Sixty five per cent of this will be directed to the DRVN to pay the contractors, of the 65 per cent, more than half (55 per cent) will be given to the local transport departments for the maintenance and repairs of locally managed roads.

The DRVN has the responsibility to implement bidding processes and oversight and inspection of such processes.

What is your opinion on the fact that all bidding package will be online in 2019?

With over 300 road maintenance packages per year, online bidding will ensure faster bidding for road maintenance packages. Online bidding will also attract more bidders, increase the competitiveness in the bidding, which means better chances of having a capable contractor, both financially and technology-wise, maybe even contractors from overseas, which in turn, helps to the maintenance of roads in Việt Nam. — VNS