Japan-financed ODA project investors must seriously fight corruption

That is the prerequisite requirement set up by the People’s Committee of Ben Tre for departments and organizations based in the province in an effort to follow the guidance by the Ministry of Planning and Investment at the Document No 3371/BKH-QLĐT dated May 14, 2009.

One of the most important requirements is that project managers must make sure to include an independent and impartial third party in the team of assessment of bid packages (the bid packages include consultancy, goods purchase and construction)  for the Japan-sponsored ODA projects. This independent third party is required to be those organizations and individuals that have enough competence and experiences as qualified by the Law on Procurement. The project investors shall upgrade their bidding competence to make sure a fair assessment of bid packages and selection of exact bidder. This in turn helps raise the efficiency of the corruption fight.

Project investors must provide full information for publishing in the press and procurement information web sites. Information must include:

- For bid packages of consultancy services worth more than 100 million of Japanese yens, required in formation shall include: (1) bidder’s name and nationality; (2) names and nationalities of top-ranking consulting companies; (3) names and nationalities of contracted consulting companies.

- For goods procurement or construction bid packages worth more than 1 billion of Japanese yens, required information shall include: (1) bidders’ names, nationalities and bid prices; (2) selected bidders’ names and nationalities; (3) contractors’ names and nationalities; (4) contract prices.

Information provision is carried out in accordance with guidelines by the Ministry of Planning and Investment at the document No 4073/BKH-QLĐT dated June 5, 2008.

Any guidance for implementation of the above regulations should be consulted at the provincial Department of Planning and Investment. The Department also is assigned to hold training sessions for future bidders in order to make sure bidding processes are carried out under national laws and regulations.

Translated by Tuyet Anh