Vietnam has accepted Chinese contractors to implement its infrastructure bidding packages as a condition for borrowing loans from China, said the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in response to voters’ questions sent to the National Assembly Standing Committee’s Ombudsman Committee concerning the inspection of construction quality of key projects implemented by Chinese contractors that have won bidding for these projects.
Other foreign contractors offering advanced technologies failed as their total construction investment amounts surpassed those of Chinese contractors, explained the MPI, adding that the quality of other investors’ bidding dossiers was low.
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| Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line project__Photo: Internet |
However, a series of projects carried out by Chinese contractors were behind their schedules (for example, the Cat Linh - Ha Dong metro line project) and their construction quality was low and degraded quickly after the expiration of the warranty period (for example, the My Dinh national stadium project).
To solve the problem, the ministry emphasized the necessity to become financially self-sufficient, attract private and foreign investment capital, increase the number of public-private partnership (PPP) projects, improve the quality of project planning and approval and quality of the bidding process to select contractors.
Regarding voters’ opinions on contractor selection, the ministry said the Bidding Law prescribed contractors would be selected based on their satisfaction of technical requirements, not because of cheap prices.
According to the ministry, due to lack of capability and experience, Vietnamese investors fail to put forth technical barriers in their bidding dossiers to reject poor-quality products.
On the consideration of borrowing China’s ODA loans for the Ha Long - Van Don expressway, the ministry said that it has not yet received the proposal to borrow ODA loans from China for the project.
Earlier, the MPI said Quang Ninh province was formulating the Van Don - Mong Cai expressway investment project in the form of PPP and some domestic investors have shown their interest in the project.
China Eximbank’s USD 300 million credit was less concessional than other ODA loans. Therefore, the ministry would work with the Ministry of Finance and other ministries and sectors to select an appropriate project to ensure capital recovery and debt repayment and then report it to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision, said the ministry.
The MPI underscored the necessity to negotiate with donors on the conditions for provision of loans for eligible projects to be put for international bidding in order to select capable contractors with modern technologies and avoid the appointment of Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) general contractors.- (VLLF)
