New regulations on investor designation and resolution of petitions in bidding

Accordingly, Decree No. 225/2025/ND-CP amends and supplements a number of articles of Decree No. 23/2024/ND-CP dated February 27, 2024 of the Government detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on Bidding on selecting investors to implement projects in cases where bidding must be organized according to the provisions of the law on management of sectors and fields; Decree No. 115/2024/ND-CP dated September 16, 2024 of the Government detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on Bidding on selecting investors to implement investment projects using land.

Investor nomination process

Notably, Decree No. 225/2025/ND-CP has added 02 important chapters related to the designation of investors and the settlement of petitions in bidding for investor selection. Specifically:

Decree No. 225/2025/ND-CP added Chapter IVb "Investor designation" including Article 44c and Article 44d after Chapter IVa of Decree 115/2024/ND-CP, clearly regulating the types of projects and the process of applying the form of investor designation. Details are as follows:

Article 44c. Projects applying the form of investor appointment

Projects applying the form of investor designation are stipulated in Clause 2a, Article 34 of the Law on Bidding, including:

a) Projects proposed by investors in which the investor has ownership or right to use technology in the list of strategic technologies and strategic technology products according to the provisions of law on science , technology and innovation, law on high technology;

b) The project needs to continue selecting investors who have previously deployed digital infrastructure and digital platforms to ensure compatibility, synchronization, and technical connectivity;

c) Projects need to accelerate progress, promote socio -economic development, and ensure national interests as proposed by investors, including:

c.1) The project needs to be implemented to prevent, immediately remedy or promptly handle consequences caused by natural disasters, fires, unexpected accidents, incidents, catastrophes or other force majeure events;

c.2) National important projects are applied the form of investor designation according to the Resolution of the National Assembly;

c.3) The project is subject to investor designation in accordance with the provisions of law on industry and sector management;

c.4) Projects need to be accelerated to serve national and provincial celebrations and events;

c.5) Projects with sea encroachment activities to create momentum for local socio-economic development according to the direction in the Resolution of the Party Executive Committee of the province or centrally-run city, documents notifying opinions and conclusions of the Standing Committees of provinces or centrally-run cities, and Resolutions of the Provincial People's Council;

c.6) Urban development projects following the TOD model are within the scope of national railway projects according to the provisions of the law on railways.

2. Annually, the competent authority shall report on the results of project implementation by the designated investor, ensuring that the project is implemented in accordance with the requirements on progress, quality and efficiency, and send it to the Ministry of Finance for synthesis and reporting to the Prime Minister in the report on the implementation of bidding activities.

Article 44d. Procedure for appointing investors

1. Investor designation process

a) The normal procedure is applied to projects for which the competent authority prepares a dossier requesting approval of investment policy (for projects subject to approval of investment policy according to the provisions of the law on investment) or a dossier proposing project implementation (for projects not subject to approval of investment policy);

b) The simplified designation process is applied to projects proposed by investors.

2. The procedure for appointing a regular investor as prescribed in Point a, Clause 1 of this Article is carried out as follows:

a) Based on the decision approving the investment policy or the document approving investment project information, the agency, organization, or unit under or directly under the agency shall report to the competent authority for consideration and decision on applying the form of investor designation;

b) Prepare request documents:

The inviting party shall prepare a request dossier including the contents specified in Clause 2, Article 14 of this Decree, except for the content requiring investors to provide bid security.

The competent person and the inviting party (in case of being authorized to approve the request documents) are not required to appraise the request documents; in case appraisal is required, the organization shall appraise the request documents according to the provisions of Article 54 of this Decree before approval;

c) Approval of request documents:

The competent person and the inviting party approve the request documents, in which the proposed investor is identified and sends the request documents to the investor;

d) Prepare and submit proposal documents:

The proposed investor is appointed to prepare and submit the proposal as required by the request for proposal;

d) Evaluation of proposal documents:

The inviting party shall organize the evaluation of bidding documents according to the evaluation methods and criteria specified in the request documents.

During the process of evaluating the proposal, investors are allowed to clarify, amend and supplement the proposal;

e) Approve and publicize the results of investor appointment:

The competent authority is not required to appraise the results of investor designation; in case appraisal is required, it shall organize the appraisal according to the provisions of Article 55 of this Decree before approval.

Approval of the results of investor designation shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 28 of this Decree without having to approve the list of investors meeting technical requirements and without having to rank investors.

The public announcement of the results of investor appointment shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 29 of this Decree;

g) Negotiate, finalize, sign and publicize project contracts:

The inviting party and the investor shall negotiate and finalize the contract in accordance with the provisions of Article 30 of this Decree. The signing and posting of key information of the project contract shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 31 of this Decree.

In case the negotiation and contract completion with the investor are unsuccessful, the inviting party shall report to the competent authority for consideration and decision to cancel the bid according to the provisions of Point a, Clause 2, Article 17 of the Law on Bidding.

3. The procedure for designating a shortened investor as prescribed in Point b, Clause 1 of this Article shall be implemented as follows:

a) After receiving a decision approving the investment policy or a document approving project information, the inviting party shall submit to the competent authority a draft decision approving the results of investor selection, together with a draft contract, explaining the basis for applying the form of investor appointment;

b) The competent authority approves the results of investor designation; the decision includes the contents specified in Points a, b and d, Clause 2, Article 28 of this Decree. The inviting party shall publish the results of investor designation in accordance with the provisions of Article 29 of this Decree;

c) Based on the decision approving the investment policy or the document approving project information, the decision approving the results of investor appointment, the inviting party shall establish capacity requirements and request the investor to propose on land use efficiency or investment efficiency in developing the industry, field, or locality. The inviting party shall evaluate the investor's proposal according to the pass or fail method.

In case the investor fully meets the requirements, the inviting party shall negotiate and finalize the draft contract with the investor and related parties (if any) on the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the parties in implementing the project and other necessary contents (if any). In case the negotiation and finalization of the contract with the investor is unsuccessful, the inviting party shall report to the competent authority for consideration and decision to cancel the bid in accordance with the provisions of Point a, Clause 2, Article 17 of the Law on Bidding;

d) Based on the negotiation results, the signing and posting of key contract information shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 31 of this Decree.

4. For projects specified in Point c, Clause 1, Article 44c of this Decree that require acceleration of progress, investors shall organize the implementation of investment in project construction at the same time as the procedures for negotiation, completion and signing of contracts.

5. For projects specified in Clause 1, Article 44c of this Decree that require national defense and security assurance according to the direction in resolutions, conclusions, and directive documents of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat, and key leaders of the Party and the State, the selection of investors shall be implemented according to the provisions in Clause 4, Article 44b of this Decree.

Processing of bidding proposals for investor selection within 07 working days

Decree No. 225/2025/ND-CP also added Chapter VIIIa "Resolution of petitions in bidding for investor selection" including Articles 61b, 61c and 61d after Chapter VIII of Decree 115/2024/ND-CP, which clearly stipulates the conditions for considering and resolving petitions; petition handling procedures. Specifically as follows:

Article 61b. Conditions for considering and resolving petitions

1. For petitions on issues before the announcement of investor selection results, to be considered and resolved, the petition must satisfy the following conditions:

a) For petitions regarding the bidding documents, the petition must be from agencies and organizations interested in the project; for other contents regarding the process of organizing the selection of investors, the petition must be from the investors participating in the bidding;

b) The petition must be signed and sealed (if any) by the legal representative of the investor, agency or organization submitting the petition or digitally signed via an account, and sent to the National Bidding Network System according to the roadmap for selecting investors online;

c) Investors must send petitions to the inviting party and competent persons within the time limit specified in Clause 1, Article 61c of this Decree.

2. For recommendations on investor selection results, to have the recommendations considered and resolved, investors must meet the following conditions:

a) The petition must be from the investor participating in the bidding;

b) The petition must have the signature and seal (if any) of the legal representative of the investor participating in the bidding or be digitally signed via an account, and sent to the National Bidding Network System according to the online investor selection roadmap;

c) The content of the proposal has not been sued, complained or denounced by the investor;

d) Content of the recommendation related to the results of the bid evaluation;

d) The cost of handling the petition shall be paid by the petitioning investor to the standing unit assisting the Chairman of the Petition Resolution Council (hereinafter referred to as the standing unit). Within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the petition from the investor, the standing unit shall be responsible for sending a notice to the investor of the cost of handling the petition and the method of paying the cost of handling the petition. The investor shall be responsible for paying the cost of handling the petition within 02 working days from the date of receipt of the notice from the standing unit. In case the investor fails to pay the cost of handling the petition, the investor shall be considered as not meeting the conditions for consideration and resolution of the petition;

e) Investors must submit petitions to competent authorities and standing bodies within the time limit specified in Clause 2, Article 61c of this Decree.

3. In case the petition of an investor, agency or organization does not satisfy the conditions specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article, the person responsible for resolving the petition shall notify the investor, agency or organization in writing of the refusal to consider or resolve the petition.

Article 61c. Procedure for handling petitions

1. The settlement of complaints about issues before the announcement of the results of investor selection is carried out according to the following process:

a) Investors, agencies and organizations send petitions regarding the bidding documents to the inviting party before the bidding closing time. Investors send petitions regarding other contents regarding the investor selection process to the inviting party before the announcement of the investor selection results.

b) The Inviting Party must have a written resolution of the petition sent to the investor, agency or organization within 07 working days from the date of receipt of the petition from the investor, agency or organization.

c) In case the investor, agency or organization does not agree with the result of the petition settlement or after the time limit specified in Point b of this Clause, the bid solicitor does not have a document to resolve the petition, the investor, agency or organization has the right to submit a petition to the competent person within 05 working days from the deadline for response or the date of receipt of the petition settlement request from the bid solicitor;

d) The competent person shall have a written resolution of the petition sent to the investor, agency or organization within 07 working days from the date of receipt of the petition of the investor, agency or organization.

2. The settlement of complaints about the results of investor selection is carried out according to the following process:

a) Investors shall submit a petition to the inviting party within 10 days from the date the results of investor selection are posted on the National Bidding Network;

b) The Inviting Party shall send a written response to the investor's petition within 07 working days from the date of receipt of the investor's petition;

c) In case the investor does not agree with the result of the petition settlement or after the time limit specified in Point b of this Clause, the bid solicitor does not have a written petition settlement, the investor has the right to send a petition to the standing body of the Petition Settlement Council as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 61d of this Decree within 05 working days from the deadline for petition settlement or the date of receipt of the petition settlement application of the investor.

Science and technology enterprises and creative startups enjoy a 5% discount when evaluating bidding documents.

In addition, Decree No. 225/2025/ND-CP also added points c and d after point b, Clause 1, Article 6 of Decree 115/2024/ND-CP on the subjects eligible for incentives and the level of incentives in selecting investors in the direction of prioritizing domestic technology enterprises, innovative startups and foreign investors committed to technology transfer. Specifically:

c) Investors that are science and technology enterprises; creative start-up enterprises, creative start-up support organizations recognized by competent authorities; innovation centers; organizations and enterprises that have been granted a Certificate of high-tech enterprise, high-tech incubator, high-tech enterprise incubator, newly established enterprises from investment projects to produce high-tech products according to the provisions of the law on high technology shall enjoy a preferential rate of 5% when evaluating bidding documents;

d) Foreign investors who commit to transferring technology to domestic investors and partners are entitled to a 2% incentive when evaluating bidding documents.

The addition of these two points aims to encourage the development of the startup and innovation ecosystem while improving the quality of foreign investment flows, encouraging foreign enterprises to transfer technology to jointly develop the capacity of Vietnamese enterprises.

Snow Letter

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/quy-dinh-moi-ve-chi-dinh-nha-dau-tu-va-giai-quyet-kien-nghi-trong-dau-thau-102250818150359039.htm