NA Standing Committee scrutinises draft revised Law on Bidding

Hanoi (VNA) – The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee discussed some contentious issues on the revised draft Law on Bidding on March 15 as part of its ongoing 21st session in Hanoi.

Reporting on the debate of some of the major contents of the draft, Chairman of the NA’s Committee for Financial and Budgetary Affairs Nguyen Phu Cuong said that in late 2022, the 15th NA looked into the draft at its fourth session. Once the session concluded, the Committee for Financial and Budgetary Affairs coordinated with relevant ministries and agencies to consider legislator opinions and amend the bill.

NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said the draft law is important as it is related to the use of state capital and assets, administrative procedures and processes, the transparency of the investment and business climate, and the prevention of corruption and negative phenomena.

He said that the law should also be applied to businesses where the proportion of state capital to charter capital is less than 50% or zero as they use state capital for investment.

Provided that state capital is used, bidding is compulsory, he emphasised.

Regarding COVID-19 vaccine procurement, Hue said this is an unprecedented issue, so regulations on such special cases should be included in the draft so that the Government or the Prime Minister won’t have to issue specific resolutions in the future.

The top legislator also requested further consideration of some issues in the field of health care such as negotiations on the price of medicine or bidding on special drugs and chemicals to ensure smooth operation.

Concluding the discussion, NA Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai asked the Committee for Financial and Budgetary Affairs to continue working with relevant agencies to collect and consider more opinions from legislators and related bodies to ensure the quality of the draft law to be submitted to the parliament./.