Date: 2021

By: New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and New Zealand Embassy in Vietnam

The handbook "Understanding the Vietnam’s public procurement market through the lens of CPTPP" is built on the basis of studying the current situation of bidding in Vietnam, Vietnam's commitments in the CPTPP Agreement, as well as consulting expertise of the Department of Public Procurement, The Ministry of Planning and Investment, in order to provide the necessary basic information for domestic and foreign contractors who want to learn about opportunities to participate in bidding for bidding packages within the scope of the CPTPP Agreement.

The content of the Handbook is geared towards practical information such as: Summary on the main contents of the Government Procurement commitment in CPTPP; Methods of searching for procurement information in the field of public procurement in Vietnam; Principles of determining bidding packages within the scope of the CPTPP Agreement; How to participate in bidding in Vietnam and some other things to note.

About CPTPP

On 08 March 2018, Viet Nam and 10 trade partners (i.e. Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, and Singapore) signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). This agreement provides opportunities to increase trade and support jobs and growth through eliminating most tariffs, reducing regulatory barriers, opening up public procurement markets... In November, the Vietnamese National Assembly ratified the agreement, which entered into force for Viet Nam on 14 January 2019. With over 96 million inhabitants, a growing middle class, and impressive economic indicators (slightly over 7% growth in 2019), the Vietnamese market offers vast business opportunities for CPTPP companies.

CPTPP is expected to have a significant impact on Viet Nam’s economy through improved GDP growth, institutional and policy reforms. As a Chapter under CPTPP has seen unprecedented commitments, government procurement is a promising area for drastic changes. As this is the first time Viet Nam has opened up its government procurement market and accepted new rules on coverage, procurement principles, and so on, the implementation phase will be likely faced with challenges, given the insufficient knowledge and capabilities of contracting officers and suppliers, and underprepared technology infrastructure.

Local regulatory bodies have been working on transposing CPTPP obligations into national legislation to ensure full enforcement of the agreement and provide a unified legal framework on government procurement. The Guide to government procurement in Viet Nam in the context of CPTPP (the “Guide”) aims to provide critical, useful information that should be known to suppliers who are seeking to pursue procurement opportunities in Viet Nam. Such information, including regulatory issues and practical data, comes with particular emphases on areas potentially affecting business opportunities or suppliers’ exports to Viet Nam. The Guide also answers some of the questions most frequently asked, particularly by international suppliers, about a broad range of topics including key success factors related to participation in covered procurement in Viet Nam.

The Handbook is attached here.