VietNamNet Bridge – Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang was quoted in Dat Viet as saying that rumors that China had prohibited its state-owned businesses to offer bids for projects in Vietnam were not a cause for concern.

China prohibits businesses from bidding on projects in Vietnam

Vietnamese contractors are sufficiently capable to work on these projects.

“No need to worry if Chinese contractors really give up Vietnam,” Thang said.

Do Thang Hai, deputy minister of Industry and Trade on June 10, said that Mot The Gioi’s reporters who had contacted the ministry had not received any official information about the ban.

Le Van Tang, head of the Bidding Management Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said he was very surprised when reading the information in newspapers.

“We have not received any official information or notice about that,” Tang said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh declined to comment.

The South China Morning Post on June 9 quoted sources as saying that the Chinese government had prohibited state-owned enterprises to join new bids in Vietnam.

A senior executive of a Chinese state-owned enterprise affirmed that a Chinese Ministry of Trade leader called and conveyed information about the ban. Other sources were also cited.

When asked what Vietnam should do if China imposed economic sanctions during escalating tensions in the East Sea, Tran Hoang Ngan, a member of the National Assembly’s Economics Committee, said Vietnam needs to improve its capacity to adapt to any possible circumstance.

“Fair play and adequate capacity are the things Vietnamese contractors should do to prove that they are capable enough to undertake important projects,” Ngan said.

Though economists and experts repeatedly affirm that Vietnamese businesses are good enough to implement most of the projects in Vietnam, the companies actually do not have many opportunities to become EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) contractors of important projects.

A report from the National Assembly’s Finance & Budget Committee showed that 90 percent of the projects executed by 2010 had been assigned to Chinese as EPC contractors.

“We cannot understand why Chinese contractors can win bids to implement 90 percent of the power projects and 80 percent of transport projects,” said Dang Ngoc Tung, a National Assembly’s deputy.

Most of the projects implemented by Chinese contractors have had problems. The total investment capital the Vietnamese investors had to pay was always higher than the initial estimates.

The Tan Rai and Nhan Co projects, implemented by Chinese Chalieco, for example, cost VND16.8 trillion and VND3.8 trillion, respectively, more than the initial estimates.

MOT’s Minister Dinh La Thang once identified the names of incapable contractors, many of which are from China, including those undertaking key projects in Vietnam.

Thang warned that if contractors cannot speed up implementation of projects in Vietnam, they would be locked out from joining bids for projects in Vietnam.

Compiled by C. V