Thông tư 01/2015/TT-BKHDT

Form No. 6

LIST OF KEY CONSULTANTS OF THE BIDDER ⁽¹⁾

Notes:

 (1) If requirements for key employees of the bidder are specified in Section 2 of Chapter II according to terms of reference, this form shall be changed as follows:

Form No. 7

CURRICULUM VITAE OF CONSULTANT

Intended position: ____________________________________________________

Bidder’s name: _________________________________________________________________

Consultant’s full name: ________________________________ Nationality: ________________

Profession: _____________________________________________________________

Date of birth: _____________________________________________________

Professional organization: _____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Work experience

Intended tasks in the contract:

Capacity: [describe experience and training courses participated in which suit the assigned tasks. Specify the tasks of each project, name/address of the investor/soliciting entity.]

_________________________________________________________________________

Education: [specify relevant qualifications, issuers, learning period, and types of qualifications]

_________________________________________________________________________

Foreign language:

________________________

 [specify the foreign language level]

_________________________________________________________________________

Contact: [insert name, phone number, email of the contact for verification of information]

________________________________________________

I hereby declare that the above statement is truthful to the best of my knowledge and that knowingly providing false information or omitting information may result in legal liability.

Notes:

- Each individual consultant on the list form No. 6 must complete this declaration.

- The bidder shall enclose copies of employment contracts and photocopies of the qualifications/practicing certificates of the listed consultants.

Part two

REQUIREMENTS APPLIED TO CONSULTING SERVICES

Chapter IV

SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENTS APPLIED TO CONSULTING SERVICES

This Chapter consists of requirements applied to consulting services and plan for execution of consulting service contract

1. Overall introduction of project

 [provide brief information about the project such as project name, investor, sources of capital, investment decision, main operations of project, etc.]

2. Basic description of consulting services

 [provide information about the scale, characteristics, and complexity of consulting services.]

3. Execution plan

 [insert intended beginning time and completion time.]

4. Bidder’s experience and employees

 [specify employees requirements applied to the whole contract and each position.]

TEMPLATE
INVITATION TO BID FOR PROVISION OF CONSULTING SERVICES

 (Enclosed with Circular No. 01/2015/TT-BKHĐT dated February 14, 2015 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABBREVIATIONS

Part one. INSTRUCTIONS FOR BIDDERS

Chapter I. Procedures for bidding

A. OVERVIEW

B. PREPARATION OF BID-ENVELOPES

C. SUBMISSION OF BID-ENVELOPES

D. OPENING AND EVALUATING BID-ENVELOPES

E. Contract awarding

Chapter II. Datasheet

Chapter III. VALIDITY OF BID-ENVELOPES AND CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION OF BID-ENVELOPES

Part two. Technical proposal forms

Form No. 1: Bid form  (Technical proposal)

Form No. 2: Letter of authorization

Form No. 3: Joint venture agreement

Form No. 4: Organizational structure and experience of bidder

Form No. 5: Suggestions to complete terms of reference

Form No. 6: Solutions and methodology proposed by the bidder to provide consulting services

Form No. 7: List of consultants

From No. 8: Curriculum vitae of consultant

Form No. 9: Work schedule

Part three. Financial proposal forms

Form No. 10A: Bid form (Financial proposal)

Form No. 10B: Bid form (Financial proposal)

Form No. 11: Cost summary

Form No. 12A: Remunerations for consultants

Form No. 12B: Analysis of remunerations for consultants

From No. 13. Other expenses of consultants

Part four. Terms of reference

Part five. Contract requirements

Chapter IV. General conditions

Chapter V. Specific conditions

Chapter IV. Sample contract

Form No. 14: Consulting service contract (all-inclusive contract)

Form No. 15: Consulting service contract (fixed-term contract)

ABBREVIATIONS

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Part one. INSTRUCTIONS FOR BIDDERS

Chapter I. Procedures for bidding

This Chapter provides information that helps bidders prepare their bid-envelopes, including regulations on preparing, submitting, opening, evaluating bid-envelopes, completing, and concluding the contract.

Chapter II. Datasheet

This Chapter provides specific regulations applied to each particular procurement.

Chapter III. Validity of bid-envelopes and criteria for evaluation of bid-envelopes

This Chapter consists of criteria for evaluating validity of bid-envelopes; criteria for technical and financial evaluation of bid-envelopes.

Part two. TECHNICAL PROPOSAL FORMS

This part consists of technical proposal forms to be completed by the bidder which are part of the technical proposal.

Part three. FINANCIAL PROPOSAL FORMS

This part consists of financial proposal forms to be completed by the bidder which are part of the financial proposal.

Part four. TERMS OF REFERENCE

Terms of reference include introduction of the procurement, tasks, reporting, time, bidder’s experience and employees, responsibility of the soliciting entity.

Part five. CONTRACT

Chapter IV. General terms of contract

This Chapter consists of general terms uniformly applied to every contract of various procurements.

Chapter V. Specific terms of contract

This Chapter consists of specific terms of each particular contract which are set by the investor in accordance with general terms and specific requirements for execution of the procurement/project.

Chapter IV. Contract form

This Chapter provides the forms that are an integral part of the contract.

Part one

INSTRUCTIONS FOR BIDDERS

Chapter I

BIDDING PROCEDURES

A. OVERVIEW

Section 1. Bidding contents

1. The soliciting entity shall invite bidders for the consulting service procurement of the project or the procurement plan mentioned in the datasheet. Name and primary tasks of the procurement are specified in the datasheet.

2. Contract execution time is specified in the datasheet.

3. Sources of capital for execution of the contract are specified in the datasheet.

Section 2. Eligibility of bidders

A contractor is eligible when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

1. The bidder has been granted registration by a competent authority of the country in which the bidder is operating;

2. The bidder is keeping independent accounting records;

3. The bidder is not undergoing dissolution process, is not thrown into bankruptcy, and does not incur bad debts as prescribed by law;

4. The bidder has been registered on national bidding network as prescribed in the datasheet;

5. Competitiveness in bidding is ensured as prescribed in Section 3 of this Chapter;

6. The bidder is not banned from bidding;

7. The bidder is shortlisted (if shortlisting is applied); shortlisted bidders must not set up joint ventures to bid for the contract;

8. The bidder has a joint venture member or a contractor that is a Vietnamese contractor as prescribed in the datasheet.

Section 3. Assurance of competitiveness in bidding

1. The bidder must be legally and financially independent from the investor/soliciting entity, particularly:

a) The bidder does not belong to the same supervisory organization of the public service agency;

b) The bidder and the investor/soliciting entity do not hold more than 30% of stake of each other.

2. The bidder must be legally and financial independent from other bidders mentioned in the datasheet, particularly:

a) The bidders do not belong to the same supervisory organization of the public service agency;

b) The bidders do not hold shares or stakes of each other, do not hold more than 20% of shares or stakes of the same entity.

3. In case of selective bidding, the bidder and other bidders in this procurement do not hold more than 20% of shares of stakes of each other.

Section 4. Bidding costs

1. The bidders shall incur every costs of participation in the bidding from the receipt of the EOI request (if any), ITB from the soliciting entity until the contractor selection result is given (or until the contract is concluded for the successful bidder) The soliciting entity shall not incur any costs related to the participation of bidders in all cases.

2. Bidders, subcontractors (if any) and consultants of bidders are responsible for every tax liability incurred from the contract execution.

Section 5. ITB and clarification of ITB

1. The contents of the ITB are specified in the table of contents above. Bidders are responsible for checking and examining contents of ITB. The method for evaluating bid-envelopes is specified in the datasheet.

2. Any bidder who needs clarification of the ITB shall send a written request to soliciting entity (address and time are specified in the datasheet). The bidder may send a prior notice to the soliciting entity by fax, email, etc. After receiving the written request for clarification by the deadline, the soliciting entity shall make a written response without specifying the name of the requesting bidder, and send it to every bidder who receives the ITB from the soliciting entity. If the clarification leads to revision to the ITB, the soliciting entity shall revise the ITB in accordance with Section 6 of this Chapter.

Where necessary, the soliciting entity shall hold a pre-bidding convention to the contents of the ITB that need clarifying. The discussion shall be recorded by the soliciting entity in writing and sent to every bidder that receives the ITB. Absence from the pre-bidding convention is not a reason for disqualifying bidder.

Section 6. Revisions to ITB

1. ITB may only be revised before bid closing by making revisions to the ITB.

2. Revisions to ITB are considered an integral part of the ITB and must be sent to every bidder that receives the ITB.

3. The time for sending revisions to ITB to the bidders is specified in the datasheet. In order for bidders to have enough time to revise their bid-envelopes, the soliciting entity may defer the bid closing time as prescribed in Section 17 of this Chapter. Every bidder must notify the soliciting entity of the receipt of the revisions in writing, by post, by fax or email.

Section 7. Incentives for bidders

1. Incentive rules

a) If a bidder is eligible for more than one incentives mentioned in this Section, only the most beneficial incentive shall apply.

b) If there are bid-envelopes that are equally ranked after including incentives, the bidder located in the administrative division where the procurement is launched shall be preferred.

2. The subjects and methods of calculating incentives are specified in the datasheet.

3. The bidder eligible for incentives mentioned in Clause 2 of this Section must make a declaration in the technical proposal and enclose supporting documents with it.

B. PREPARATION OF BID-ENVELOPES

Section 8. Language

The bid-envelopes and every document pertaining to the bidding exchanged between the soliciting entity and the bidder must use the language prescribed in the datasheet.

Section 9. Contents of the bid-envelopes

The bid-envelope prepared by a bidder must contain:

1. Technical proposal documents, including:

a) Documents proving the bidder’s eligibility, capacity, and experience prescribed in Section 13 of this Chapter;

b) The technical proposal prescribed in part two;

c) Other contents prescribed in the datasheet.

2. The financial proposal prescribed in part three;

Section 10. Bid form

The bid form, including the bid form enclosed with the technical proposal (Form No. 1 in Part two) and the bid form enclosed with the financial proposal (form No. 10A or 10B in Part three) must:

1. Bear the signature and seal (if any) of the bidder’s legal representative (who is the legal representative of the bidder or an authorized person according to a valid letter of authorization using Form No. 2 in Part two). In case of authorization, the bidder must enclose with it the documents proving the eligibility of the authorized person prescribed in the datasheet. If the bidder is a joint venture, the bid form must bear the signature and seal (if any) of legal representatives of every joint venture member or the head member of the joint venture according to the joint venture agreement; Any joint venture member that authorizes a representative must enclose documents proving the eligibility of the authorized person with the bid form as if independent contractors.

2. Specify the contract execution time which conforms with the technical proposal.

3. On the bid form enclosed with the financial proposal, the bid price must be written in both numbers and words, suitable for the total bid price on the cost summary sheet; do not offer various bid prices or attached with conditions that are disadvantageous to the investor or the soliciting entity.

Section 11. Bid price and discount

1. Bid price is the price written by the investor on the bid form enclosed with the financial proposal, including all expenditures (before reduction) on execution of the contract according to the datasheet.

2. Discount offered by the bidder (if any) must be written on a separate letter of discount or directly on the bid form using Form No. 10B in Part Three. The letter of discount may be submitted separately or together with the financial proposal as long as it is received by the soliciting entity before bid closing time. If the letter of discount is submitted together with the financial proposal, the bidder must notify the soliciting entity before or at the bid closing time or have a list of financial proposal composition which includes the letter of discount. If the letter of discount is not submitted together with the financial proposal, it must be put in a sealed envelope saying “Letter of discount” and the text “Do not open together with technical proposal”. The bidders shall decide how to seal the envelope). The letter of discount must specify the discounting method and discounted items mentioned in the financial proposal. If discounting method is not specified, it will be understood all items mentioned in the financial proposal receive equal discounts.

3. The bidder must propose expenditures on contract execution using Form No. 11, 12A and 13 provided in Part Three. Analysis of remunerations for consultants is specified in the datasheet.

4. If fixed price method is applied, the bid price must not exceed the contract execution costs specified in the datasheet.

Section 12. Currency

The bid price shall be offered in the currency prescribed by the datasheet. Domestic costs of contract execution must be proposed in VND.

Section 13. Documents proving the bidder’s eligibility, capacity, and experience

The bidder shall prepare and enclose the following documents with the technical proposal:

1. Documents proving the bidder’s eligibility:

a) Independent bidders shall provide documents proving their eligibility as prescribed in the datasheet.

b) Bidders being joint ventures must provide the following documents:

- Documents mentioned in Point a of this Clause of each joint venture member;

- The joint venture agreement using form No. 3 in Part Two.

2. Documents proving the bidder’s capacity and experience:

a) The bidder’s capacity and experience shall be described using form No. 4 and 7 provided in Part Two. The capacity and experience of a joint venture is the total capacity and experience of its members based on the scope of each member. Each member has to prove that their capacity and experience satisfy requirements of the ITB.

b) Other documents prescribed in the datasheet.

Section 14. Effective period of bid-envelopes

1. Effective period of bid-envelopes is not shorter than the period prescribed in the datasheet. The effective period is from the bid closing time to the last effective day prescribed in the ITB. The period from bid closing time to 24:00 of the bid closing date is considered 01 day. Any bid-envelope that has a shorter effective period than that prescribed in the datasheet shall be disqualified.

2. If necessary, before the expiration of bid-envelopes, the soliciting entity may request bidders to extend it (both the technical proposal and financial proposal). Any bid-envelope that is not extended by the bidder shall be disqualified. The bidders that extends the effective period must not make any change to their bid-envelopes. The request for extension, agreement/disagreement on extension must be made in writing.

Section 15. Format of bid-envelope and signatures on bid-envelope

1. Each bidder must  prepare an original copy and some photocopies of the bid-envelope as prescribed in the datasheet and write “original” or “photocopy” on them.

2. The bidder is responsible for the accuracy and consistency between the original copy and photocopies. During the assessment process, if the soliciting entity finds technical defects of the photocopies such as blur, unclear text, missing pages, or other defects, the contents of the original copy shall prevail. In case of any discrepancy between the original copy and the photocopy which does not change the bidder’s ranking, the original copy shall prevail. In case of any discrepancy between the original copy and the photocopy which leads to a change to the bidder’s ranking, the bid-envelope will be disqualified.

3. Bid-envelopes must be typed, printed with indelible ink, and have page numbers. The bid form, letter of discount, additional documents, clarifying documents, and other forms must bear the signature of the bidder’s legal representative as instructed in Part Two and Part Three.

4. If the bidder is a joint venture, the bid-envelope must bear the signatures of legal representatives or all joint venture members or the member that represents the joint venture according to the joint venture agreement. In order to ensure that all joint venture members are legally bound, the joint venture agreement must bear the signatures of legal representatives or all joint venture members.

5. Text that is added, inserted, deleted, or overwritten is only valid if there is a signature of the person that signs the bid form next to it or on that same page.

C. SUBMISSION OF BID-ENVELOPES

Section 16. Sealing and noting on the envelope

1. The contents of a bid-envelope are specified in Section 9 of this Chapter. The original copy and photocopies of the technical proposal must be put into a sealed envelope saying “Technical proposal” on the outside. The original copy and photocopies of the financial proposal must be put into a sealed envelope saying “Financial proposal” and “Do not open at the same time as technical proposal” on the outside. The envelopes of the technical proposal and technical proposal must be put in a sealed envelope (the bidder shall decide how to seal the envelopes). The method of presenting information on the envelope is specified in the datasheet.

2. If the technical proposal and financial proposal consists of multiple documents, the bidder must pack all of them in a way that ensures convenient receipt and preservation of the documents, ensures their integrity, and avoids misplacement. If they must be put into multiple packs for convenient transport, the packs must be numbered and noted ("of technical proposal” or “of technical proposal”. Each of the pack must be sealed as prescribed in this Section.

3. The bidder is responsible for any consequence or disadvantage if failing to adhere to regulations of ITB such as failing to seal or losing the seal of the bid-envelopes while they are being sent to the soliciting entity, failing to write correct information on the envelop as instructed in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Section. The soliciting entity is not responsible for the confidentiality of information of bid-envelopes if the bidder fails to follow the instructions in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Section.

Section 17. Deadline for submitting bid-envelopes

1. Bidders shall submit bid-envelopes directly or by post to the soliciting entity’s address ensuring the soliciting entity receive them before the bid closing time prescribed in the datasheet. The soliciting entity shall receive bid-envelopes submitted before the bid opening time, including those who have not bought or received the ITB from the soliciting entity. Any bidder that has not bough the ITB must pay soliciting entity an amount equal to the selling price for a set of ITB before their bid-envelopes are received.

2. The soliciting entity may extend the bid closing time if it is necessary to increase the quantity of bid-envelopes or the ITB are revised as prescribed in Section 6 of this Chapter or at the request of bidders.

3. When extending the bid closing time, the soliciting entity shall send written notifications the bidders that have received the ITB from the soliciting entity and have submitted their bid-envelopes, post it on the national bidding network and Vietnam Public Procurement Review Journal (including the English version in case of international bidding). The soliciting entity must specify the new deadline in order for bidders to revise their bid-envelopes (including their effective period) to new requirements. Any bidder who has submitted the bid-envelope may have it returned for revision. Any bid-envelope that is not returned shall be treated as “confidential documents” by the soliciting entity.

Section 18. Late submission of bid-envelopes

Any bid-envelope that is sent to the soliciting entity after the bid closing time shall be disqualified and returned the bidder as is. Every document that is sent by the bidder after the bid closing time is considered invalid, except for documents sent by the bidder to clarify the bid-envelope at the request of the soliciting entity or documents proving the bidder’s eligibility, capacity, and experience prescribed in Section 21 of this Chapter.

Section 19. Revision, replacement, or withdrawal of bid-envelopes

1. After submitting the bid-envelope, the bidder may withdraw, replace, or revise it by sending a written notification which specifies the new contents or revisions and bears the signature of the bidder’s legitimate representative. In case of authorization, a valid letter of authorization using Form No. 2 provided in Part Two must be enclosed. Every notification must be prepared and submitted to the soliciting entity in accordance with regulations in Section 16 of this Chapter. The envelope of the notification must have the text “Withdrawal of bid-envelope” or “Replacement of bid-envelope” or “Revisions to bid-envelope”. The soliciting entity must receive the notification before the bid closing time prescribed in Section 17 of this Chapter.

2. The bid-envelope that the bidder wishes to withdraw shall be returned to the bidder as is. The bidder must not withdraw, replace, or revise the bid-envelope after the bid closing time until the expiration date of the bid-envelope written on the bid form (or the expiration date of the renewed bid-envelope).

D. OPENING AND EVALUATING BID-ENVELOPES

Section 20. Opening technical proposals

1. Technical proposals shall be publicly opened at the time and location prescribed in the datasheet. Only open the technical proposals received by the soliciting entity before the bid closing time at the presence of bidders’ representatives, regardless of the presence of the bidders themselves. The soliciting entity may invite representatives of relevant agencies to attend the opening ceremony.

2. Technical proposals shall be opened by alphabetical order of bidders’ names as follows:

a) Check the seal;

b) Open the envelope and read:

- The seal condition;

- The bidder’s name;

- Quantity of original copies and photocopies of the technical proposal;

- The bid form enclosed with the technical proposal;

- Effective period of the technical proposal;

- Contract duration;

- Relevant information.

3. The information mentioned in Clause 2 of this Section shall be written on the bid opening record. The bid opening record must bear the signatures of representatives of the soliciting entity and bidders who attend the bid opening ceremony. This record shall be sent to all bidders.

4. The representative of the soliciting entity shall sign the original copy of the bid form, the letter of authorization (if any), joint venture agreement (if any), and important documents of each technical proposal.

5. All financial proposals shall be sealed by the soliciting entity in a separate envelope which bears the signature of representatives of the soliciting entity and bidders who attend the opening ceremony.

Section 21. Clarifying bid-envelopes

1. After bid-envelopes are opened, bidders are responsible for clarifying them at the request of the soliciting entity. Every request for clarification and response of bidders must be made in writing. The clarification shall only be carried out between the soliciting entity and the bidder whose bid-envelope needs clarifying. The clarification must not change the nature of the bidder, basic contents of the bid-envelopes submitted, or the bid price. Clarifying documents shall be kept by the soliciting entity as an integral part of bid-envelopes.

2. The written request for clarification must specify the deadline for the bidder to provide clarification. If the soliciting entity does not receive any clarifying documents by the deadline or the clarification documents are not satisfactory, the soliciting entity shall evaluate the bid-envelopes according to information on the bid-envelopes before the bid closing time.

3. Clarification of technical proposals during their evaluation is specified in Section 22 and Section 23 of this Chapter. If the technical proposal does not include documents proving the bidder’s eligibility, capacity, and experience, the soliciting entity shall request the bidder to provide them.

If the technical proposal does not include documents proving the bidder’s eligibility, capacity, and experience after the bid closing time, the bidder may send additional documents to the soliciting entity by the deadline prescribed in the datasheet. The soliciting entity shall receive clarifying documents from the bidder. Such additional documents are considered an integral part of the technical proposal. The soliciting entity must send a written notification of the receipt of additional documents to the bidder, whether directly, by post, fax, or email, etc.

4. Clarification of financial proposals during their evaluation is specified in Section 25 of this Chapter.

Section 22. Inspection and evaluation of validity of technical proposals

1. Inspecting the validity of the technical proposal:

a) Inspect the quantity of original copies and photocopies of the technical proposal as prescribed in Clause 1 Section 15 of this Chapter.

b) Inspect the composition of the technical proposal, including:

- The bid form enclosed with the technical proposal prescribed in Clause 1 and Clause 2 Section 10 of this Chapter;

- The joint venture agreement (if any) prescribed in Clause 1 Section 10 of this Chapter;

- The letter of authorization to sign the bid form (if any) prescribed in Clause 1 Section 10 of this Chapter;

- Documents proving the bidder’s eligibility, capacity, and experience prescribed in Section 13 of this Chapter.

- The technical proposal form;

- Other contents of the technical proposal;

- Appendices and enclosures to the technical proposal prescribed in the datasheet.

c) Inspect the consistency between the original copy and photocopies to serve the thorough evaluation of the technical proposal.

2. Evaluating the validity of the technical proposal:

A technical proposal is considered valid when all of the conditions prescribed in Clause 1 Section 1 of Chapter III are satisfied.

3. The bidder whose technical proposal is valid shall undergo thorough technical evaluation prescribed in Section 23 of this Chapter.

Section 23. Thorough evaluation of technical proposal

1. Thorough evaluation of the technical proposal shall comply with the evaluation criteria prescribed in Chapter III.

2. If the lowest price method, fixed price method, or combined method is applied, the list of technically qualified bidders must be approved in writing. The soliciting entity shall send the list to every bidder, invites the technically qualified bidders to attend the envelope opening ceremony for evaluation as prescribed in Section 24 and Section 25 of this Chapter.

3. If the technology-based method is applied, the report on verification of the list of technically qualified bidders and bidders having highest technical scores must be approved in writing. The soliciting entity shall send the list of bidders having highest technical scores to every bidder, invites the bidders on the list to attend the envelope opening ceremony for contract negotiation as prescribed in Section 29 of this Chapter. Financial proposals shall be opened in accordance with the procedures prescribed in Clause 3 Section 24 of this Chapter.

4. If the bidder is a joint venture, the capacity, experience of the joint venture is the total capacity, experience of the joint venture member. Only the capacity, experience that involves their tasks in the joint venture are taken into account.

Section 24. Opening financial proposals

1. Financial proposals shall be publicly opened at the time and location written on the notification sent to bidders, at the presence of representatives of bidders whose financial proposals are opened and representatives of relevant agencies (if necessary). Financial proposals shall be opened regardless of the presence of invited bidders.

2. At the opening ceremony, the soliciting entity shall announce the written approval for the list of technically qualified bidders, then open each of their financial proposals in alphabetical order of bidders’ name.

3. Financial proposals shall be opened in the following order:

a) Check the seal;

b) Open the financial proposal;

c) Read and write the following information on the opening record:

- The seal condition;

- The bidder’s name;

- Quantity of original copies and photocopies of the financial proposal;

- The bid form in the technical proposal;

- Effective period of the financial proposal;

- Bid price written on the bid form and price on the cost summary sheet (Form No. 11 in Part Three);

- Discount (if any).

- Technical scores of bid-envelopes that are technically qualified;

- Relevant information.

4. The opening record must bear the signatures of representatives of the soliciting entity and bidders who attend the opening ceremony. Photocopies of the opening record shall be sent to all technically qualified bidders.

5. The representative of the soliciting entity shall sign every page of the original copy of the financial proposal.

Section 25. Evaluation of financial proposal

1. Inspecting the validity of the financial proposal:

a) Check the quantity of original copies and photocopies of the financial proposal;

b) Check the composition of the financial proposal, including: the bid form enclosed with the financial proposal, cost summary sheet, consultant’s remuneration table; consultant’s remuneration analysis sheet (if any); and other contents of the financial proposal;

c) Inspect the consistency between the original copy and photocopies to serve the thorough evaluation of the financial proposal.

2. Evaluating the validity of the technical proposal:

A financial proposal is considered valid when all of the conditions prescribed in Clause 2 Section 1 of Chapter III are satisfied.

3. Thorough evaluation of financial proposal:

a) The financial proposal shall undergo thorough evaluation in the same tax situation mentioned in the datasheet and evaluation criteria in Chapter III. During the evaluation of the financial proposal, the soliciting entity shall make correction of errors and adjustment of deviations in accordance with Section 26 and Section 27 of this Chapter.

b) After thorough evaluation of the financial proposal, the bidder ranked first as prescribed by the datasheet shall be invited to contract negotiation as prescribed in Section 29 of this Chapter.

Section 26. Correction of errors

1. Numerical errors and other errors shall be corrected as follows:

a) Numeric errors because of incorrect calculations. In case of inconsistency between the unit price and amount, the unit price shall be the basis for error correction. If decimal errors in the unit price are found, the amount shall be the basis for error correction.

b) Other errors

- If there is an amount without a unit price, the unit price will be calculated by dividing the amount by the quantity. If there is a unit price without an amount, the amount will be calculated by multiplying the unit price by the quantity. If there is a unit price and amount without quantity, the quantity will be calculated by dividing the amount by the unit price. If the additional values are different from those in the ITB, the deviation shall be adjusted in accordance with Section 27 of this Chapter;

- Incorrect units shall be corrected according to the ITB;

- In case of any discrepancy between the technical proposal and financial proposal, the technical proposal shall apply.

- In case of any discrepancy between the number and text, the text shall apply. If the text is incorrect, the number after error correction prescribed in this Section shall apply;

- In case of inconsistency between the cost summary sheet and the consultant remuneration sheet or consultant expense sheet, the consultant expense sheet that is corrected to the consultant expense analysis sheet (if any) shall be the basis for error correction.

- In case of any discrepancy between a price in the bid form (exclusive of discount) and that in the cost summary sheet, the price in the expense sheet shall apply after the sheet is corrected in accordance with this Section.

2. After error correction prescribed in Clause 1 of this Section, the soliciting entity shall send a written notification of the error correction to the bidder. Within 03 working days from the receipt of the notification, the bidder must inform the soliciting entity of the agreement on error correction. Any bidder who rejects the error correction shall have the bid-envelope disqualified.

Section 27.Adjustment of deviation

1. Adjustment of deviation shall be carried out in a way that ensures fairness, transparency, and economic efficiency.

2. After adjustment of deviation, the soliciting entity shall send a written notification of such adjustment to the bidder. Within 03 working days from the receipt of the notification, the bidder must inform the soliciting entity of the agreement on error correction. Any bidder who rejects the adjustment of deviation must provide explanation for the soliciting entity.

Section 28. Information security and contact with soliciting entity

1. Information about evaluation of bid-envelopes and nomination of successful bidders must be kept confidential and must not be revealed to any bidder or person who does not involve in the contractor selection process until the contractor selection result is published. Information about a bidder’s bid-envelope must not be revealed to other bidders in all cases, unless it is published at bid opening.

2. Except for the opening of technical proposals prescribed in Section 20, opening of financial proposals prescribed in Section 24, clarification of bid-envelopes prescribed in Section 21, and contract negotiation prescribed in Section 29 of this Circular, bidders must not contact the soliciting entity to obtain information about their bid-envelopes and the procurement throughout the period from bid closing time to announcement of contractor selection result.

Section 29. Contract negotiation

1. Contract negotiation is based on:

a) Bid-envelope evaluation report;

b) Other documents and clarifying documents (if any) submitted by bidders;

c) ITB.

2. The contract negotiation time is specified in the data sheet.

3. Contract negotiation rules:

a) The bidder’s proposals that are conformable with ITB shall not be negotiated;

b) During the negotiation process, the bidder must not change the employees proposed in the bid-envelope, unless the evaluation period is extended or another force majeure event in which the key employees proposed by the bidder cannot participate in contract execution. In this case, the bidder may change the employees and ensure that the education, capacity, experience of the replacements are equivalent to or higher than the proposed employees. Bid price must not be changed.

4. Contract negotiation contents:

a) Specific duties and tasks of the bidder;

b) Technology transfer and training (if any);

c) Work plan and employees;

d) Schedule;

d) Employees change plan (if any);

e) Working conditions;

g) Negotiation over consulting service charges that suit the requirements of the procurement and practical conditions, including determination of taxes payable by the contractor prescribed by regulations of law on taxation of Vietnam (if any), tax payment method (tax is paid directly by the contractor or deducted from by the investor from the amount payable to the contractor), tax amount and other issues related to tax liability must be specified in the contract;

h) Negotiation about contents that is unspecific, unclear, unconformable, or inconsistent between the ITB and bid-envelope that lead to disputes or affect responsibilities of parties during the contract execution process;

i) Negotiation on the issues that arise during the contractor selection process (if any) in order to complete specific contents of the procurement;

k) Negotiation on other issues.

5. During the contract negotiations, both parties shall make a draft contract, terms and conditions, and contract appendices.

6. If the bidder does not comply with the deadline prescribed in Clause 2 of this Section or the negotiation is not successful, the soliciting entity shall request the investor to invite the bidder ranked next to contract negotiation. If the negotiation with the next bidder is not successful, the soliciting entity shall request the investor to consider canceling the bidding as prescribed  in Clause 1 Article 17 of the Law on Bidding.

E. CONTRACT AWARDING

Section 30. Conditions for successful bidder

A bidder shall be proposed for contract awarding when the following conditions are satisfied:

1. The bidder has a valid bid-envelope;

2. The bidder has a satisfactory technical proposal;

3. The bid price after error correction and deviation adjustment (if any) is lowest if lowest price method is applied; or the technical score is highest if fixed price method or technology-based method is applied; or the total score is highest if mixed method is applied;

4. The successful bid does not exceed the bid price which is the bases for identifying successful bidder according to the datasheet.

Section 31. Rights of the soliciting entity to accept, reject bid-envelopes, or cancel the biding

The soliciting entity is entitled to accept, reject bid-envelopes, or cancel the bidding in accordance with the Law on Bidding and its guiding documents.

Section 32. Publishing of contractor selection result

1. After a decision to approve the contractor selection result is issued, the soliciting entity shall post the result on national bidding network or Vietnam Public Procurement Review Journal, concurrently send a notification of the result to every bidder (including the successful bidder and unsuccessful bidders). Contents of the notification of contractor selection result:

a) Name of the successful bidder;

b) Successful bid;

c) Type of contract;

d) Contract duration;

dd) Notes (if any);

e) List of unsuccessful bidders and brief explanation for each of them;

g) Plan for completion and conclusion of contract with the selected bidder.

2. The soliciting entity shall send a written notification to the successful bidder together with the draft contract prescribed in Chapter VI, which contains specific information about the procurement and plan for contract completion, specifies the time, location, and issues to be discussed when completing the contract.

Section 33. Completion and conclusion of contract

Section 33. Completion and conclusion of contract

1. The completion and conclusion of contract is based on:

a) The draft contract;

b) Contents to be completed between the soliciting entity and the successful bidder;

c) The approved contractor selection result;

d) The contract negotiation record;

dd) Contents of the bid-envelopes and clarifying documents for the bid-envelopes provided by the successful bidder (if any);

e) Requirements mentioned in the ITB.

2. After receiving the notification of successful bidder, the successful bidder must send a written acceptance to complete and conclude the contract to the soliciting entity by the deadline prescribed in the datasheet. In case of a joint venture, the concluded contract must bear the signatures of every joint venture member. If the soliciting entity does not receive a written acceptance by the aforesaid deadline or the bidder refuses to complete and conclude the contract, the soliciting entity shall request the investor to consider cancelling the contractor selection result and invite the bidder ranked next to contract negotiation as prescribed in Section 29 of this Chapter. In this case the soliciting entity will request the bidder to renew the bid-envelope if necessary.

3. If the bidder refuses to complete, conclude the contract without satisfactory explanation, the soliciting entity shall post information about that bidder on national bidding network as the basis for judging that bidder’s reputation for the next biddings.

4. After the contract is completed, the investor and the contractor will conclude it.

Section 34. Complaints in bidding

1. Bidders are entitled to file complaints against the contractor selection result and relevant issues that arise during the contractor selection process when they find that their lawful rights and interests are infringed.

2. Complaints against issues other than contractor selection result shall be settled as follows:

a) The bidder must send the complaint to the investor before the contractor selection result is published;

b) The complaint must be sent to the investor according to the name and address mentioned in the datasheet. The investor shall send a response to the bidder within 07 working days from the day on which the complaint is received;

c) If the investor does not make a response or the bidder does not concur with the response, the bidder may send a complaint to the competent person according to the name and address mentioned in the datasheet within 05 working days from the deadline for responding or from the receipt of the investor’s response;

d) The competent persons shall send a response to the bidder within 05 working days from the day on which the complaint is received.

3. Complaints against contractor selection result shall be settled as follows:

a) The bidder must send the complaint to the investor within 10 days from the day on which the contractor selection result is published;

b) The investor shall send a response to the bidder within 07 working days from the day on which the complaint is received;

c) If the investor does not make a response or the bidder does not concur with the response, the bidder may send a complaint to the competent person and the Complaint Settlement Council within 05 working days from the deadline for responding or from the receipt of the investor’s response.

The bidder must pay a fee of 0.02% of the bidder’s bid price. Nevertheless, the fee must not fall below VND 1,000,000 and must not exceed VND 50,000,000. If the bidder’s complaint is proved truthful, such fee shall be refunded by the jointly responsible entity;

d) When receiving the complaint, the Complaint Settlement Council shall request the bidder, investor, soliciting entity, and relevant agencies to provide necessary information, then send a report to the competent person on the response contents within 20 days from the day on which the complaint is received;

dd) The competent person shall issue a decision on complaint settlement within 05 working days from the receipt of the report sent by the Complaint Settlement Council.

4. The bidder is entitled to bring the case to court at any time, even during the complaint settlement process or after the complaint settlement result is given. If the case has been brought to court, the bidder shall not send the complaint to the investor or competent person anymore. If the bidder brings the case to court during the complaint settlement process prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Section, the complaint settlement process shall be immediately terminated.

Section 35. Actions against violations committed during bidding

1. Any entity that violates regulations of law on biding and relevant regulations of law shall, depending on the nature and severity of the violations, face disciplinary actions, administrative penalties, or criminal prosecution. Compensation shall be paid for any violations against regulations of law on bidding that infringe state interest, the lawful rights and interests of other entities.

2. Apart from the actions mentioned in Clause 1 of this Section, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, the violator may be banned from bidding and added to the list of unconformable bidders on national bidding network.

3. Any bidder that commits a violation that lead to a ban from bidding may be banned from bidding for the projects/procurements under the management of the competent person, a Ministry, regulatory body, and local government, or nationwide as prescribed in Clause 3 Article 90 of the Law on Bidding.

4. Transparency of actions against violations:

a) The decision on actions against violations shall be sent to the violator, relevant organizations, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment;

b) The decision on actions against violations shall be published on Vietnam Public Procurement Review Journal and national bidding network.

Section 26. Participation in monitoring the contractor selection process

Competent persons shall appoint the individuals or units mentioned in the datasheet to monitor the contractor selection process. Any bidder that finds misconduct during the contractor selection process that is against regulations of law on bidding must notify the aforementioned person or unit.

Chapter II

DATASHEET

The datasheet consists of specific contents of the procurement according to Chapter I (Bidding procedures). If there is any discrepancy between Chapter I and this Chapter, this Chapter shall prevail.

Chapter III

VALIDITY OF BID-ENVELOPES AND CRITERA FOR EVALUATION OF BID-ENVELOPES

Section 1. Validity of bid-envelopes

1. A bid-envelope is considered valid when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

a) There is an original copy of the technical proposal;

b) The bid form enclosed with the technical proposal bears the signature and seal (if any) of the bidder’s legal representative as prescribed in Section 10 of Chapter I. The bidder must specify the time for executing the contract that suits the technical proposal. If the bidder is a joint venture, the bid form must bear the signature and seal (if any) of legal representatives of every joint venture member or the head member of the joint venture according to the joint venture agreement;

c) The effect of the technical proposal is conformable with Section 14 of Chapter I;

d) The bidder’s name does not appear in two or more technical proposal as the main contractor (independent contractor or joint venture member);

dd) There is a joint venture agreement bearing the seal and signature of legal representatives of every joint venture member (if any);

e) The bidder is eligible as prescribed in Section 2 of Chapter I;

g) The bidder is capable of operation as prescribed by corresponding regulations of law (if any).

The bidder whose technical proposal is valid shall undergo thorough technical evaluation. The bidders whose technical proposals are invalid will be disqualified.

2. A financial proposal is considered valid when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

a) There is an original copy of the financial proposal;

b) The bid form enclosed with the financial proposal bears the signature and seal (if any) of the bidder’s legal representative as prescribed in Section 10 of chap 1; the bid price is written in both numbers and words, and suitable for the total bid on the quotation; various bids or conditions that are disadvantageous to the investor or the soliciting entity are not made. If the bidder is a joint venture, the bid form must bear the signature and seal (if any) of legal representatives of every joint venture member or the head member of the joint venture according to the joint venture agreement;

c) The effect of the financial proposal is conformable with Section 14 of Chapter I.

The bidder whose financial proposal is valid shall undergo thorough financial evaluation. The bidders whose financial proposals are invalid will be disqualified.

Section 2. Criteria for evaluation of bid-envelopes

When establishing evaluation criteria, the straight text is compulsory and the italic text is instructional. Necessary revisions may be made to suit the characteristics of the procurement on a case-by-case basis. However, it is prohibited to establish any criterion that restricts the participation of bidders or bring advantage to one or some bidders and thus causes unfair competition.

Evaluation criteria must be specified in the ITB. During the evaluation of bid-envelopes, the evaluation criteria mentioned in ITB must be complied with without any change.

1. Criteria for technical evaluation

a) Technical evaluation of each bid-envelope shall be done by grading (on a scale of 100 or 1,000), including:

Key employees mentioned in (3) of the table must have long-term or indefinite employment contracts with the bidder. If key employees that are not under the management of the bidder are employed, specific explanation must be provided.

b) The establishment of criteria for technical evaluation must satisfy the following requirements:

- If lowest price method, fixed price method, or combined method is applied:

+ The minimum scores for bidder’s capacity and experience, solution and methodology, and employees must not fall below 60% of the maximum scores for such criteria. Any bid-envelope that fails to reach the minimum score for any of the aforesaid criteria shall be considered technically unsatisfactory.

+ The minimum technical score must not fall below 70% of the maximum technical score. Any bid-envelope that reaches the minimum technical score is considered technically satisfactory.

- If technology-based method is applied:

+ The minimum scores for bidder’s capacity and experience, solution and methodology, and employees must not fall below 70% of the maximum scores for such criteria. Any bid-envelope that fails to reach the minimum score for any of the aforesaid criteria shall be considered technically unsatisfactory.

+ The minimum technical score must not fall below 80% of the maximum technical score. Any bid-envelope that reaches the minimum technical score is considered technically satisfactory.

2. Financial evaluation

a) Lowest price method

- Determine the lowest price:

- Determine the bid;

- Correct errors;

- Adjust deviations;

- Subtract discount (if any);

- Convert the bid currency into a common currency (if any);

- Determination value of incentives (if any);

- Compare bid-envelopes to determine the lowest price.

b) With regard to fixed price method

- Determine the bid;

- Correct errors;

- Adjust deviations;

- Subtract discount (if any);

- Convert the bid currency into a common currency (if any);

- Determine the successful bid which does not exceed the fixed contract execution cost mentioned in the ITB.

c) With regard to combined method

- Determination of pricing score:

- Use the scale of 100 or 1,000 (the same as the technical scoring scale). Pricing score is determined as follows:

Where:

+ Pricing score_{in consideration}: Pricing score of the financial proposal in consideration;

+ G_lowest: Bid after correction of errors, adjustment of deviation, subtraction of discount (if any) that is lowest among bidders who undergo financial evaluation;

+ G_{in consideration}: Bid after correction of errors, adjustment of deviation, subtraction of discount (if any) of the financial proposal in consideration.

- General evaluation criteria:

General score is calculated as follows:

General score_{in consideration} = K x Technical score_{in consideration} + G x Pricing score_{in consideration}

Where:

+ Technical score_{in consideration}: Score determined during technical evaluation;

+ Pricing score_{in consideration}: Score determined during pricing evaluation;

+ K: Ratio of technical score to total score, which accounts for 70% - 80%;

+ G: Ratio of pricing score to total score, which accounts for 20% - 30%;

+ K + G = 100%;

- Determine preferential general score (if any).

Part two

Technical proposal form

The technical proposal prepared by a bidder must contain:

Form No. 1

BID FORM⁽¹⁾

 (Technical proposal)

 [Location and date]

To: ____________________ [name of the soliciting entity]

 (hereinafter referred to as “soliciting entity”)

After carefully studying the ITB (including revisions thereof, if any), we, __________ [insert name of bidder] pledge ourselves to provide _____________________ [insert scope of consulting services] in accordance with ITB. Contract execution period: _____________________ [insert time for performing all tasks required in ITB and suitable with technical proposal]. Our bid-envelope consists of technical proposal and financial proposal that are sealed separately.

We hereby declare that:

1. We only participate in this bid-envelope as main contractor.

2. We are not undergoing dissolution process, are not thrown into bankruptcy, and do not incur bad debts as prescribed by law.

3. We do not commit violations against regulations on assurance of competitiveness in bidding

4. Every information provided herein is truthful to be best of our knowledge without corruption, bribery, or collaboration in bidding.

5. Proposed employees will not be changed over the effective period of this bid-envelope which is ____________ [insert number of days]⁽³⁾ from __________________ to _______________________ [insert bid closing date]⁽⁴⁾.

Notes:

 (1) Bidder must provide sufficient and accurate information including names of soliciting entity and bidder, effective period of the bid-envelope, which bears the signature and seal (if any) and of the bidder’s legal representative.

 (2) The contract execution period mentioned in the bid form (enclosed with the technical proposal) must conform to the technical proposal and work schedule in Form No. 9 of this Part.

 (3) Effective period of the bid-envelope is from the bid closing date to its expiration date as prescribed in ITB. The period from bid closing time to 24:00 of the bid closing date is considered 01 day.

 (4) Insert the bid closing date as prescribed in Section 17.1 of the datasheet.

 (5) If the bidder’s legal representative authorizes his/her subordinate to sign the bid form, a letter of authorization (Form No. 2 provided in this Chapter) must be enclosed. If the company’s charter or another document permits such subordinate to sign the bid form, such document shall be enclosed (In this case, the letter of authorization is not required). If the successful bidder must present certified true copies of these documents to the investor before contract conclusion. If information provided is found inaccurate, the bidder will be considered fraudulent as prescribed in Point c Clause 4 of the Law on Bidding and shall be dealt with in accordance with Section 35 Chapter I of ITB.

 (6) Any foreign bidder who does not have a seal must provide a certification of signature issued by a competent organization that the signature on the bid form and other documents in the bid-envelope belong to the bidder’s legitimate representative.

Form No. 2

LETTER OF AUTHORIZATION

 [Location and date]

I am ___________ [insert name, ID/passport number, position of bidder’s legal representative], the legal representative of _______ [insert name of bidder] at _____________ [insert address of bidder] hereby authorizes _____________ [insert name, ID/passport number, position of authorized person] to perform the following tasks during the participation in the process of bidding for ____________ [insert name of the procurement] of _____________ [insert name of the project] held by ____________ [insert name of the soliciting entity]:

 [- Sign the bid form;

- Sign the joint venture agreement;

- Sign documents with the soliciting entity during the shortlisting processing, including the request for clarification of the ITB and bid-envelopes; sign bid-envelope revisions, replacements, or decision to withdraw the bid-envelope;

- Participate in contract negotiation;

- Participate in contract conclusion;

- Sign complaint letter (if any);

- Sign contract with the investor if the bidder is successful.]

The authorized person only performs the tasks within the area of competence of a legal representative of __________ [insert name of bidder]. ____________ [insert name of bidder] is totally responsible for the tasks performed by ___________ [name of authorized person] within the authorization scope.

The letter of authorization is effective from __________ [date] to _________ [date] and is made into _______ copies with equal value. _____ copies are kept by the authorizer, and _______ copies are kept by the authorized person.

Form No. 3

JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT

 [Location and date]

Procurement: ____________ [name of the procurement]

Project: ____________ (name of the project)

- Pursuant to __________ [the Law on Investment No. 43/2013/QH13 dated November 26, 2013];

- Pursuant to ²  _________________ [the Government's Decree No. 63/2014/NĐ-CP dated June 26, 2014 on implementation of some Articles on contractor selection of the Law on Bidding];

- In response to ITB for _______________ [insert name of procurement] dated __________ [insert date written on ITB];

Representatives of signatories to the joint venture agreement include:

Name of joint venture member _______________ [insert name of each joint venture member]

Representative: Mr./Ms. __________________________________________________

Position: __________________________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________

Phone number: _________________________________________________________________

Fax: __________________________________________________________________

E-mail: ____________________________________________________________________

Account: _________________________________________________________________

TIN: _________________________________________________________________

Letter of authorization No. ___________ dated ___________ (in case of authorization).

The members have reached a consensus on entering into a joint venture agreement with the following contents:

Article 1. General rules

1. Members voluntarily establish this joint venture to participate in the process of bidding for __________ [insert name of procurement] of _______________ [insert name of project].

2. Official name of the joint venture used in every transaction related to the procurement: ______________ [insert the agreed name of the joint venture].

3. Every member is committed not to unilaterally participate or establish a joint venture with another member to participate in this procurement. If awarded the contract, no member is entitled to refuse to fulfill the duties and obligations prescribed in the contract. Any member of the joint venture that refuses to perform their duties as agreed must:

- Pay damages to other parties in the joint venture

- Pay damages to the investor as prescribed by the contract

- Incur other disciplinary actions __________ [specify the action].

Article 2. Assignment of duties

All members unanimously to undertake joint and separate responsibility to execute __________ [insert name of procurement] of _______________ [insert name of project] as follows:

1. Head member of the joint venture

All parties unanimously authorize ________ [insert name of a party] as the head member of the joint venture who represents the joint venture to perform the following tasks:

 [- Sign the bid form;

- Sign documents with the soliciting entity during the bidding process, including the request for clarification of the ITB and bid-envelopes;

- Participate in contract negotiation

- Participate in contract conclusion;

- Sign complaint letter (if any);

- Perform other tasks except for contract conclusion: _______________ [specify other tasks (if any)]

2. Tasks of joint venture members are specified in the table below:

Article 3. Effect of joint venture agreement

1. The joint venture agreement takes effect from the day on which it is signed.

2. The joint venture agreement expires in the following cases:

- All parties have fulfilled their duties and finalize the contract;

- The agreement is unanimously terminated by all parties;

- The joint venture is not awarded the contract;

- The bidding for ____________ [insert name of the procurement] of ___________ [insert name of the project] is cancelled as notified by the soliciting entity.

The joint venture agreement is made into _______ copies with equal legal value, each party keeps _________ copies.

LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE OF HEAD MEMBER

 [Full name, position, signature, and seal]

LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES OF JOINT VENTURE MEMBERS

 [Full name, position, signature, and seal of each member]

Form No. 4

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND EXPERIENCE OF BIDDER

A. Organizational structure of bidder

 [Briefly describe the establishment and organization of the bidder (or each member if the bidder is a joint venture). Describe the quantity of consultants who have long-term or indefinite contracts with the bidder, experience of each consultant]

B. Experience of bidder

Similar consulting service contracts executed by the bidder over the last ___________  years.

The bidder shall use the table below to describe each consulting service similar to the consulting service required in the procurement that was provided by the bidder (as an independent contractor, joint venture member, or subcontractor).

The bidder must enclose photocopies of relevant documents.

Form No. 5

SUGGENTIONS (IF ANY) TO COMPLETE TERMS OF REFERENCE

 [Specify suggestions offered by the bidder to complete terms of reference serving contract execution]

Suggested revisions to terms of reference:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Form No. 6

SOLUTIONS AND METHODOLOGY PROPOSED BY THE BIDDER TO PROVIDE CONSULTING SERVICES

The technical proposal prepared (including charts) by the bidder consists of 3 parts:

1. Solution and methodology

2. Working plan

3. Organizational structure and personnel

Form No. 7

LIST OF PARTICIPATING CONSULTANTS

Form No. 8

CONSULTANT’S RÉSUMÉ

Intended position: ____________________________________________________

Bidder’s name: _____________________________________________________________

Consultant’s name: ________________________________ Nationality: ________________

Profession: _____________________________________________________________

Date of birth: _____________________________________________________

Employer: _____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Work experience:

Intended tasks in the contract:

Capacity:

 [Specifically describe experience and training courses taken by consultants that suit their assigned tasks. Specify the tasks given in each project and name/address of the investor/soliciting entity]

_________________________________________________________________________

Education:

 [Specify relevant qualifications, issuers, time, and type of qualifications]

_________________________________________________________________________

Foreign language:

_________________________________________________________________________

Contact: [name, phone number, email address of the contract]

________________________________________________

I hereby declare that the information provided above is truthful to the best of my knowledge and I am legally responsible for such information.

Notes:

- Each individual consultant on the list Form No. 7 must complete this form.

- The bidder shall enclose with this copies of the employment contracts and qualifications of the consultants.

Form No. 9

WORK SCHEDULE

Notes:

 (1) Enumerate all tasks with specific schedule.

 (2) There must be a chart showing time limit for each task with notes and explanation if necessary.

Part Three

SAMPLE FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

The financial proposal prepared by a bidder must be based on the technical proposal, be conformable with requirements and regulations of ITB, and contain the following information:

Form No. 10A

BID FORM

 (of financial proposal)

 [Location and date]

To: ____________________ [name of the soliciting entity]

After carefully studying the ITB (including revisions thereof, if any), we, __________ [insert name of bidder] pledge ourselves to provide _____________________ [insert scope of consulting services] in accordance with ITB. We enclose this financial proposal with the technical proposal with the total amount of _________ [insert a value in number, in words, and currency] with effective period of ____________ days [insert number of days according to effective period of technical proposal from ______________ [insert bid closing date].

Form No. 10B

BID FORM

 (of financial proposal)

 [Location and date]

To: ____________________ [name of the soliciting entity]

After carefully studying the ITB (including revisions thereof, if any), we, __________ [insert name of bidder] pledge ourselves to provide _____________________ [insert scope of consulting services] in accordance with ITB. We enclose this financial proposal with the technical proposal with the total amount of _________ [insert a value in number, in words, and currency].

Furthermore, we hereby voluntarily offer a discount of ___________ [insert a value in number, in words, and currency].

Bid after discount: ________________ [insert a value in number, in words, and currency]

This financial proposal is effective for ____________ days [insert number of days according to effective period of technical proposal from ______________ [insert bid closing date].

Form No. 11

COST SUMMARY

Form No. 12A

REMUNERATIONS FOR CONSULTANTS

Currency:

Form No. 12B

ANALYSIS OF REMUNERATIONS FOR CONSULTANTS

Currency:

Notes. This form will not be used if the bidder is not required to analyze remunerations for consultants.

Form No. 13

OTHER EXPENSES OF CONSULTANTS

Part Four

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Terms of reference include:

I. Introduction:

Overall description of the project and procurement.

Purposes of contractor selection.

II. Scope:

1. Detailed description of contractor’s tasks, sources of capital, project investor, project duration, quantity of people needed (if any).

2. Detailed description of bidder’s duties to be performed during the execution of the consulting contract.

3. Intended commencement time of consulting services (usually not exceeding 30 days from the contract conclusion date).

III. Reporting

Reports to be submitted and time for submitting reports.

IV. Bidder’s experience and employees:

Required employees for the contract and each position.

V. Responsibilities of soliciting entity

Estimate the ability to provide working conditions and supporting employees of the soliciting entity, documents related to consultants’ tasks, including existing research documents in order to enable the bidder to perform their tasks.

Part Five

CONTRACT

Chapter IV

GENERAL CONDITIONS

Article 1. Interpretation of terms

In this contract, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. “Contract” means a written agreement between the investor and the contractor, including appendices and enclosures.

2. “Contractual price” means the total amount agreed by the investor and the contractor under the contract.

3. “The investor” is the organization mentioned in “Specific conditions”

4. “The contactor” is the organization that provides consulting services for investor as prescribed in this contract and “Specific conditions”

5. “Subcontractor” means the contractor that signs a contract with the main contractor to perform part of the tasks mentioned in the bid-envelope.

6. “Effective date of contract” means the date prescribed in “Specific conditions”.

7. “Days” mean sonar calendar days, including weekends and public holidays.

8. “Other expenses” mean every expense relevant to consulting services in addition to consultants’ salaries.

Article 2. Applied law and language

1. Applied law is Vietnam’s law.

2. The language of the contract is Vietnamese, unless otherwise prescribed in “Specific conditions”.

Article 3. Use of documents and information about the contract

1. Documents and information that are contractor’s products within the scope of this Contract are under the ownership of the investor, unless otherwise prescribed in “Specific conditions”. The contractor may keep copies of such documents and information, but must not use them for other purposes without written consent of the investor.

2. The contractor must not reveal the contents of the contract signed with the investor to any person that is not relevant to the contract execution without the investor’s prior consent in writing. The contractor’s provision of information for persons relevant to contract execution must ensure confidentiality and not exceed the scope of the contract.

Article 4. Copyright

The contractor is totally responsible for damage caused by a third party's complaint (if any) against infringement of copyright relevant to the consulting services provided by the contractor for the investor.

Article 5. Type of contract

The type of contract is specified in “Specific conditions”.

Article 6. Payment

1. The investor shall pay the contractor in accordance with “Specific conditions”.

2. If the investor fails to pay the contractor on schedule as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the investor must pay an interest to the contractor at the basic rate prescribed by the State bank of Vietnam for the period from the first day of late payment to the actual payment date.

Article 7. Contractual price

Contractual price is agreed by the investor and the contractor through the process of contract completion. The contractual price must be conformable with the approved bid and written on the contract.

Article 8. Contract duration

Contract duration is specified in “Specific conditions”

Article 9. Contract revisions

1. During contract execution, if revisions to the contract are necessary, the party that receives the request for contract revisions must consider and set out requirements for such revisions within the period mentioned in “Specific conditions” in order for both parties to negotiate and conclude appendices to the contract.

2. Adjustment to the contractual price must be suitable for the type of contract and conditions in Article 5 of “Specific conditions”.

3. Contract schedule may only be changed in the following cases:

a)  An force majeure event occurs without being related to the investor’s or the contractor’s mistakes/violations;

b) The tasks are changed because of objective requirements and thus affect the contract schedule.

4. Regulations of law on tax are changed during the contract execution and affect the contractual price. In this case, the investor and the contractor shall consider increasing/decreasing the contractual price accordingly.

5. The investor and the contractor shall make change to the contract schedule if such change does not lead to a delay to project completion. If such change leads to a delay to project completion, the investor and the contractor may only make such change if it is permitted by a competent person.

Article 10. Employees

1. The contractor must assign all consultants to perform the tasks proposed in the bid-envelope, unless otherwise agreed by the investor. If replacement of some employee is necessary as prescribed in Section 29 of Chapter I, it must be accepted by the investor. The replacement must have equivalent or better experience and capacity than the replaced employee.

2. If a consultant is incapable of civil acts or fails to fulfill his/her tasks, the investor is entitled to request replacement of such consultant. When receiving the request for replacement of consultant from the investor, the bidder must replace the said consultant with another one whose capacity and experience is accepted by the investor within the period prescribed in “Specific conditions”. Unless otherwise agreed by both parties, the contractor shall incur the replacement cost.

Article 11. Rights and obligations of the contractor

1. The contractor is entitled to:

a) Request the investor to provide information and documents relevant to provision of consulting services;

b) Refuse to perform unreasonable tasks beyond the scope of the Contract;

c) Have the copyright protected by law (if any);

d) Request the investor to pay on schedule as prescribed in Article 6 of this Chapter.

2. The contractor is obliged to:

a) Take responsibility for the quality of their consulting products;

b) Submit reports and documents in accordance with the quantity and time prescribed in the Contract. The contractor must provide the investor with information related to the consulting tasks that may delay or hinder the fulfillment of tasks according to the schedule and offer solutions;

c) Adhere to the schedule and submit consulting products in accordance with the Contract. The Contractor is responsible for presenting and protecting the point of views on contents of consulting tasks during meetings with competent authorities held by the investor (if any);

d) The contractor or subcontractor shall make a commitment to appoint competent and capable representative to settle outstanding issues at the request of the investor at any time (including days off) until the consulting products are accepted;

dd) Provide documents serving meetings, reporting, and evaluation at the request of the investor;

e) Collect necessary information serving the consulting tasks under the Contract.

Article 12. Subcontractor

1. The contractor may sign contracts with subcontractors on the list of subcontractors mentioned in “Specific conditions” to perform part of the tasks mentioned in the bid-envelope. The employment of subcontractors does not affect the contractors’ duties. The contractor is still responsible to the investor for the amount, quantity, punctuality of the works done by subcontractors.

Replacement and addition of subcontractors beyond the list mentioned in “Specific conditions” is subject to permission by the investor.

2. Values of works done by subcontractors prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article must not exceed the ratio (%) of contractual price mentioned in “Specific conditions”.

3. The contractor must not employ subcontractors to perform tasks other than those mentioned in the bid-envelope.

4. Other requirements applied to subcontractors are specified in “Specific conditions”.

Article 13. Compensation for contract violation

1. Unless in force majeure events prescribed in Article 16 of this Chapter, if the bidder does not perform part or all or the tasks under the contract by the deadline, the investor may deduct a compensation from the contractual price, which is a proportion (%) of delayed tasks, for every week behind schedule (or another period as agreed) until such tasks are fulfilled. The maximum deduction is specified in “Specific conditions”. When the deduction reaches the maximum level, the investor may consider terminating the contract as prescribed in Article 14 of this Chapter.

2. With regard to procurement of consulting services on making design documents, estimates, ITB, request for proposals for construction and installation contracts in the form of all-inclusive contract, the contractor is responsible for the accuracy of the quantity of construction and installation works. If such quantity is incorrectly calculated, the contractor shall pay compensation as prescribed in “Specific conditions”.

Article 14. Contract termination on account of the contractor

1. If the contractor fails to perform their tasks as prescribed in “Specific conditions”, the investor may partially or fully terminate the contract by sending a written notification to the contractor.

2. The investor may send the notification of contract termination to the contractor when finding that the contractor goes bankrupt without having to pay any compensation. Such contract termination does not affect the investor’s benefits prescribed by law and the contract.

3. If the investor partially or fully terminates the contract as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the investor may sign a contract with another contractor to execute that terminated part of the contract. The contractor shall pay compensation to the investor for extra expenditures on execution of the terminated part of the contract. However, the contractor must keep executing the unterminated part of the contract.

Article 15. Contract termination on account of the investor

If the investor fails to perform their tasks as prescribed in “Specific conditions”, the contractor may partially or fully terminate the contract by sending a written notification to the investor.

Article 16. Force majeure events

1. In this contract, force majeure events are the events that are beyond the reasonable control and prediction of either party, such as: warfare, riots, strikes, conflagrations, natural disasters, floods, epidemics, quarantine, or adverse weather.

2. Upon occurrence of a force majeure event, the affected party must promptly send a written notification to the other party of such event and the cause of such event together with a confirmation of the force majeure event issued by a competent authority in the area where the event occurs.

While the contractor is not able to provide services because of the force majeure event, the contract shall follow the investor’s instructions to fulfill any contractual obligation possible and take every measure to perform the tasks as long as they are possible. In this case, the investor shall consider reimburseing the contractor for the reasonable costs they incur.

3. The party that fails to fulfill their tasks because of the force majeure event shall not be required to pay damages, not incur penalties, and not have the contract terminated.

Any dispute between the parties because of the force majeure event shall be settled in accordance with Article 17 of this Chapter.

Article 17. Dispute settlement

1. The investor and the contractor shall settle every dispute between them through negotiation.

2. With regard to disputes that cannot be settled through negotiation by the deadline prescribed in “Specific conditions”, either party is entitled to request settlement under the mechanism prescribed in “Specific conditions”.

Article 18. Notification

1. Every notification sent by a party to the other must be made in writing and sent to the address provided in “Specific conditions”.

2. A notification will come into force from the day on which it is received or on the date written thereon, whichever comes later.

Chapter V

SPECIFIC CONDITIONS

Chapter VI

SAMPLE CONTRACT

The consulting service contract might be an all-inclusive or fixed-term contract depending on the nature and requirements of the procurement.

If a contract has one or some subcontracts, the investor shall apply the all-inclusive contract or fixed-term contract form.

The general conditions must not be changed, specific conditions must be made as instructed by the italic text.

Form No. 14

CONSULTING SERVICE CONTRACT

 (for all-inclusive contract)

 [Location and date]

Contract number : _______

Procurement: _________ [insert name of procurement]

Project: _________ [insert name of project]

- Pursuant to  ____________ [Civil Code No. 33/2005/QH11 dated June 14, 2005 of the National Assembly];

- Pursuant to ¹___________ the Law on Bidding No. 43/2013/QH13 dated November 26, 2013 of the National Assembly];

- Pursuant to ¹ _________________ [the Government's Decree No. 63/2014/NĐ-CP dated June 26, 2014 on implementation of some Articles on contractor selection of the Law on Bidding];

- Pursuant to Decision No. _______ dated ________ on approval for result of selection of contractor for ___________ [insert name of procurement] and Notification of contractor selection result No. __________ dated ____________ issued by the soliciting entity;

- Pursuant to the contract completion record signed by the investor and successful bidder (contractor) on ___________ ;

Representatives for the parties to which contract include:

Investor

Investor’s name: ______________

Representative: Mr./Mrs. ___________________________________________________

Position: __________________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________

Phone number: ________________________________________________________________

Fax: _____________________________________________________________________

E-mail: ___________________________________________________________________

Account number: ________________________________________________________________

TIN: _______________________________________________________________

Letter of authorization No. _________ dated [in case of authorization]

Contractor

Contractor’s name: ____________________ [insert name of selected contractor]

Representative: Mr./Mrs. ___________________________________________________

Position: __________________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________

Phone number: ________________________________________________________________

Fax: _____________________________________________________________________

E-mail: ___________________________________________________________________

Account number: ________________________________________________________________

TIN: _______________________________________________________________

Letter of authorization No. _________ dated [in case of authorization]

Both parties agree to conclude a consulting service contract with the following contents:

Article 1. Subjects of contract

Subjects of this contract are the services enumerated in Appendix A “Terms of reference”.

Article 2. Contract documents

Contract documents include:

1. The written contract;

2. Contract appendices including terms of reference, contractor’s employees, contractor’s responsibility for reporting;

3. Contract conclusion record;

4. Decision on approval for contractor selection result;

5. Both parties’ agreement on conditions of the contract, including general conditions and specific conditions;

6. The bid-envelope and clarifying documents thereof provided by the contractor;

7. ITB and supplementing, additional documents thereof;

8. Relevant documents.

Article 3. Responsibilities of the contractor

1. Fulfill the duties mentioned in Article 1 of this contract;

2. Appoint the employees mentioned in Appendix B “Contractor’s employees” to render services;

3. Submit reports to the investor properly and on schedule as prescribed in Appendix C “Contractor’s responsibility for reporting”;

4. Fulfill all duties and obligations mentioned in “General conditions” and “Specific conditions” of the contract.

Article 4. Responsibilities of the investor

1. Pay the contractor according to the contractual price and method of payment prescribed in Article 6 of this contract; fulfill all duties and obligations mentioned in “General conditions” and “Specific conditions” of the contract.

2. Appoint Mr./Mrs. ______________ as the investor’s representative to coordinate activities under this contract.

Article 5. Contractual price, method of payment, and payment deadline

1. Contractual price: ________________ [insert a value in number, in words, and currency. If the contractual price consists of multiple currencies, the value in words and in number of each currency must be written e.g. “USD 5 million + VND 10 billion (five million US dollars and ten billion Vietnam dong)”] This amount is inclusive of all expenses, interest, and taxes payable by the contractor.

2. Payment deadline:

________________ [insert a value/percentage and currency] when the contract comes into force (if deposit is paid).

________________ [insert a value/percentage and currency] when the investor receives and accept the draft report made by the contractor.

________________ [insert a value/percentage and currency] when the investor receives and accept the final report.

Total amount payable: ____________________ [insert value and currency]

 [The payment deadline may be changed to suit the reports specified in Appendix C].

3. Method of payment:

The method of payment is specified in Article 6 of “Specific conditions”

Article 6. Type of contract

This contract is an all-inclusive contract.

Article 7. Contract duration

 [specify the contract duration that is conformable with Clause 2 Section 1 of the datasheet, the bid-envelope, and the result of contract completion].

Article 8. Effect of contract

1. This contract comes into force from ____________ [insert effective date of the contract which is conformable with Clause 6 Article of “Specific conditions”].

2. The contract expires when it is finalized by both parties as prescribed by law.

This contract is made into _____ sets with equal value. The investor shall keep ___ set(s) and the contractor shall keep ____ set(s).

APPENDIX

Appendix A: Terms of reference

Appendix B: Contractor’s employees

Appendix C: Contractor responsibility for reporting

Form No. 15

CONSULTING SERVICE CONTRACT

 (for fixed-term contract)

 [Location and date]

Contract number : _______

Procurement: _________ [insert name of procurement]

Project: _________ [insert name of project]

- Pursuant to  ____________ [Civil Code No. 33/2005/QH11 dated June 14, 2005 of the National Assembly];

- Pursuant to ¹___________ the Law on Bidding No. 43/2013/QH13 dated November 26, 2013 of the National Assembly];

- Pursuant to ¹ _________________ [the Government's Decree No. 63/2014/NĐ-CP dated June 26, 2014 on implementation of some Articles on contractor selection of the Law on Bidding];

- Pursuant to Decision No. _______ dated ________ on approval for result of selection of contractor for ___________ [insert name of procurement] and Notification of contractor selection result No. __________ dated ____________ issued by the soliciting entity;

- Pursuant to the contract completion record signed by the investor and successful bidder (contractor) on ___________ ;

Representatives for the parties to which contract include:

Investor

Investor’s name: ______________

Representative: Mr./Mrs. ___________________________________________________

Position: __________________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________

Phone number: ________________________________________________________________

Fax: _____________________________________________________________________

E-mail: ___________________________________________________________________

Account number: ________________________________________________________________

TIN: _______________________________________________________________

Letter of authorization No. _________ dated [in case of authorization]

Contractor

Contractor’s name: ____________________ [insert name of selected contractor]

Representative: Mr./Mrs. ___________________________________________________

Position: __________________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________

Phone number: ________________________________________________________________

Fax: _____________________________________________________________________

E-mail: ___________________________________________________________________

Account number: ________________________________________________________________

TIN: _______________________________________________________________

Letter of authorization No. _________ dated [in case of authorization]

Both parties agree to conclude a consulting service contract with the following contents:

Article 1. Subjects of contract

Subjects of this contract are the services enumerated in Appendix A “Terms of reference”.

Article 2. Contract documents

Contract documents include:

1. The written contract;

2. Contract appendices, including terms of reference, cost estimate, list of contractor’s employees, contractor’s responsibility for reporting;

3. Contract conclusion record;

4. Decision on approval for contractor selection result;

5. Both parties’ agreement on conditions of the contract, including general conditions and specific conditions;

6. The bid-envelope and clarifying documents thereof provided by the contractor;

7. ITB and supplementing, additional documents thereof;

8. Relevant documents.

Article 3. Responsibilities of the contractor

1. Fulfill the duties mentioned in Article 1 of this contract;

2. Submit reports to the investor properly and on schedule as prescribed in Appendix B “Cost estimate and Contractor’s employees”

3. Arrange employees and estimate costs mentioned in Appendix C “Contractor’s responsibility for reporting";

4. Fulfill all duties and obligations mentioned in “General conditions” and “Specific conditions” of the contract.

Article 4. Responsibilities of the investor

1. Pay the contractor according to the contractual price and method of payment prescribed in Article 6 of this contract; fulfill all duties and obligations mentioned in “General conditions” and “Specific conditions” of the contract.

2. Appoint Mr./Mrs. ______________ as the investor’s assistant to coordinate activities under this contract.

Article 5. Contractual price, method of payment, and payment deadline

1. Contractual price: ________________ [insert a value in number, in words, and currency. If the contractual price consists of multiple currencies, the value in words and in number of each currency must be written e.g. “USD 3 million + VND 7 billion (three million US dollars and seven billion Vietnam dong)”] This amount is inclusive of all expenses, interest, and taxes payable by the contractor, particularly:

- Remunerations for consultants

The investor shall pay the contractor as agreed in Appendix C (one of the three methods).

- Other expenses in addition to remunerations:

The investor shall pay the contractor a maximum amount of ___________ [insert value and currency] to cover the following expenditures:

+ Costs of business trip (traveling expense, allowance for business trip and accommodation), stationery, photocopying, printing documents, and communications. These costs will be reimbursed and must be confirmed by the investor;

+ Other costs approved by the investor.

2. Payment deadline and method of payment are specified in Article 6 of “Specific conditions”.

Article 6. Timesheet

During the working period, including business trips, the investor will fill the timesheet or another document to determine working time of the contractor.

Article 7. Type of contract

This contract is a fixed-term contract.

Article 8. Contract duration

 [specify the contract duration that is conformable with Clause 2 Section 1 of the datasheet, the bid-envelope, and the result of contract completion].

Article 9. Effect of contract

1. This contract comes into force from ____________ [insert effective date of the contract which is conformable with Clause 6 Article of “Specific conditions”].

2. The contract expires when it is finalized by both parties as prescribed by law.

This contract is made into _____ sets with equal value. The investor shall keep ___ set(s) and the contractor shall keep ____ set(s).

APPENDIX

Appendix A: Terms of reference

Appendix B: Cost estimate and contractor’s employees

Appendix C: Contractor responsibility for reporting

APPENDIX: EXAMPLES

Example 1: Criteria for thorough technical evaluation of an international consulting service procurement for survey, design of water supply, drainage, and wastewater treatment systems of city X