Hanoi (VNA) – The nationale-procurement system (VNEPS) was the spotlight of the Vietnam E-GovernmentProcurement Forum 2018, the first on the issue at the national scale, in Hanoion August 8.

The VNEPS, run by the national e-procurementcentre, was introduced on a trial basis for six years and officially put intooperation nationwide in 2016.

Statistics of the centre show that the numbersof bid inviters and bidders actively using the VNEPS have increasedconsiderably. In the first seven months of this year, nearly 9,000 bid packageswere offered online, doubling that in the same period of 2017. The figure isexpected to stand at about 15,000 in 2018.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment VuDai Thang said despite encouraging initial outcomes, there remain manydifficulties and challenges in developing e-procurement. Hence, the ministrywill push ahead with fine-tuning the legal basis, improving staff’s capacity,disseminating information to participants, and perfecting technicalinfrastructure.

Alexander Fox, Principal Procurement Specialistat the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Vietnam, said the ADB particularlyrecommends the country modernise the VNEPS. It and the World Bank (WB) willalso strongly assist the Vietnamese Government to improve and promotee-procurement via the VNEPS.

After successfully testing some bid packages inseveral projects of the two banks on the VNEPS, the ADB and WB will expande-bidding for procurement and construction packages of projects funded withtheir capital, he noted.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the ministry’sPublic Procurement Agency, said the VNEPS helps improve the transparency andfair competition in government procurement. Steps in the bidding process areconducted completely online, helping participants save time, cost and manpowerfor the work.

Notably, e-procurement can help minimisenegative acts like cheating, collusion or obstruction in the bidding process.It is also able to keep information about bid prices and bidders’ namesabsolutely secrete before bid packages are put out to tenders, he stressed.

Tuan noted to develop the VNEPS, it is necessaryto improve the awareness of leaders in each entity taking part in the biddingprocess. Authorised agencies also need to improve policies on the management,technologies and operation of the system in order to align domestic legalframework with international practice. –VNA