Revised law prioritises local contractors   Medical equipment being showcased at a recent fair in HCM City.The revised bidding law, which took effect in January, includes a separate clause on the bidding process for medicines and medical equipment purchases by the State, medical insurance funds, healthcare services incomes, and other legal sources of public clinics. - VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Vy HA NOI (VNS)- The revised bidding law, which took effect in January, prioritises local bidders, made-in-Viet Nam products, human resource development, and job creation. Le Van Tang, Head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Bidding Management Department, said that the revised bidding law also helped improve the efficiency of State capital spending. The revised law encourages community supervision in the selection of bids and contract practices. Individual responsibility and corresponding punishments for particular improper bidding activities is regulated. These regulations are made to avoid the consequences of closed-bids. There is also a separate part on the bidding process for medicines and medical equipment purchases that spend State capital, medical insurance funds, healthcare services incomes, and other legal sources of public clinics. The current law also amends some regulations related to contract management in order to improve responsibilities of bidders and contractors. These regulations aim at easing practices of contracts that do not suit the nature of the bids and that may cause waste. The selection of investors in the Public-Private Partnership projects and online procurement are also presented in separate chapters. The objective of the online procurement is to ensure information disclosure and to simplify bidding procedures. This is in line with the country's commitment to fight corruption and increase the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of public procurement systems. The revised law also introduces several options to evaluate the bidding dossiers for the bidding organisers to select, particularly the packages on constancy and construction work. And finally, under the new legislation, all foreign bidders are welcome to take part in international bidding in Viet Nam. However, it is required that foreign contractors work in partnership with a Vietnamese company or sign a sub-contract with a local company. Further, foreign contractors are only allowed to employ foreign workers when there are no qualified Vietnamese workers available for projects. Also, the new law devotes a chapter on e-procurement and legislative requirements on information disclosure, as well as transparency throughout the procurement process and project implementation. The law also deals with the imposition of sanctions on violations or acts of prohibition. Any organisation or individual violating the law will be exposed in the mass media. -VNS