The Latest on the “Controversial” 24 Billion Dong Tender in Gia Lai

Controversy Surrounding a 24 Billion VND Tender in Gia Lai: The Lowest Bidder is Disqualified

On June 11th, the Van Thien Tri Joint Venture responded to the Education and Training Division of Pleiku City, Gia Lai Province, regarding the controversy over the “24 billion VND tender.” NLD had previously reported on this issue.

The tender for “Procurement of Minimum Equipment – Standard Equipment for Public Schools under Management in 2025,” valued at 24 billion VND, was led by the Education and Training Division of Pleiku City. Businesses had argued that the criteria set by the investor limited the number of bidders.

After the bid opening, the Van Thien Tri Joint Venture submitted a bid of 18.8 billion VND, 4.2 billion VND lower than the winning bid of 23.049 billion VND. The reason given for their disqualification was “failure to meet capacity and experience requirements.”

Following the selection of the winning bid, representatives of the Van Thien Tri Joint Venture expressed their frustration at having submitted the lowest bid, which would have saved the state billions of VND, yet still being disqualified.

Subsequently, the Education and Training Division of Pleiku City issued a document requesting the joint venture to coordinate and clarify related information. The division asked the contractor to review the evaluation report published along with the bid results. The expert group clarified that the reason for the contractor’s failure to meet capacity and experience requirements was that the documents provided were insufficient for evaluation as per regulations.

Additionally, the Education and Training Division of Pleiku City stated that the contractor’s statements to the press were incomplete and did not accurately reflect the reasons for their disqualification, which affected the investor.

In response to the above document, the Van Thien Tri contractor consortium referred to some of the contents of their previous petitions and the responses from the Education and Training Division of Pleiku City before the bid opening. They also requested a review of the tender organization process, as there were changes to the invitation to bid but no extension of the bid opening time as stipulated.

The consortium argued that the unsatisfactory responses from the Education and Training Division of Pleiku City to their petitions had upset the members of the consortium, leading them to voice their frustrations to the press.

In an interview with the press, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thuc, Head of the Education and Training Division of Pleiku City, stated that the division’s consultants had reviewed and evaluated the bids submitted by the contractors. They provided clear criteria for what was achieved and what was not, and requested supplements from the bidders within the allowed time frame. While the Van Thien Tri Joint Venture did provide supplements, they still failed to meet the requirements.

Accepting Adjustments to the Invitation to Bid

Previously, as reported by NLD, for the tender “Procurement of Minimum Equipment – Standard Equipment for Public Schools under Management in 2025,” bidders had requested clarifications on seven contents in the invitation to bid.

One of the main concerns was the short timeframe of only 10 days for contract implementation, especially considering that many of the products needed to be imported as whole units or assembled in Vietnam using imported components and parts. This raised suspicions among bidders that the investor might have intentionally directed bidders to prepare goods in advance.

In response to the bidders’ concerns, the Education and Training Division of Pleiku City agreed to adjust the specifications in the invitation to bid.