The Ministry of Finance has recently submitted a report to the Government following an inspection of the contractor selection process for the construction package for the section passing through Binh Phuoc province, belonging to the Ho Chi Minh City – Thu Dau Mot – Chon Thanh Expressway project, with the Binh Phuoc Project Management Authority as the investor.
This package, with an estimated value of over VND 880 billion, is part of a project with a total investment of VND 1,474 billion for a 7km section in Binh Phuoc.
After the bid opening on March 17, the Truong Son – Thanh Phat Joint Venture was selected with a winning price of VND 845.4 billion, saving more than VND 35 billion compared to the estimate.
However, the other four bidders, including Son Hai Group Joint Stock Company (Son Hai Group) – the bidder with the lowest price (over VND 732 billion) – were disqualified for failing to meet technical requirements.
The investor stated that Son Hai Group did not meet the requirements for materials and equipment, nor did they meet the requirements for implementing the Building Information Modeling (BIM) model and providing machinery and equipment for construction.
![]() Ho Chi Minh City – Thu Dau Mot – Chon Thanh Expressway project through Binh Phuoc province. Photo: Project Management Board |
After reviewing the documents, the Ministry of Finance assessed that the application of the BIM model during the construction phase was appropriate. However, the ministry emphasized that the investor must be responsible for clearly, transparently, and feasibly defining the BIM evaluation criteria to avoid misunderstandings among bidders.
Regarding the evaluation of machinery and equipment for construction, the ministry suggested that the evaluation of related documents should refer to the regulations and opinions of specialized agencies. Therefore, the ministry did not have sufficient grounds to conclude on the legality of the technical inspection papers provided by the bidders.
Concerning the expert group evaluating the documents, the Ministry of Finance confirmed that all three members hold valid practicing certificates until at least October 2028. However, the responsibility for ensuring the capacity and experience of the expert group rests with the investor.
Notably, the Ministry of Finance found inconsistencies in the evaluation between the detailed report and the consolidated report for 4/5 disqualified bidders. While the detailed report assessed the capacity and experience as “not meeting the requirements,” the consolidated report assessed it as “meeting the requirements.”
In addition, according to Chapter III of the Construction Model No. 3A, the requirement for bidders to replace equipment that does not meet the standards should be implemented in the step of evaluating capacity and experience, but the expert group/tenderer performed this evaluation in the technical evaluation step.
Given these discrepancies, the Ministry of Finance recommended that the Government leaders request Binh Phuoc province to study the above contents and then decide and take full responsibility for the selection of contractors for the above construction package.
The ministry also asked the locality to promptly consider and resolve Son Hai Group’s petition in accordance with regulations, without delay, while ensuring the selection of contractors with sufficient capacity, experience, and finance to ensure progress, quality, and prevent waste, corruption, and negativity.
If necessary, the locality can coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to clarify the legality of technical inspection documents, environmental protection, and other matters related to the package.
Previously, Son Hai Group, one of the five bidders, had petitioned to disagree with the disqualification result, despite offering the lowest price.
The Ho Chi Minh City – Thu Dau Mot – Chon Thanh Expressway project passes through Ho Chi Minh City (about 2km of access road), Binh Duong province (52km), and Binh Phuoc province (7km). The section through Binh Phuoc province was inaugurated in December 2024.
Hong Khanh
– 20:51 25/06/2025
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