Open Contracting in Vietnam

Development Gateway is proud to announce a new program with the Government of Vietnam, supported by the World Bank Open Contracting team to help increase the transparency and use of public contracting data. This work will support the government’s interest in implementing open contracting principles and improve its monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the procurement process.

Since 2009, the Public Procurement Agency (PPA) of Vietnam has been working to transition from a paper-based procurement system to an e-procurement model. After discussions with Open Contracting Partnership representatives earlier this year, and in line with the PPA’s ten year action plan, “Vision 2025 for Public Procurement,” DG will be leading an innovative research program for open contracting and M&E. This program will aim to provide insights and good practices to inform the transition from PPA’s existing pilot eProcurement system to a modern eProcurement system to be finalized in 2018.

In addition to converting tenders and awards into the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) format, work will also inform the development of a PPA monitoring and evaluation prototype. This prototype will support the government’s quest for increased procurement transparency, fairness, efficiency, timeliness, and quality. In particular, this tool will explore methods to help identify potential collusive bidding practices — hopefully ultimately saving public funds by serving as a corruption “early warning” system. Furthermore, increased scrutiny can also ensure fair competition amongst bidders, providing even business-footing in Vietnam.

Over the coming months, we will share what we are learning in partnership with the Government of Vietnam, including on the process of transforming data from existing systems into the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS), developing tools for procurement M&E, and identifying next steps to strengthen the Government’s existing systems and processes.