Overview of the market

• It is a relatively unknown market, but one of the highfliers of the last 10 years, with growth rates amongst the top in the world year after year. Nonetheless, it still lags its larger partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. ​
• Some advantages in the fact that some tenders are publicized also in English (for example via the English language newspapers “Vietnam news” and “Vietnam investment review”). ​
• Vietnam being one of the key countries in receiving multilateral financing (such as from the Asian Development Bank or the World Bank) and bilateral financing (specially the Japanese cooperation, the French, and some other European cooperation institutions, from Belgium, Denmark of the Netherlands), a relevant share of its procurement can be tendered in European languages. ​
• Still has a few perceptible barriers: despite some recent improvements, public procurement in the country is characterized by its low transparency and efficiency; the Vietnamese culture is prone to long negotiations, which can also affect the awarded bids, with long-lasting negotiations, on price, payment terms or collateral. ​
• Another issue to be considered is the EUVFTA (AGO/2020) permits Vietnam to delay the implementation of several specified provisions for up to 10 years, and the Vietnam’s government procurement obligations will not be subject to dispute settlement for 5 years. ​

Opportunities to explore by GOOSE
to help European SMEs:

• The fact that Vietnam is not yet a party to the WTO GPA means that the public procurement commitments under the EU and Vietnam Free Trade Agreement-EUVFTA could provide EU firms with a competitive edge to penetrate previously closed public markets in Vietnam.​
• Some niches of opportunity within infrastructure are in roads and ports, public hospitals and power distribution. ​
• Multilateral and bilateral development institutions will be closely followed, for they provide a safer setting from the point of view of European bidders. Nevertheless, lower cost providers, local or regional, are something to always count upon as competitors, when aiming to access public contracts in Vietnam.​
• In this sense, there is huge potential in anything related to the Green economy: Coastal protection, Flood prevention, Energy transition, Renewable energies, Water treatment, etc

GOOSE’s FACT SHEET ON VIET NAM

Public Procurement factsheet for VIET NAM gives you a quick overview of what you need to know when tendering in Viet Nam. You can find it in the Library