PROVIDING AMENDMENTS TO CIRCULAR NO. 98/2025/TT-BTC DATED OCTOBER 27, 2025 OF MINISTER OF FINANCE OF VIET NAM PRESCRIBING FORMS OF BIDDING DOCUMENTS FOR SELECTION OF INVESTORS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS AND BUSINESS INVESTMENT PROJECTS; PROVISION AND PUBLISHING OF INFORMATION ON PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP INVESTMENT, AND BIDDING FOR INVESTOR SELECTION ON VIET NAM NATIONAL E-PROCUREMENT SYSTEM

1. Clause 1a is added following clause 1 Article 3 as follows:

“1a. Abbreviations used in this Circular and on VNEPS include:

a) E-TBMQT means the electronic invitation for expressions of interest (EOI);

b) E-HSMQT means the electronic Request for Expressions of Interest (REoI);

c) E-HSDKTHDA means the electronic application for project implementation;

d) E-HSDXDA means the electronic project proposal dossier for a business investment project submitted by an investor;

dd) E-VBDXDA means the electronic project proposal submission form for a business investment project submitted by an investor;

e) E-DXDA means the electronic project proposal for a business investment project submitted by an investor;

g) E-KQTHHD means the electronic record of contract performance results;

h) E-LSHDDA means the electronic record of the suspension or termination of operation of an investment project;

i) E-VBDKTHDA means the electronic application form for project implementation;

k) E-VBTTLD means the electronic consortium agreement among the consortium members.”

2. Some points of clause 2 Article 3 are amended as follows:

a) Point d clause 2 is amended as follows:

“d) Invitation for EOI, E-TBMQT, invitation for bid;”

b) Point dd Clause 2 is amended as follows:

“dd) EOI request, E-HSMQT, bidding documents;”

c) Point i Clause 2 is amended as follows:

“i) Clarifications and modifications to the EOI request, E-HSMQT, applications for project implementation, E-HSDKTHDA, bidding documents, and bids; petitions for consideration of issues concerning investor selection result;”

3. Article 5 is amended as follows:

a) Heading of Article 5 is amended as follows:

b) The first paragraph of clause 1 is amended as follows:

The EOI requester, procuring entity, and expert team shall organize preparation of the invitation for EOI, E-TBMQT, EOI request, E-HSMQT, bidding documents, and request for proposals in accordance with provisions of the Law on Bidding, the Government's Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP dated July 07, 2026, guidelines given by supervisory ministries (if any) and relevant laws as follows:”

c) Point a clause 1 is amended as follows:

“a) The invitation for EOI, E-TBMQT, EOI request, and E-HSMQT shall be prepared using the forms provided in Appendix V and Appendix V.A enclosed herewith;”

d) Clause 2 is amended as follows:

“2. For a project applying simplified procedures for direct appointment of investor as prescribed in point b clause 1 Article 48 of the Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP, the requirements concerning capacity and land use efficiency, investment efficiency in sector/industry/local development are set out on the basis of the provisions of the form of the request for proposal in Appendix VIII enclosed herewith.”.

dd) Clause 5 is amended as follows:

“5. In the forms provided in Appendixes V, V.A, VI, VII and VIII enclosed herewith, italicized text provides instructions and illustrative provisions and shall be specified in detail in EOI request, E-HSMQT, bidding documents, request for proposal according to the scale, nature, field or sector, and specific conditions (if any) of each project.”.

4. Clause 2 Article 7 is amended as follows:

“2. For business investment projects:

a) For projects whose investment policies require approval as prescribed by the investment law:

Provincial-level People's Committees, and economic zone management boards shall assign their affiliated agencies, organizations or units or commune-level People’s Committees to publish decisions on approval of investment policies on VNEPS before conducting bidding for investor selection as prescribed in clause 2 Article 10 of the Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP.

b) For projects whose investment policies do not require approval:

Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provincial-level People's Committees, and economic zone management boards shall assign their affiliated agencies, organizations or units or commune-level People’s Committees to publish information on business investment projects on VNEPS before conducting bidding for investor selection as prescribed in point c clause 2 Article 11 of the Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP.

5. Article 8 is amended as follows:

1. The procuring entity shall publish the progress tracking table for investor selection activities on VNEPS before conducting bidding for investor selection as prescribed in clause 6 Article 12 of Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP.

2. The procuring entity shall update the actual implementation dates and compare them with the scheduled dates when submitting bidding-related matters to the competent person for approval, for the purposes of monitoring and updating the progress and the reasons for any delay (if any) on VNEPS.

6. Article 9 is amended as follows:

1. Issuance:

a) The EOI request or E-HSMQT shall be issued free of charge at the same time as the invitation for EOI or E-TBMQT on VNEPS. When publishing the invitation for EOI, the EOI requester must attach the decision on approval of EOI request or E-HSMQT and the approved EOI request or E-HSMQT;

b) The EOI requester shall not be allowed to issue the physical copy of the EOI request or E-HSMQT. The physical copy issued by the EOI requester to investors shall not be considered as valid grounds for preparation and evaluation of applications for project implementation or E-HSDKTHDA.

2. Modification:

a) In case modifications are made to the EOI request or E-HSMQT after it is issued, the EOI requester shall publish the modification decision, accompanied with the addenda and modified EOI request or E-HSMQT on VNEPS;

b) Such modifications must be made within the time limit prescribed in clause 3 Article 40 of the Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP.

3. Clarification:

a) An investor requiring clarification of the EOI request or E-HSMQT shall send its request for clarification to the EOI requester via VNEPS at least 05 working days before the deadline for submission of applications for project implementation or E-HSDKTHDA;

b) The EOI requester shall publish its response to the investor’s request for clarification of EOI request or E-HSMQT on VNEPS at least 02 working days before the deadline for submission of applications for project implementation or E-HSDKTHDA;

c) Clarifications to the EOI request or E-HSMQT must not be contrary to the contents of the EOI request or E-HSMQT published on VNEPS. Should the clarifications to the EOI request or E-HSMQT result in changes to the EOI request or E-HSMQT, the modification of the EOI request or E-HSMQT shall be subject to provisions of clause 2 of this Article.

4. Extension of deadline for submission of applications for project implementation or E-HSDKTHDA:

If the deadline for submission of applications for project implementation or E-HSDKTHDA needs to be extended, the EOI requester shall publish the extension notice and decision on approval of such extension on VNEPS.  Reasons for extension and the new deadline must be clearly indicated in such extension notice.”

7. Point c clause 2 Article 12 is amended as follows:

“c) For a project applying international bidding, the bidding documents are issued on VNEPS. Each investor is required to pay an amount equaling the selling price of 01 set of the electronic bidding documents when submitting its bid as prescribed in point a clause 9 Article 7 and point c clause 2 Article 17 of Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP;”.

8. Some Appendixes enclosed herewith are amended as follows:

a) Appendix IV.A – Project Proposal Dossier is hereby added, as Appendix I to this Circular, after Appendix IV issued together with Circular No. 98/2025/TT-BTC;

b) Appendix IV.B – Project Proposal Submission Form (E-HSDXDA) is hereby added, as Appendix II to this Circular, after Appendix IV.A issued together with Circular No. 98/2025/TT-BTC;

c) Appendix IV.C – Approval of Information on a Business Investment Project proposed by an Investor, is hereby added, as Appendix III to this Circular, after Appendix IV.B issued together with Circular No. 98/2025/TT-BTC;

d) Certain contents of Appendix V issued together with Circular No. 98/2025/TT-BTC, are hereby amended as set out in Appendix IV to this Circular;

dd) Appendix V.A – Electronic Request for Expression of Interest (E-HSMQT) is hereby added, as Appendix V to this Circular, after Appendix V issued together with Circular No. 98/2025/TT-BTC;

e) Certain contents of Appendix VI issued together with Circular No. 98/2025/TT-BTC, are hereby amended as set out in Appendix VI to this Circular;

g) Certain contents of Appendix VII issued together with Circular No. 98/2025/TT-BTC, are hereby amended as set out in Appendix VII to this Circular;

h) Certain contents of Appendix VIII issued together with Circular No. 98/2025/TT-BTC, are hereby amended as set out in Appendix VIII to this Circular;

i) Appendix IX – Record of contract performance results (E-KQTHHD) is hereby added, as Appendix IX to this Circular, after Appendix VIII issued together with Circular No. 98/2025/TT-BTC;

k) Appendix X – Record of the suspension/termination of operation of an investment project (E-LSHDDA) is hereby added, as Appendix X to this Circular, after Appendix IX issued together with Circular No. 98/2025/TT-BTC.

9. The phrase “được chứng thực” (“certified”) in the following notes: Note (5) of Form No. 04 in Appendix III - Bidding Documents for PPP Projects; Note (5) of Form No. 04 in Appendix IV - Request for Proposals for PPP Projects; Note (5) of Form No. 04 in Appendix V - EOI Request for Business Investment Projects; Note (4) of Form No. 05 in Appendix VI - Single-Stage One-Envelope Bidding Documents for Business Investment Projects; Note (4) of Form No. 05 in Appendix VII - Single-Stage Two-Envelope Bidding Documents for Business Investment Projects; and Note (4) of Form No. 05 in Appendix VIII - Request for Proposals for Business Investment Projects Applying the Standard Procedures for Direct Appointment of Investor, is removed.

1. For a project for which an EOI request is being prepared, or bidding documents or a request for proposals is being prepared or appraised, but for which, as of the effective date of this Circular, the EOI request, bidding documents, or request for proposals has not been approved, or has been approved but not yet issued, the EOI requester or the procuring entity shall prepare or modify the EOI request, bidding documents, or request for proposals in accordance with the Law on Bidding No. 22/2023/QH15 (as amended by Law No. 57/2024/QH15 and Law No. 90/2025/QH15), Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP, and this Circular.

2. For a project for which the EOI request, bidding documents, or request for proposals has been issued but, as of the effective date of this Decree, the bid opening has not yet taken place, the EOI requester or procuring entity shall report to the competent person for consideration of either proceeding with bid opening and evaluation of applications for project implementation, bids, or proposals on the basis of the EOI request, bidding documents, or request for proposals already issued, or extending the bid closing time in order to amend the EOI request, bidding documents, or request for proposals, in accordance with the Law on Bidding No. 22/2023/QH15 (as amended by the Law No. 57/2024/QH15 and the Law No. 90/2025/QH15), Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP, and this Circular.

3. For a project for which bids or proposals have been opened and are under evaluation, but for which, as of the effective date of this Circular, the investor selection result has not yet been approved, the competent person shall consider approving the investor selection result, including the contents prescribed in clause 2 Article 28 of Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP.

4. For a project for which the investor selection result has been approved or the contract has been signed, but for which, as of the effective date of this Circular, the key information of the business investment project contract has not yet been published, the procuring entity shall publish on VNEPS the contents prescribed in clause 3 Article 31 of Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP.

5. An individual who has been granted a certificate of professional expertise in bidding for contractor selection in accordance with applicable regulations, or a certificate recognized as equivalent to such certificate as prescribed in Article 37 of Circular No. 02/2024/TT-BKHDT dated March 06, 2024 of the Minister of Planning and Investment (as amended by Circular No. 105/2025/TT-BTC dated October 31, 2025 of the Minister of Finance), may, provided that such certificate remains valid, use it to participate in expert teams or appraisal teams for investor selection.

1. This Circular comes into force from August 27, 2026.

2. Certain Articles of the Circular No. 02/2024/TT-BKHDT dated March 06, 2024 of Minister of Planning and Investment (as amended by Circular No. 105/2025/TT-BTC dated October 31, 2025 of the Minister of Finance) are amended as follows:

a) Point b Clause 1 Article 7 is amended as follows:

“b) Individuals who are members of expert teams or appraisal teams in charge of selecting investors for business investment projects as prescribed in clause 3 Article 1 of the Government’s Decree No. 274/2026/ND-CP dated July 07, 2026;”.

b) The introductory paragraph of Appendix 1 issued together with Circular No. 02/2024/TT-BKHDT dated March 06, 2024 of the Minister of Planning and Investment is amended as follows:

“Based on trainees' needs for updating and improving their professional expertise in bidding, a bidding training institution may provide training on one or more of the following subjects:” .

c) The paragraph “Căn cứ nhu cầu của học viên về cập nhật, nâng cao kiến thức nghiệp vụ chuyên môn, cơ sở đào tạo đấu thầu có thể tổ chức bồi dưỡng theo một hoặc các chuyên đề sau đây: “ (“Based on trainees' needs for updating and improving their professional expertise in bidding, a bidding training institution may provide training on one or more of the following subjects:”) in Section C of Appendix 1 issued together with Circular No. 02/2024/TT-BKHDT is annulled.

d) Note (1) of Appendix 2 issued together with Circular No. 02/2024/TT-BKHDT is annulled.

3. If any legislative documents referred to in this Circular are amended, supplemented or superseded, the new ones shall apply.

Any difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be reported to the Ministry of Finance for consideration./.