Local contractors will be chosen for the implementation of eastern North-South Expressway project

The project has attracted 60 applications from both foreign and domestic firms at the international preliminary bidding round, including half being Chinese firms, but just a few were eligible.

According to the ministry, no contractors were qualified for four sections, while, the only one to three each were eligible enough for the remaining sections. This would mean a low level of competition.

So the ministry decided to cancel the result and adjusting procedures to conduct a bidding session for domestic investors exclusively, allegedly to help ensure national security and defence issues and also to raise local capability in infrastructure construction.

Earlier, the public worried that many Chinese companies would win the bidding as they dominated the applications. In reality, lots of Vietnamese projects carried out by Chinese contractors are facing sluggish pace and increased costs.

The eastern North-South Expressway project covering a total of 654km will be built during the 2017-2020 period with a total investment of VND102.51 trillion (USD4.47 billion).