(Chinhphu.vn) – In case the software purchased is available in the market, it is not required to hire a consultant to design it, it is considered a commodity and a package to buy equipment and software is a goods bidding package.

Viettel Trading and Import Export Co., Ltd (in Hanoi) is bidding for a package with business contents including equipment supply and software provision. The total value of the package is VND 15 billion, in which the value of equipment accounts for 99.8% of the value of the bidding package, the software value accounts for 0.2%.

The company would like to ask, is this a mixed package or a normal procurement package?

Regarding this issue, The Ministry of Planning and Investment has the following opinions:

Clause 8, Clause 25, Article 4 of the Bidding Law has stipulated that consulting services are one or several activities including:

- Preparation and evaluation of planning reports, total development and architecture diagrams;

- Surveying, making pre-feasibility study reports, feasibility study reports, environmental impact assessment reports;

- Survey, design and estimation;

- Preparation of invitation documents, prequalification invitation documents, bidding documents, required documents;

- Evaluation of interest documents, prequalification, bids document and proposal documents;

- Examination and appraisal;

- Monitoring;

- Project management;

- Financial arrangements;

- Auditing, training and technology transfer;

- Other consultancy services.

Goods include machinery, equipment, raw materials, fuel, materials, supplies and spare parts; consumer goods; medicines and medical supplies used for medical establishments.

Accordingly, in case the software needed to be purchased is available in the market, it is not required to hire a consultant to design it, it is considered to be the goods, the package to buy equipment and software is the goods bidding package.