How do public tenders work in Taiwan?

Law and buyers

The Government Procurement Act (政府採購法) applies to procurement of works, goods and services by government agencies, public schools, public hospitals and state-owned enterprises at central and local level. The Public Construction Commission of the Executive Yuan (行政院公共工程委員會, PCC) is the competent authority: it issues the implementing regulations, sets the thresholds and runs the e-procurement system. Each agency procures on its own account; above the supervision threshold (查核金額) the parent agency supervises the procedure. Common items are bought through joint supply contracts (共同供應契約), framework agreements that many agencies can order from. Taiwan is a party to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement under the name Chinese Taipei, and foreign suppliers take part in procurement according to its treaties and agreements.[1][2][6]

Where tenders are published

Open and selective tenders must be published in the Government Procurement Gazette (政府採購公報) and on the internet; in practice notices, award results and debarment notices appear on the Government e-Procurement System (政府電子採購網, web.pcc.gov.tw). Tender documents for open tenders must be available to everyone during the whole tender period, and agencies may not register who downloads them. The Act allows the full process to run electronically, from document download to bid submission. Electronic bids are signed digitally, which requires a certificate accepted by the system; Taiwanese companies typically use the business certificate issued under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, so foreign suppliers should check in advance how they can bid or whether a paper bid is allowed.[2][7][8]

Procedures and thresholds

The Act knows three methods (Art. 18): open tendering (公開招標), selective tendering (選擇性招標) with a published prequalification or a standing list of qualified suppliers, and limited tendering (限制性招標) without notice, allowed only in listed cases such as no valid bids, exclusive rights, emergencies or a winning design in a public competition. From the publication threshold of TWD 1.5 million, open tendering is the rule. Below it, agencies publicly request written quotations, and for small purchases up to TWD 150,000 they may buy directly. The supervision threshold (TWD 50 million for works and goods, TWD 10 million for services) brings parent-agency oversight, and large-value procurement (巨額採購) from TWD 200 million for works, 100 million for goods and 20 million for services allows stricter bidder qualifications.[2][4][5]

Documents and language

There is no central supplier register for open tenders; the tender documents state which qualification documents you must provide, usually company registration, tax payment proof and, for works, the relevant contractor licence, plus price forms and technical documents. Copies are generally accepted, and the agency can ask for originals. If a foreign supplier cannot provide a required document under its own country's system, it may explain this in its bid or submit an equivalent qualification. Works and goods tenders usually require a bid bond (押標金), while services tenders in principle do not; bonds can be cash, cheques, bank guarantees or surety insurance. Tender documents are in Chinese; check the documents for rules on foreign-language certificates and translations.[2][4]

Deadlines, award and challenges

Minimum tender periods for open tenders run from publication in the Gazette: 7 days below TWD 1.5 million, 14 days up to the supervision threshold, 21 days up to the large-value threshold and 28 days for large-value procurement, unless Taiwan's treaties require longer. Periods can be shortened by five days after public review of draft documents and by three and two days for electronic download and bidding, within set minimums, and to no less than 10 days in emergencies. Contracts go to the lowest compliant bid within the reserve price or budget, or to the most advantageous tender (最有利標), which is the rule for professional, technical, IT and similar services from TWD 1.5 million. Objections (異議) go to the agency, generally within 10 days; for procurements from TWD 1.5 million a complaint (申訴) can then go to the Complaint Review Board for Government Procurement within 15 days.[2][3][5]

How to win a tender in Taiwan

Taiwan's Government Procurement Act requires the tender documents to state the award principle. Many contracts go to the compliant tender with the lowest price within the government estimate (底價) or budget. Under the most advantageous tender (最有利標), technology, quality, function, commercial terms and price are evaluated by ranking or score, only against the criteria listed in the tender documents, and the decision is taken by the head of the agency or a majority of an evaluation committee (評選委員會) of at least five members, at least a third of them outside experts and scholars. Write for specialists who score item by item. Send clarification questions (釋疑) in writing before the deadline in the tender documents; the agency must answer in writing and must publish any resulting amendment so precise questions can sharpen the requirements. To know the buyer, search its earlier award notices (決標公告) on the Government e-Procurement System. Bids fail on missing qualification documents or bid bond, late submission, or a price so low it looks unreasonable, which can lead to rejection if you cannot explain it or provide security in time. After award all tenderers are notified in writing; if you think the evaluation was wrong, file an objection (異議) within the short deadline.[2][7]

1. Check the award principle: lowest price or most advantageous tender (最有利標).
2. Send written clarification questions (釋疑) before the deadline in the tender documents.
3. Study the buyer's award notices (決標公告) on the Government e-Procurement System.
4. Structure your proposal around each listed evaluation item and its weight.
5. Check every qualification document and the bid bond against the tender documents.
6. Read the award notification at once and object within the deadline if needed.

Clarification round: Clarification requests (釋疑) on the tender documents, answered in writing by the agency

Tips for bidders

Search the Government e-Procurement System daily or set up alerts, because short periods of 14 days are common for mid-sized contracts. Check in each tender notice whether foreign suppliers may take part and which countries are named, and sort out digital signing or the paper route early. Read the evaluation method carefully: many tenders are still awarded on lowest price within a confidential reserve price (底價), so price discipline matters. For larger works and many service contracts a local partner or branch helps with licences, Chinese-language documents and bonds. Watch the joint supply contracts in your sector, because agencies order many standard products from them instead of tendering. Note the short objection windows of 10 days.[2][3][7]

Platforms in Taiwan

This country does not publish on TED, so there are no shares. These are the platforms from our market map, public ones first.

• Government e-Procurement System, Taiwan (政府電子採購網)

  Foreign firms without a Taiwan tax ID apply for a foreign supplier code; e-bidding requires a Taiwanese business or citizen certificate (工商憑證/自然人憑證).

  How it works →Website

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Government Procurement Act (政府採購法), Laws & Regulations Database (Chinese)
2. Government Procurement Act, English translation
3. Standards for Periods for Tendering (招標期限標準)
4. Standards for Bidder Qualifications and Special or Large-Value Procurement (投標廠商資格與特殊或巨額採購認定標準), art. 8 and 12
5. PCC regulation database: supervision threshold, publication threshold and central small-value procurement amount (政府採購法之查核金額、公告金額及中央機關小額採購金額), in force since 1 January 2023
6. WTO: Government procurement thresholds (SDR) by party
7. Government e-Procurement System (政府電子採購網)
8. Ministry of Economic Affairs Certification Authority (經濟部工商憑證管理中心)

Checked on 15 October 2026. Made by TenderRender from official sources. Not legal advice: check the notice and documents of each tender.

As data:MarkdownJSONllms.txtCC BY 4.0

Ask an AI:ChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle