How to bid for government contracts in Taiwan.

Taiwan at a glance

Thresholds and procedures

Domestic thresholds (unchanged since 1 January 2023):

Between NT$150,000 and NT$1.5 million, central entities follow simplified rules for below-threshold purchases.

WTO GPA coverage:

New NT$ conversions for 2027–2028 are due before 1 January 2027.

Procedures:

• open tendering;
• selective tendering, including standing lists of qualified suppliers for recurring needs;
• limited tendering, only on listed grounds such as no responsive bids or a sole source.

Three-bidder rule. On the first round, an open tender is opened only if three or more qualified tenderers bid. A 2025 draft reform would have dropped this rule, but it was paused (see below).

Who can bid

• “Foreign supplier” means a person without ROC nationality, or a company not registered under ROC law.
• Treaty-covered procurement (WTO GPA, and the agreements with Singapore and New Zealand) is open to suppliers from parties under the treaty’s terms. Other procurement is open to foreign suppliers only if the tender documents allow it, and then the entity can treat them differently in some respects. Taiwan can also restrict suppliers from countries that restrict Taiwanese suppliers.
• The country box. In the PCC’s standard tender template, the entity ticks which countries may bid. Read this first.
• Mainland China. Mainland China suppliers count as foreign suppliers, and they’re excluded unless the box is ticked.
• National-security procurement can restrict a supplier’s nationality and place of registration, the nationality of its directors, managers and larger shareholders, and its sources of funds. Bidders declare whether they’re PRC-funded in sensitive business areas.
• Cyber security. A 2025 amendment to the Cyber Security Management Act bars agencies from using products designated as endangering national cyber security. In practice it targets certain PRC-brand ICT.
• Origin rules in works tenders. Works tenders may require listed materials, such as cement, rebar, structural steel, lifts and solar equipment, to come from Taiwan or treaty countries.
• Political parties and party-affiliated suppliers can’t bid.

Registering and bidding, step by step

1. Find tenders on web.pcc.gov.tw, in Chinese or through the English search for GPA-covered notices. The notice and documents state who may bid.
2. Check the eligibility box:
   • is your country listed?
   • is it treaty or non-treaty procurement?
   • are PRC-capital firms excluded?
   • do national-security restrictions or origin rules apply?
3. Get the tender documents. Collect them on paper, or download them electronically with an account on the portal. Bring the e-receipt with your bid. The portal issues a foreign supplier code to firms without a Taiwan business number.
4. Prepare your qualification documents (registration, tax, financials, experience) with notarised or certified Chinese translations. If a translation is wrong, the original prevails. Price in the stated currency, usually TWD.
5. Post the bid bond (see below).
6. Submit on paper or electronically, as the documents allow. Electronic bidding needs a digital certificate from a PCC-designated authority. A foreign firm without a Taiwan entity can normally still bid on paper where that’s allowed.
7. Attend the public opening. It’s held in Chinese, so bring an interpreter.
8. Evaluation and award. Results are published on the portal.
9. Sign the contract and post the performance bond. For procurements at or above the supervision threshold, you get at least 14 days.

Joint bids are allowed where the tender permits them.

Bonds and payment

• Bid bond:
  • a fixed amount up to 5% of the budget or estimate, or up to 5% of the bid price;
  • capped at NT$50 million;
  • e-bidders can get up to 10% off;
  • must stay valid 30 days beyond bid validity.
• Performance bond: up to 10% of the budget or contract amount, valid 90 days beyond final completion.
• Services: bid and performance bonds are waived in principle. Works and goods below NT$1.5 million may also be exempt.
• Accepted forms:
  • cash, cheques and government bonds;
  • pledged certificates of deposit;
  • bank guarantees and insurance bonds;
  • irrevocable standby letters of credit. A standby letter from a foreign bank not registered in Taiwan must be confirmed by a bank in Taiwan.
• Foreign currency: where foreign suppliers may bid, the documents can allow bonds in foreign currency.
• Advance payments: allowed if the documents say so, against an equal guarantee.
• Works payments: the entity reviews a claim within 15 working days, and pays within 15 working days of the payment application.

How bids are evaluated

• Award methods:
  • lowest price within the reserve price (the default);
  • lowest within the budget where there’s no reserve price;
  • most advantageous tender (MAT);
  • multiple awards.
• MAT is used in principle, without a reserve price, for professional, technical, IT, social-welfare and cultural-creative services of NT$1.5 million or more.
  • The evaluation committee has at least 5 members, a third of them external experts.
  • If price is scored, it weighs 20% to 50%.
• If every bid is above the reserve price, there can be up to three rounds of price reduction.
• Unusually low bids must be explained, or secured with extra security.
• Domestic preference, non-treaty procurement only:
  • offsets (local content, technology transfer, investment) can count for up to a third of the evaluation;
  • local suppliers can be preferred within a margin of up to 3%.
• SMEs: procurement below NT$1.5 million should go to SMEs in principle.
• Hiring rule: winners with more than 100 local employees must employ at least 2% disabled or indigenous people, or pay a substitute fee.

Challenging a decision

1. Protest to the procuring entity, in writing and in Chinese (translate any foreign-language attachments):
   • against the tender documents, within a quarter of the tendering period and at least 10 days;
   • against the process or outcome, within 10 days. The entity answers within 15 days.
2. Complaint to the Complaint Review Board for Government Procurement (CRBGP) within 15 days of the protest decision, for procurements of NT$1.5 million or more.
   • The fee is NT$30,000.
   • The board decides within 40 days (extendable by 40) and can order the procurement suspended.
   • Its decision counts as an administrative-appeal decision, so the next step is the administrative court.
3. If you win, the entity must take a lawful alternative step, and you can claim your bid-preparation and complaint costs.

Disputes during the contract can go to CRBGP mediation or to arbitration. Debarred suppliers are published in the Government Procurement Gazette.

What changed in 2025–2026

• 21 January 2025: the MAT evaluation regulation was amended (evaluation criteria list).
• 27 March 2025: the Regulations for Electronic Procurement were amended.
• 24 September 2025: the Cyber Security Management Act amendment banned agencies from using designated products endangering national cyber security.
• November 2025 to April 2026: the PCC published its largest-ever draft amendment to the Procurement Act, covering 52 articles. It proposed:
  • dropping the three-bidder rule;
  • publishing annual procurement plans;
  • longer tender periods;
  • reformed debarment. The draft was paused in April 2026, so the three-bidder rule stays for now; re-announcement is expected by the end of 2026.
• Thresholds: domestic thresholds are unchanged since 2023, and new GPA conversions are due for 2027–2028.

Live Taiwanese tenders

See also which countries can bid on which government tenders.

Questions

Sources

• Government Procurement Act (English), Laws & Regulations Database of the ROC
• Government e-Procurement System (English tender search)
• Regulations for Electronic Procurement (English)
• Regulations on foreign suppliers in non-treaty procurement
• WTO GPA thresholds

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.