HANOI (Reuters) - For a firm short on capital with a background in textiles, property and bottling water, Bitexco wasn't the obvious choice to build a $757 million highway backed by the World Bank in Vietnam's first-ever public-private partnership.
There was no tender or bidding for the project, even though the communist government had committed to a level playing field in public-private projects. Investors say the no-bid contract - and the World Bank's support for it - has set a bad precedent for a country trying to shake off a reputation for entrenched graft, bureaucracy and vested interests.
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