Criticism In Malaysia Of Sole Source Submarine Contract

In 2002 the Malaysian Government signed a contract to purchase two advanced diesel electric submarines from European manufacturers. The contract was worth about $1.5 billion. The first vessel has already been delivered and the second will be next year.

The opposition parties are criticizing the government for not doing the contract through competitive bids but rather sole sourcing it to France’s Aramis and Spain’s Navantia. The normal practice in Malaysia is to competitively bid large contracts but the Government defended the contract as protecting defense information. The argument must be that since no public RFP was put out only the builder learned about the requirements and capabilities needed. It is rather a strange argument unless there is an acceptance that only domestic suppliers can be trusted and as in this case there were none.

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