Disbursement rate is still low
According to a recent report by the Ministry of Finance, by the end of November 2024, the country's public investment capital disbursement was estimated at over VND 410,953 billion, reaching 54.8% of the total plan; reaching 60.43% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister. The estimated disbursement rate for 11 months was lower than the same period last year and the disbursed local budget capital was still low.
According to the Ministry of Finance, there are currently 28 ministries, central agencies and 23 localities with disbursement rates lower than the national average. Some localities have disbursement rates below 40% such as: Ho Chi Minh City (22.52%), Phu Yen (30.78%), Bac Ninh (34.13%), Kien Giang (34.31%)... Some ministries and central agencies have very low disbursement rates such as: Ethnic Committee (6.87%), Ho Chi Minh National University (11.85%), Hanoi National University (14.49%)...
According to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong, there is not much time left to complete the public investment disbursement plan, but the implementation of public investment projects still faces many difficulties.
The biggest difficulty is the issue of construction materials for traffic works because it is related to many legal regulations such as the Law on Minerals, licensing of mining materials, selling materials for construction works; site clearance, compensation, land price determination, resettlement policy, evasion, pushing, etc.
"The Government has identified and is strengthening the establishment of working groups to urge and promote public investment disbursement," said Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong.
Resolutely overcome difficulties
The Prime Minister has signed Decision No. 1006/QD-TTg to establish 7 working groups to inspect, urge, remove difficulties and obstacles, and promote annual public investment capital at ministries, central agencies and localities. Of which, working group No. 5, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son, inspects ministries and central agencies.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son, to accelerate the disbursement of public investment capital, ministries, branches and localities need to strictly implement the directions of the Government and the Prime Minister, focus, resolutely and proactively implement flexible and creative measures and solutions. Timely handle and remove obstacles and difficulties at their competent levels, actively study new legal documents for implementation, further promote the disbursement of public investment capital, strive to disburse over 95% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister in 2024.
Speaking to reporters of Lao Dong Newspaper, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thuong Lang - National Economics University - said: "To achieve the goal, it is necessary to resolutely and quickly deploy and resolve issues related to institutions, policies and regulations related to land procedures, administrative procedures, and site clearance. In particular, localities also need to have a mechanism to remove and coordinate in general; remove bottlenecks in combined capital sources, ODA...".
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thuong Lang, the Law on Public Investment was recently passed at the 8th Session, effective from January 1, 2025, with many breakthrough amendments. Especially the promotion of decentralization, delegation of authority, reform of investment procedures... When the new Law on Public Investment comes into effect, many problems and backlogs in the past will be resolved. From there, public investment resources will be liberated to strive for the highest results in the 2026-2023 medium-term plan.
Making every effort to bring public investment disbursement to the finish line
In localities, especially provinces with low disbursement rates, many solutions are being implemented. Mr. Pham Trung Kien - Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Ho Chi Minh City - said that about 4,000 billion VND of public investment capital is currently "stuck" in projects that need to adjust local planning at a scale of 1/2000 or 1/500. Some important projects that need approval from central agencies, such as the flood prevention project due to high tides associated with climate change and the Metro Line 1 project, also slow down the disbursement rate. The total investment capital of this group is up to about 10,000 billion VND.
Therefore, the leader of the Department of Planning and Investment of Ho Chi Minh City emphasized that the city will flexibly apply legal regulations to simultaneously carry out many procedures such as adjusting planning, granting environmental licenses and approving projects, while strengthening inspection and strictly handling organizations and individuals that hinder disbursement.
According to Mr. Vo Trung Truc - Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City - Ho Chi Minh City has 176 projects related to compensation and site clearance in 2024. After the 2024 Land Law takes effect, the total investment capital will increase to more than 30,000 billion VND due to additional policies to support affected people. "When the new Land Law has been applied, Ho Chi Minh City and departments, branches and localities are focusing on disbursing more than 30,000 billion VND for this group of projects in December" - Mr. Truc said.
In Dak Lak, the Provincial People's Committee has established a separate steering committee to closely monitor the progress of each project to promptly resolve difficulties and obstacles and to strictly handle contractors who are slow in construction.
