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| Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung speaks at the meeting__Photo: VNA |
Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung chaired a hybrid meeting with ministries, agencies, and 10 localities in Hanoi on May 19, demanding the removal of financial bottlenecks and accelerated disbursement of 2026 public investment for sci-tech, innovation, and digital transformation.
Striving for 100 per cent disbursement in 2026
Dung said the Party General Secretary and State President and Prime Minister have singled out sci-tech, innovation, and digital transformation as the new engines of national development and issued directives to push them forward. Yet, public investment disbursement for 2026 in these areas remains sluggish across many ministries, agencies, and localities.
He called on ministries, agencies, and local authorities to conduct a rigorous review of their responsibilities and pinpoint both subjective and objective causes behind the delays. He ordered them to directly oversee progress and treat disbursement as a key, urgent political task for 2026.
They were also assigned to review all sci-tech, innovation, and digital transformation projects and tasks, with priority given to those ready for immediate launch. When procedural or regulatory hurdles are beyond local authority, they must be reported promptly to the Government and PM for resolution. The overriding goal, he stressed, is to hit 100 per cent disbursement of the 2026 capital plan.
“Capital allocation must be focused and efficient, giving priority to strategic, breakthrough tasks with wide spillover effects while avoiding fragmented, ineffective investment”, he said.
Priority areas include national databases, artificial intelligence, strategic technology products, innovation centres, and startup ecosystem. Projects must deliver measurable and tangible outcomes, he added.
The ministries of science and technology, finance, and justice were asked to fundamentally tackle regulatory and policy bottlenecks by June 2026, particularly in procurement, investment, and financial rules. They were instructed to overhaul the legal framework and quickly amend or supplement inconsistent circulars and decrees to prevent prolonged delays and lift disbursement from June onward.
Flagging two major near-term priorities, Dung called for upgrading and investing in national laboratory systems to support scientific research, and concentrated investment in strategic technology tasks and products able to show visible results this year. Local authorities were also urged to repurpose underused office space into innovation hubs and startup support spaces to spur research, collaboration, and technology application.
Disbursement reaches 14.78 per cent as of May 12
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| Participants in the meeting__Photo: VNA |
Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan reported that the sci-tech, innovation, and digital transformation budget carried over from 2025 to 2026 topped VND 8.42 trillion (USD 323 million). Total funding for 2026 amounts to VND 103.44 trillion, including VND 73.44 trillion compiled by his ministry and VND 30 trillion for sci-tech expenditures in other sectors compiled by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) issued guidance on the 2026 plan worth more than VND 51.87 trillion, including VND 27.74 trillion from the central budget and more than VND 24.12 trillion from local budgets. An additional VND 20.36 trillion has yet to be allocated.
To date, the MoST, in coordination with the MoF, has fully allocated funding and approved dossiers for agencies with valid proposals, including VND 998.3 billion for 22 out of 46 digital platforms and administrative procedure information systems, and VND 2.48 trillion for 35 out of 52 registered databases.
As of May 12, total disbursed capital reached VND 7.95 trillion, equivalent to 14.78 per cent of the PM’s plan. Of this, central budget disbursement hit VND 4.06 trillion, or 14.8 per cent of the target, while local budget disbursement exceeded VND 3.88 trillion, or 14.75 per cent.
To fine-tune the institutional framework, the MoST proposed that the PM revise several legal documents and decrees and, when necessary, issue special Government resolutions to clear obstacles facing ministries, agencies, and localities.
Participants suggested that the Government and ministries promptly issue detailed guidance on technical norms and project evaluation tools, further decentralise authority to local administrations for projects aligned with Vietnam’s Digital Government Architecture Framework, prioritise the development of shared platforms, and introduce “lease-purchase” mechanisms for digital assets to avoid fragmented and wasteful investment.- (VNA/VLLF)
