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| Work on the project to upgrade Road DT841 in Dong Thap province__Photo: VNA |
With the current progress, Vietnam must disburse an additional VND 406.601 trillion (USD 15.41 billion) to fulfill this year’s public investment plan – a highly challenging task that requires strong and decisive action in the rest two months.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) reported that as of November 6, public investment disbursement had reached VND 495.460 trillion, equivalent to 54.9 percent of the target set by the Prime Minister. Compared with October 30, the sum increased by VND 18.763 trillion, or 2.1 percentage points.
Ministries and central agencies achieved an average disbursement rate of around 47.2 percent, while localities averaged 57.2 percent.
Ho Chi Minh City – the locality with the largest capital plan – disbursed VND 68.235 trillion (56.7 percent), up 4.3 percentage points from the previous week. In the North, Hai Phong posted notable progress, rising from 69.8 percent to 73.4 percent, with cumulative disbursement of more than VND 26.354 trillion. Ninh Binh continued to lead nationwide with a rate of 98.6 percent, over VND 28.407 trillion, as of November 6 - nearly completing its annual plan.
As the country’s economic engine, Ho Chi Minh City must disburse more than VND 50 trillion in the final two months of the year. Hoang Vu Thanh, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Finance, acknowledged the enormous challenge but affirmed that the city is taking comprehensive solutions, especially accelerating site clearance for major projects.
The MoF noted that 29 ministries and central agencies remain below the national average. Some manage large capital volumes but show slow progress. As of November 6, the Ministry of Construction had disbursed VND 35.763 trillion (43.6 percent), while the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment reached 9.11 trillion VND (43.8 percent). The Ministry of Health continued to lag furthest behind, with disbursement of just 13.2 percent of its VND-7.242-trillion allocation.
The MoF attributed delays to both subjective and objective causes, including unrealistic planning, repeated capital adjustments, and persistent obstacles in site clearance, particularly for transport and resettlement projects. Supply shortages, weak capacity among project owners and contractors, and severe weather, including recent storms and flooding, further slowed progress.
To achieve full-year disbursement and support growth of 8.3-8.5 percent, the ministry urged ministries and provinces to rigorously implement Government directives. Key recommendations include removing procedural bottlenecks, resolving site clearance issues, ensuring stable supplies of construction materials, and improving accountability of project owners.
Phi Huong Nga, head of the industry and construction statistics division of the National Statistics Office, stressed that public investment disbursement is vital to reaching the year’s 8 percent growth target. She warned that the storm season could continue to disrupt construction and material transport.
She called for faster implementation of ongoing and newly-approved projects, priority for highly essential works, and detailed weekly and monthly progress schedules.
Localities should promptly reallocate funds to well-performing projects capable of early completion, speed up compensation and site clearance, and ensure sufficient and timely materials for projects, especially nationally important ones.
Le Tien Dung, Deputy Director of the MoF’s Infrastructure Development Department, noted that eight working groups of the Government are working directly with ministries and provinces to identify and resolve bottlenecks. He urged detailed disbursement schedules, weekly and monthly progress tracking, accelerated ODA procedures, and timely updates on the national public investment database.
He warned that without concerted implementation of these measures, meeting the 100 percent disbursement target for 2025 will remain highly challenging.- (VNA/VLLF)
