Mekong Delta speeds up public investment disbursement at year-end

From An Giang to Ca Mau and Vinh Long, discipline in management is tightened, disbursement is considered a key task, a measure of the capacity of each investor and leader. The spirit of urgent action is covering the whole region when hundreds of projects need to be unstuck and progress accelerated to ensure the growth target for 2025.

Photo caption — Construction site of Component 1 of Cao Lanh - An Huu Expressway, section in Nhi My commune, Cao Lanh district ( Dong Thap ). Illustration photo: Nhut An/VNA

Resolutely remove bottlenecks and accelerate during peak months

In An Giang province, from November 5 to December 5, the locality launched a peak period to promote public investment disbursement - a key time to complete the year's socio- economic goals. Chairman of An Giang Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Mung affirmed that this is the period "must accelerate, not allowing the disbursement rate to continue at a low level". In 2025, the Prime Minister assigned An Giang more than 21,300 billion VND; the Provincial People's Council allocated more than 26,000 billion VND for more than a thousand projects and national target programs. As of October 31, An Giang province had disbursed more than 10,700 billion VND, reaching more than 50% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister.

The spirit of determination was clearly shown when four units with a disbursement rate of over 70% were commended at the meeting in early November, while many investors with less than 50% were severely criticized. An Giang province requested to completely handle existing problems before November 15; resolutely cut off capital from slow projects; conduct surprise inspections during the peak month. Contractors of key projects were required to "work overtime", mobilize maximum human resources and means. The disbursement index will be an important criterion in evaluating the capacity of cadres at the end of the year.

No less urgent, Ca Mau province is entering a period of strong concentration. By November 3, the province had disbursed more than VND 5,650 billion, reaching 46.1% of the plan of more than VND 12,000 billion (including capital transferred from 2024). In less than a month, the province disbursed an additional nearly VND 1,000 billion - a figure that shows the great determination of the locality.

However, the disbursement picture of Ca Mau is strongly differentiated: 10 out of 18 units achieved above average, many units almost completed the plan such as Border Guard, U Minh Regional Project Management Board or Bac Lieu Urban Service Center. On the contrary, large projects are significantly behind schedule, especially the 1,200-bed Ca Mau General Hospital, with a total capital of more than 3,000 billion VND, currently at the "red alert" level. Some traffic bidding packages in Bac Lieu have only achieved more than 14% of the volume even though 91% of the construction time has passed.

According to the People's Committee of Ca Mau province, the three main bottlenecks are site clearance, contractor capacity and objective factors such as weather and material scarcity. Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ca Mau province Lam Van Bi requested to identify disbursement as the top priority task, assign specific responsibilities to each agency; strictly handle weak contractors; transfer capital to projects with good disbursement capacity. The province established a Zalo group chaired by the Department of Finance to update and remind about daily progress.

Tighten discipline, increase responsibility of leaders

While many localities are accelerating strongly, Vinh Long is facing great pressure as the disbursement rate as of October 31 only reached 37.2% - the lowest among the leading provinces in the region. In 2025, the Prime Minister assigned the province more than 17,000 billion VND and the Provincial People's Council allocated more than 19,700 billion VND, but there are still 85 projects that have not started construction with a total capital of more than 2,600 billion VND; more than 150 projects have disbursed less than 50%.

According to the Vinh Long Department of Finance, the main causes of the delay come from land clearance problems in long-distance transport and irrigation projects; complicated procedures of ODA projects; scarcity of construction materials; limited capacity of some investors; and the impact of the arrangement of administrative units at district and commune levels.

Chairman of Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee Lu Quang Ngoi requested to immediately start construction of new qualified projects, complete design and estimate documents as soon as possible; review all slow projects for timely adjustment; strengthen supervision of construction progress and attach responsibility to leaders with disbursement results. People's Committees of communes and wards are required to speed up compensation, support and resettlement; Land Fund Development Center focuses on human resources to handle outstanding documents. The Department of Finance is responsible for transferring capital flexibly, prioritizing projects with good capital absorption.

In addition, the Standing Supervisory Delegation of the Vinh Long Provincial People's Council recently pointed out a series of problems in the implementation process. Through surveying 14 key projects and working with investors, departments and branches, the Delegation assessed that public investment is a key driving force for growth, so any delay will affect socio-economic goals. With 357 transitional projects in the 2021 - 2025 period, more than 17,200 billion VND has been allocated, the disbursement rate is currently 77.94%; while projects under the Socio-Economic Recovery Program reached 94.77%.

The monitoring report clearly stated that the main problems were the site conditions, fluctuations in material prices, uneven construction capacity, slow adjustment of investment policies, and many completed projects with delayed settlement. The delegation proposed to review the contractor's capacity, resolutely replace weak units; at the same time, request the financial agency to propose reasonable capital transfers, and urge the settlement of completed projects.

Chairman of the People’s Council of Vinh Long province Nguyen Minh Dung emphasized that the entire political system must tighten discipline, clearly identify “bottlenecks” and responsibilities of each unit. In the remaining time of 2025, agencies need to concentrate maximum resources, speed up construction to bring the disbursement rate to meet and exceed the plan.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/dong-bang-song-cuu-long-tang-toc-giai-ngan-dau-tu-cong-dip-cuoi-nam-20251110101930471.htm