Large resources, high pressure.

The government's projected public investment plan for 2025 is over 790,000 billion VND – a considerable sum. If approved, this plan will put pressure on the disbursement of public investment funds in the coming year.

Public investment capital is projected to increase by more than 120,000 billion VND in 2025 compared to this year. Photo : Duc Thanh

Prioritize key sectors and avoid a situation where "capital is waiting for projects."

The government has drawn up initial plans for the Public Investment Plan for 2025 - the final year of the 2021-2025 medium-term Public Investment Plan.

Accordingly, in the report submitted by the Government to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly just before the opening of the eighth session of the 15th National Assembly, the total investment needs for 2025 of ministries, sectors, and localities are nearly 871,000 billion VND. Of this, central government budget capital is over 337,867 billion VND, and local government capital is 533,000 billion VND.

Investment needs remain very high. However, given limited domestic resources, after calculating and evaluating the financial and budgetary targets for 2024 and the Socio- Economic Development Plan for 2025, and the Medium-Term Public Investment Plan for the period 2021-2025 approved by the National Assembly, the Government projects the state budget investment plan for 2025 at VND 790,727 billion. While this may not fully meet the needs, it is higher than the VND 670,000 billion planned for 2024. Of this, VND 315,000 billion will come from the central budget and VND 475,727 billion from local budgets.

These are only initial plans and still require approval from the National Assembly. However, the general principles for capital allocation have been clearly defined. These include: the capital allocation for each project must be consistent with the implementation and disbursement capacity in 2025, ensuring that detailed allocations can be made to projects before December 31, 2024; and capital will only be allocated to new projects after all outstanding construction debts have been settled and all advance payments have been recovered as per regulations.

Notably, 2025 is the final year of the 2021-2025 Medium-Term Investment Plan. Therefore, the Government requires that in 2025, ministries, central agencies, and localities prioritize allocating state budget funds to projects expected to be completed within the medium-term plan period; and at the same time, allocate funds for investment preparation for new projects to be started in the following period.

In the report, the Government also pointed out that the 2025 Public Investment Plan will continue to have many innovations, overcoming the situation of "capital waiting for projects" and the limitations and shortcomings in public investment. Specifically, it will focus on prioritizing investment in important and key sectors of the economy, allocating capital to important national and key transportation projects with a ripple effect, promoting socio-economic development, as well as tasks and projects under the Socio-Economic Recovery and Development Program…

Large resources, high pressure.

The 2025 Public Investment Plan submitted by the Government still awaits approval from the National Assembly. If this plan is approved, the pressure to disburse funds in 2025 will be even heavier than this year, because the total investment resources from the state budget are expected to be up to 120,000 billion VND higher than this year.

Meanwhile, the pressure to disburse public investment funds has been a recurring issue in recent years. This year is no different; after nine months, only 50% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister has been disbursed. This means that out of the total investment resources of 670,000 billion VND for this year, approximately 350,000 billion VND still needs to be disbursed. There are only a few months left to focus efforts on disbursement in order to achieve the 95% disbursement target set by the Government.

We will also implement strong, decisive solutions to promptly address existing shortcomings and limitations in order to accelerate the disbursement of public investment capital from the beginning of 2025, especially for nationally important projects, key infrastructure projects, and the three national target programs.

- Mr. Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Planning and Investment

During a recent session of the National Assembly Standing Committee, while discussing the socio-economic situation in 2024 and the plan for 2025, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung stated that the Government is focusing on removing difficulties and obstacles, and resolutely promoting disbursement to achieve the set targets.

"We will also have strong, decisive solutions to promptly address existing shortcomings and limitations in order to accelerate the disbursement of public investment capital from the beginning of 2025, especially for nationally important projects, key works, and the three national target programs," Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said.

During this session, the Chairman of the Economic Committee, Vu Hong Thanh, also requested the Government to clarify the causes and then develop effective solutions to accelerate the disbursement of public investment capital and promote economic growth. For 2025, the requirement was also "to have specific and effective solutions to accelerate the disbursement of public investment capital right from the beginning of the year."

To expedite the disbursement of public investment funds right from the beginning of the year, early and detailed allocation to programs and projects is crucial. From another perspective, improving the quality of project preparation is also a prerequisite so that projects can be implemented and disbursed as soon as funds are available, avoiding the long-standing situation of "funds waiting for projects."

In reality, project preparation is still considered inadequate. “It must be recognized that investment preparation for projects plays a crucial role. Focusing on good investment preparation and project implementation preparation helps improve readiness, feasibility, and the ability to implement projects, minimizing obstacles during implementation, thereby accelerating the allocation and disbursement of funds and improving the efficiency of public investment,” Minister Nguyen Chi Dung has repeatedly affirmed this.

According to the Minister, this is one of the most important issues, not necessarily the "first" one - "where will the money come from?".

Currently, to address obstacles in public investment disbursement, efforts are being made to reform institutions and policies. The draft revised Law on Public Investment is being further refined to create favorable institutional and policy conditions, including project preparation – one of the weaknesses causing delays in public investment disbursement.

According to Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh, the slow disbursement of public investment capital has highlighted the urgent need to improve mechanisms and policies for managing public investment. Specifically, more flexible and effective mechanisms and policies are needed to encourage localities and units to be proactive and efficient in capital disbursement. In addition, for projects behind schedule, it is necessary to consider adjusting capital plans, prioritizing the allocation of capital to projects with the potential for rapid disbursement…

These revision efforts will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to the rapid and effective implementation of the 2025 Public Investment Plan, as soon as it is officially approved by the National Assembly.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/ke-hoach-dau-tu-cong-2025-nguon-luc-lon-ap-luc-cao-d227883.html