Prime Minister: "Offending officials must be severely punished, insensitive officials must be replaced"

This guiding principle was emphasized by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh when he chaired the National Conference on Promoting Public Investment in 2025 on the morning of October 18th. This was the fourth conference this year on public investment, held in person at the Government headquarters and online with 34 provinces and cities.

Even a single penny that isn't spent must be allocated elsewhere.

Regarding the disbursement of public investment funds, the Prime Minister requested that ministers, heads of departments, and chairmen of provincial People's Committees uphold a high sense of responsibility and leverage their leadership roles. The Prime Minister emphasized the need to individualize responsibility to each person; and to consider disbursement results as one of the important criteria for evaluating the annual performance of organizations and individuals.

Prime Minister: “Officials who commit wrongdoings must be severely punished, and those who are indifferent must be replaced - 1

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh criticized many ministries, sectors, and localities for having low disbursement rates of public investment capital (Photo: Doan Bac).

With the determination to disburse 100% of the planned budget, government leaders emphasized the need to avoid situations where "the top is enthusiastic but the bottom is indifferent" or "the meeting is very heated but cools down afterward".

He directed a prompt review and assessment of the disbursement situation for each project; classifying projects according to their disbursement rate (good, slow, unlikely to disburse, etc.), and based on that, developing specific disbursement schedules for each week, month, and quarter, along with concrete and appropriate solutions to accelerate disbursement and achieve the set targets.

Along with assigning leaders of ministries, agencies, and localities to be responsible for monitoring the disbursement of funds for each project, the Prime Minister emphasized the need for regular review and timely adjustment of capital from projects with slow or no disbursement capacity to projects with good disbursement capacity and a need for additional capital. "Even one dollar that is not spent must be allocated elsewhere," he said.

Emphasizing the importance of upholding discipline and order, and strengthening inspection and supervision in the disbursement of public investment capital, the Prime Minister requested strict handling of investors, project management boards, and contractors who intentionally create difficulties and obstacles, causing delays in capital allocation and disbursement.

The head of government emphasized the need to promptly review and handle incompetent and corrupt officials who fail to fulfill their assigned tasks. "Irresponsibility and violations must be dealt with severely; delays and indifference must result in replacement," the Prime Minister directed.

Prime Minister: “Officials who commit wrongdoings must be severely punished, and those who are indifferent must be replaced - 2

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized this point while chairing the National Conference on Promoting Public Investment in 2025 (Photo: Doan Bac).

He instructed the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, and the People's Committees of provinces and cities to focus on resolving difficulties and obstacles in the exploitation of mineral resources used as common construction materials, ensuring supply, especially for key national-level transportation infrastructure projects.

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for proposing adjustments to the 2025 capital plan, transferring funds from ministries, agencies, and localities that are slow in allocation, slow in disbursement, or unable to disburse, to those with good disbursement capacity and a need for additional capital to accelerate project progress, and reporting to the competent authorities. This task must be completed before October 25th.

In addition, the Prime Minister requested preparations for the groundbreaking and inauguration of large-scale projects on December 19th to celebrate the 14th National Congress of the Party.

Many ministries and localities have been criticized for low disbursement rates.

According to the report, as of October 16th, the whole country had disbursed 455,000 billion VND - reaching 50.7% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister. Of this, 9 ministries and agencies and 16 localities had disbursement rates above the national average.

Conversely, 29 ministries and agencies and 18 localities had disbursement rates below the national average. These units were severely criticized by the Prime Minister, who demanded clarification of collective and individual responsibilities, serious lessons learned, and strong solutions to accelerate disbursement by the end of the year.

The Prime Minister frankly pointed out that there are still delays in compensation, land clearance, and resettlement. In addition, the handling of violations and delays in the management and use of public investment capital has not been timely or rigorous.

Prime Minister: “Officials who commit wrongdoings must be severely punished, and those who are indifferent must be replaced - 3

The National Conference on Promoting Public Investment in 2025 was held online, connecting with local venues (Photo: Doan Bac).

According to government leaders, some localities have not been proactive or decisive enough, are still hesitant in directing and managing, and have a low sense of responsibility, even showing a tendency to avoid, shift responsibility, and wait during the process of restructuring and organizing the apparatus…

The Prime Minister emphasized that the disbursement of public investment is of great importance, being one of the driving forces for growth, leading and activating all social resources, enhancing value, increasing the brand of localities, agencies, and units, and increasing the added value of land.

Therefore, ministries, departments, and localities must demonstrate high determination, great effort, and decisive action, with clear assignments based on six principles: clear person, clear task, clear time, clear responsibility, clear authority, and clear output.

"It must be recognized that disbursing public investment capital is both a responsibility and a duty within the assigned authority, as well as a matter of conscience and public service ethics for officials. Every completed project, every newly built structure, every successfully accomplished task brings joy, excitement, and happiness to the people, contributing to the development of the country," the Prime Minister shared.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/thoi-su/thu-tuong-can-bo-sai-pham-phai-xu-nghiem-vo-cam-phai-thay-the-20251018132355318.htm