It is still difficult to disburse capital for national target programs.

A model for cultivating Solanum torvum (thorny eggplant) using a collaborative support approach in Tủa Chùa town, Tủa Chùa district, funded by national target programs. *Photo: Quốc Huy*

In 2023, Tủa Chùa district was allocated 130.621 billion VND (with over 9.208 billion VND carried over to 2023) to implement 3 national target programs. Immediately after receiving the funds, Tủa Chùa district proceeded to allocate them to units and directed focused implementation, accelerating the disbursement of funds. By September 2023, the total planned capital disbursed amounted to over 42.464 billion VND (32.51%); of which the disbursement of recurrent expenditure funds was low, at over 9.28 billion VND (9.6%). The disbursement progress of national target program funds is not high due to various reasons. For example, in the National Target Program for Socio -Economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Regions, Project 1, which addresses the shortage of residential land, production land, and clean water, focuses on supporting vocational retraining. However, the majority of eligible households are newly separated poor households without land use certificates, resulting in lengthy verification and measurement processes for the land they currently use. The provision of clean water is fragmented due to the large number of beneficiaries (1,009 households), requiring multiple reviews, adjustments, and reassessment meetings. A portion of the funding was transferred from another sub-project in the middle of the year. Furthermore, the bidding process must adhere to regulations, and the evaluation of bids takes up to 45 days due to the large number of bidders, leading to delays in implementation. Furthermore, in sub-project 2 of project 3 on supporting production development along the value chain, cultivating valuable medicinal herbs, promoting business startups and attracting investment in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, the district directed two units (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; District Agricultural Services Center) to issue notices at the beginning of the year to select units to lead production linkage projects associated with product consumption, but no units registered, so all projects shifted to production development and livelihood diversification. In addition, some central government documents lacked consistency and clear mechanisms, leading to the failure of some projects, such as Project 8 on implementing equality and addressing urgent issues for women and children, with a total allocated economic development budget of 499 million VND, which is not expected to be disbursed due to a lack of specific guidelines and no eligible beneficiaries.

The difficulties and obstacles in Tủa Chùa district are also common difficulties in other districts, leading to a low disbursement rate of capital for national target programs. As of the end of September 2023, the total capital plan for the three programs in the province had been disbursed at VND 453.178 billion out of a total of over VND 1.176 billion, reaching 38.52%. Of this, the Socio-Economic Development Program for Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas accounted for VND 240.12 billion, reaching 37.96%; the Sustainable Poverty Reduction Program accounted for VND 179.708 billion, reaching 41.22%; and the New Rural Development Program accounted for VND 33.349 billion, reaching 30.86%.

Regarding subjective causes, the planning capacity, project document control, and implementation organization at some units are still inadequate, lacking decisiveness and effectiveness, leading to delays in completing investment procedures and failing to meet the conditions for detailed allocation of capital plan for 2023 before December 31, 2022. Coordination between the units assigned as project owners and state management agencies and localities with investment projects in their areas has sometimes been inconsistent and ineffective, especially in completing project documentation and coordinating land clearance.

To accelerate the disbursement of funds for the three national target programs, it is necessary to focus on reviewing the mechanisms and policies for implementing the three programs recently issued by the Central Government, and promptly issue policies within the province's authority (if any). The province should urgently implement investment preparation for new projects to ensure they meet the requirements for allocating capital in the 2024 plan as stipulated. Strengthen inspection and supervision of implementation; promptly address any shortcomings and obstacles that arise and propose amendments and additions to the Government and central ministries and agencies to suit the local conditions.

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