Request to remove 'bottlenecks' in public investment disbursement in 9 Central provinces

On June 7, in Binh Dinh province, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh chaired a meeting with leaders of 9 provinces and cities in the Central region. The meeting aimed to inspect, urge and remove difficulties to speed up the disbursement of public investment capital in 2025.

Disbursement rate is higher than average but there are still many problems

Reporting at the working session, Deputy Minister of Finance Do Thanh Trung said that the total state budget capital plan for 2025 assigned to 9 localities is more than 56,500 billion VND.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the estimated disbursement rate by the end of May 2025 of these 9 localities is 26.7%, higher than the national average (24.1%). Eight localities have disbursement rates at or above the average level. Phu Yen province alone has a low disbursement rate of only 17.8%.

View of the working session. (Photo: binhdinh.gov.vn)

Compared to the first 4 months of the year, the disbursement results up to the end of May have shown positive acceleration. However, there are still many difficulties and long-standing problems that affect the implementation progress.

Some of the reasons pointed out by the Ministry of Finance are: the arrangement of the local government apparatus according to new regulations causes disruption, affecting the management of public investment; some projects have to be temporarily suspended for review and adjustment of scale and objectives; procedures for adjusting investment policies for ODA projects are slow, due to having to seek opinions from many levels; difficulties in site clearance, determining land prices, and resettlement arrangements; shortage of construction materials such as fill soil, sand, and stone.

In addition, capital for projects under the National Target Program is also limited because local budgets must focus on urgent tasks such as health,education , and social security. In addition, the capacity of some investors and project management boards is limited; coordination between levels and sectors is not synchronous.

The Ministry of Finance recommends that provinces and cities need to unify the model of commune-level government organization after the administrative unit arrangement. Accordingly, it is necessary to clearly identify which projects are under the management of the province and which projects are under the responsibility of the commune level. Each commune and ward needs to establish its own project management board to organize site clearance and create a clean land fund. The arrangement of personnel must ensure inheritance and continuity, avoiding interruption of investment work.

Determined to remove public investment bottlenecks, assign the right people to the right jobs

In his concluding remarks, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh acknowledged the efforts of localities but emphasized that the pressure in the last months of the year is very great.

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh gave a directive speech. (Photo: binhdinh.gov.vn)

The Deputy Prime Minister requested that localities that have not yet allocated all their capital must urgently complete the task. He affirmed that the biggest problem is site clearance, which needs to be focused on and resolved. The entire political system from the province to the commune must be involved, not only for ongoing projects but also for major future projects such as highways and high-speed railways.

Regarding material difficulties, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Chairman of Binh Dinh Provincial People's Committee, proposed that the Government allow localities to proactively complete procedures for exploiting mineral mines to ensure supply.

To ensure uninterrupted work amid the administrative restructuring, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh proposed maintaining district-level project management boards. From July 1, when the new commune-level government apparatus comes into operation, all public services must be guaranteed to operate smoothly.

In particular, the Deputy Prime Minister noted that localities must pay attention to personnel work. "For localities, I suggest that comrades in the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and departments that have a great influence on businesses and growth must definitely choose worthy and good people," Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh requested.

He also emphasized that promoting growth depends largely on choosing the right investors with potential and capacity.

Source: https://thoidai.com.vn/yeu-cau-thao-go-diem-nghen-giai-ngan-dau-tu-cong-tai-9-tinh-mien-trung-214074.html