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“PM Calls for Review of Officials in Areas with Slow Public Investment Disbursement”

22 May, 2025

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the Conference on Promoting Public Investment Growth Momentum in 2025 – Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

On May 20 morning, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired the Conference on Promoting Public Investment Growth Momentum in 2025, with the target of disbursing 100% of public investment capital in 2025 (the previous target was 95%).

The year 2025 is of special importance; it is the year of many significant events in the country’s history; it is the year of acceleration and completion of the socio-economic development plan for 2021-2025 and the public investment plan for the medium-term period of 2021-2025. It is also the year of preparation for entering a new era – an era of vigorous development towards prosperity and civilization for the nation, aiming at the two strategic goals for the centenary.

To achieve these strategic goals, the Party, State, and Government have set a growth target of 8% or higher in 2025 (the previous target was 6.5-7%) to create momentum and double-digit growth in the following years. The target for public investment disbursement in 2025 is 100% (the previous target was 95%).

Public investment has always been identified as a crucial political task, playing a pivotal role in socio-economic development, ensuring national defense, security, and political stability. Public investment has both long-term strategic significance and immediate urgency, making a substantial contribution to promoting growth, macroeconomic stability, and maintaining the economy’s critical balances. It provides the foundation for developing social infrastructure, playing a “path-opening” role, unblocking bottlenecks, creating new momentum, and expanding development space. It also enhances connectivity, reduces logistics costs, and improves the country’s competitiveness. Public investment acts as a “catalyst,” attracting private investment and FDI, stimulating production and business activities, creating jobs, and contributing to social security.

In recent times, the Government and the Prime Minister have always paid great attention and provided strong and close direction to promote the disbursement of public investment, implement three national target programs, and execute projects using the central budget surplus from the early days and months of 2025.

Specifically, there has been a focus on完善 the public investment institution, including submitting the Public Investment Law No. 58/2024/QH15, passed by the National Assembly on November 29, 2024, for implementation from January 1, 2025, with new provisions aimed at creating breakthroughs, promoting reform, and enhancing decentralization and delegation of authority.

The Prime Minister has issued one directive and three telegrams and many documents directing the promotion of public investment disbursement. In addition, the Prime Minister’s telegrams and directives on promoting growth have set tasks and solutions to promote public investment disbursement.

Meetings of the Government’s Standing Committee and regular Government meetings have included content on public investment. Along with this, the role of the seven working groups of the Prime Minister has been promoted to work with localities to inspect and urge the disbursement of public investment capital. At the same time, ministries, central agencies, and localities have also established working groups to promote the disbursement of the state budget investment plan.

The disbursement result for the first four months was over VND 128.5 thousand billion, about VND 18 thousand billion higher than the same period in 2024. However, nearly VND 8 thousand billion has not been allocated in detail; the result of public investment disbursement in the first four months of 2025 reached 15.56%, lower than the same period in 2024 (16.64%), with many ministries, agencies, and localities having a disbursement rate below the national average.

Evaluate the officials in places where disbursement is slow

Opening the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that we are living in the historic months of April and May with a more urgent and daring spirit. In the current context, we are resolutely renewing the three traditional growth drivers, including investment, consumption, and exports, and promoting new growth drivers related to science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, circular economy, and knowledge economy.

While promoting new growth drivers takes time and has a lag, we must strive to consolidate and promote traditional growth drivers. However, consumption and export – the traditional growth drivers, are currently facing many difficulties. Although we are determined to diversify markets, products, and supply chains, we have not yet been able to immediately improve the situation.

Therefore, among the traditional growth drivers, investment plays a very important role, including public investment, FDI, and private investment. Public investment is identified as the driver of private investment and the activator of all resources for development.

Reviewing the results of public investment in the first months, in which 37/47 ministries and agencies and 27/63 localities had a disbursement rate below the national average, the Prime Minister requested to clarify this issue, find out the causes, and identify difficulties, obstacles, and bottlenecks and the responsibility of ministries, branches, and localities. He asked, “Why, with the same conditions and policies, do some places perform well while others do not? Is it because of the people, or the leaders?”

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the conference – Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

The Prime Minister requested that the Ministry of Finance statistics on ministries, branches, and localities with slow disbursement to evaluate officials. Those who perform well should be rewarded, and those who do not should be held accountable. At the same time, draw lessons in leadership and direction at all levels and branches, especially the leaders, to “get the right pulse and the right disease” to have suitable solutions; have principles and measurement tools to urge and remind, promote the role of the Prime Minister’s working groups.

The Prime Minister requested that the leaders of Party committees and authorities at all levels, as well as officials and party members, think, study, and continue to review and propose to amend institutions and policies to remove difficulties and obstacles, especially laws related to the state budget, bidding, because, in reality, private enterprises often disburse and implement projects very quickly. All levels, from central to local, must be more determined, proactive, and positive, with a clear division of tasks, responsibilities, progress, and results, showing a sense of responsibility for the country and their work, not letting the situation of “having money but not being able to spend” happen.

The Prime Minister emphasized the need to strengthen decentralization and delegation of power to localities, along with the allocation of resources, improve implementation capacity, and enhance inspection and supervision. The spirit is that “localities decide, do, and take responsibility,” while central ministries and branches focus on state management tasks and do not get involved in specific tasks. State corporations and groups must also be proactive in promoting investment.

Nhat Quang

– 09:45 20/05/2025