The Slow and Steady Turtle: Navigating the Challenges of Public Investment Disbursement

In the first five months of the year, the disbursement of public investment capital reached over VND 199,000 billion, equivalent to 24.1% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister. The Ministry of Finance assessed that the disbursement progress has accelerated significantly, catching up with the pace of the same period last year.

However, among the central-level ministries and agencies, 37 out of 47, and among the provinces and cities, 24 out of 63, had a disbursement rate below the national average. Many have not disbursed or have very low disbursement rates, below 10%, including the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Health, Supreme People’s Court, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Committee for Religious Affairs and Nationalities…

Seven localities had a disbursement rate below 15%, including Lai Chau, Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, Cao Bang, Dong Nai, Phu Yen, and Ben Tre.

In contrast, several central-level ministries and agencies achieved good disbursement rates, above 30%, such as the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (86%), Voice of Vietnam (73%), Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (41%), and Ministry of Public Security (40%).

The localities with disbursement rates above 40% include Phu Tho, Thanh Hoa, Lao Cai, Thai Nguyen, Nam Dinh, and Ha Giang…

To ensure the full disbursement of the public investment plan, the Ministry of Finance requested that ministries, sectors, and localities proactively implement various solutions in the context of administrative unit rearrangement and the implementation of a two-level local government model.

Localities need to review and adjust their capital plans accordingly. Ongoing tasks such as planning, appraisal, land clearance, construction, acceptance, and payment must be carried out continuously without interruption. Legal documents should be handed over comprehensively and clearly, and investors and project management boards must coordinate closely with departments and branches to ensure uninterrupted disbursement progress.

The Ministry of Finance also emphasized the need to prioritize addressing land clearance issues – the biggest bottleneck hindering project progress. Localities must mobilize the involvement of leaders and the entire political system to decisively handle the situation of “projects waiting for land.”

For projects using ODA capital, investors need to closely monitor the progress and promptly handle any obstacles and difficulties in project implementation and disbursement. They should focus on accelerating the disbursement of projects that have completed investment procedures, bidding, and contract signing.

Regarding local budget capital, the Ministry of Finance proposed accelerating budget collection, especially from land, to ensure timely capital allocation.

Priority should be given to key projects, especially in the transport sector, to complete at least 3,000 km of highways by 2025 and over 1,000 km of coastal roads in 2025. It is necessary to expedite the progress of important projects and large-scale constructions that meet the conditions as stipulated.

The Ministry of Finance also requested that localities and sectors build disbursement plans by month and quarter, resolutely cutting capital from slow-progress projects to reallocate to projects with better performance.

At the recent conference on promoting the driving force of public investment growth, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh determined to disburse 100% of public investment capital in 2025 (the previous target was 95%). The Prime Minister emphasized that the disbursement results of public investment capital would be an important basis for evaluating task fulfillment and assessing officials, and if the target is not achieved, there will be inspections and handling.