Urban and high-speed railway projects will be prioritized for public capital use.

This content is stated in the Resolution on principles, criteria and norms for allocating public investment capital for 2026-2030, which was voted and approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee on the afternoon of February 7.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that compared to the principle of allocating public investment capital 5 years ago, in the coming period, this resource will be prioritized for important national projects, highways, high-speed railways, and urban railways. This is to speed up the progress and early completion of important infrastructure projects, inter-regional connectivity, and promote socio-economic development.

In addition, State resources are also prioritized for projects in the fields of national defense and security, science and technology, innovation, nuclear energy, digital infrastructure, semiconductor technology, and green transformation.

Reviewing the Government's report, Mr. Le Quang Manh, Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee, said that the agency agreed with the principles and criteria for allocating public capital until 2030. However, the agency requested the Government to carefully review the criteria for allocating capital for projects using ODA capital and foreign preferential loans. This is to ensure consistency and compliance with the new provisions of the Law on Public Investment.

The Government also needs to review regulations to prioritize ODA capital allocation for projects associated with technology transfer in important fields that Vietnam has not yet done or has not yet mastered the technology.

Vietnam is speeding up the progress of a series of key projects, such as the North-South Expressway component projects in the Eastern region in the 2021-2025 period; urban railways in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Long Thanh airport... This year, agencies are also striving to complete procedures and start construction of the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway line.

The North-South high-speed railway project was approved by the National Assembly at the end of November 2024. The 1,541 km long route, starting at Ngoc Hoi station (Hanoi), ending at Thu Thiem station (Ho Chi Minh City), passes through 20 provinces and cities.

The entire line is newly invested with a double gauge of 1,435 mm, a design speed of 350 km/h, a load capacity of 22.5 tons/axle; there are 23 passenger stations, 5 freight stations. The project is applied in the form of public investment, with a total preliminary investment of 1,713 trillion VND (67 billion USD). The National Assembly requested the preparation of a feasibility study report from 2025, striving to complete the project by 2035.

This year, Vietnam aims for economic growth of over 8% and double digits in the period up to 2030. Mr. Vu Hong Thanh, Chairman of the Economic Committee, said that a huge amount of resources are being put into the economy to achieve the double-digit growth target, so it is necessary to have criteria for "public investment capital as seed capital, as a basis for attracting other resources".

One of the shortcomings in implementing the resolution for the 2021-2026 period is the lack of a management mechanism and binding responsibility for local budgets to allocate public capital for infrastructure investment. The disbursement rate of foreign capital and ODA is still very low, reaching only 52.7% of the assigned plan.

Therefore, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man noted that the criteria for allocating public investment capital in the future need to overcome the situation of dispersion and lack of rationality among important sectors and fields.

Mr. Man requested that the criteria for allocating public capital in the coming period should be based on urgency, efficiency, ensuring transparency and fairness. "Allocate urgent projects, and put aside those that are not urgent. It is necessary to allocate capital for unfinished projects and works," said Chairman Tran Thanh Man.

He also noted that the Ministry of Planning and Investment prioritizes capital allocation for the fields of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation.

Speaking to explain, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said that in the previous period, there were 20,000 public investment projects, which were reduced to 10,000 projects in the 2016-2020 period. This number was cut to less than 5,000 projects in the previous term. In this term, the Prime Minister requested to reduce the number of public investment projects to about 3,000, reserving resources for large projects, and decentralizing the rest to localities.

Minister Dung also said that public capital will be prioritized for infrastructure projects, science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.