Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang urges disbursement of public investment capital

On the afternoon of September 18, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang chaired a meeting to inspect and urge the disbursement of public investment capital in 2023 with ministries and central agencies under Working Group No. 3.

According to the report of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the total investment capital plan for 2023 assigned by the National Assembly is more than 711,684 billion VND, including nearly 43,000 billion VND for 17 ministries and central agencies under Working Group No. 3.

As of August 31, 2023, the disbursement rate of 17 ministries and central agencies under Working Group No. 3 reached 44.12% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister, higher than the national average of 42.35%.

Of the 17 ministries and central agencies under the Working Group, four ministries and central agencies disbursed funds higher than the national average, including the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Management Board (58.49%), the Ministry of National Defense (50%), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (48.2%) and the Vietnam Farmers' Union (48.16%). The remaining ministries and agencies disbursed funds below 10% or have not yet disbursed funds.

Ministries and agencies reported that some of the delayed projects are new projects, projects to purchase specialized equipment, projects to build headquarters of ministries and branches in localities, information technology projects... which require many processes and procedures, so they require time. In particular, there are projects that have not been implemented for many years due to subjective reasons from the investor unit not being well prepared, so when starting to implement, there are many problems.

To increase the disbursement rate from now until the end of the year, Mr. Cao Huy, Deputy Head of the Government Office, proposed that the Deputy Prime Minister direct ministries, agencies and localities with low disbursement rates compared to the national average to seriously learn from experience, clearly identify the causes, draw lessons and have specific solutions, and resolutely strive to achieve the disbursement target of 95% of the 2023 capital plan assigned by the Prime Minister.

At the meeting, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Do Thanh Trung said that the National Assembly recently issued a resolution allowing the transfer of capital between tasks and projects under the Socio-Economic Recovery and Development Program and tasks and projects under the Medium-Term Public Investment Plan for the 2021-2025 period to increase disbursement progress. The Ministry of Planning and Investment has issued a guiding document, clearly stipulating the order and procedures for implementing this content.

Deputy Minister Do Thanh Trung suggested that when implementing projects, ministries and agencies must pay attention to complying with three planning schemes, including general planning, zoning planning and detailed planning; and focus on prioritizing capital allocation to prepare for investment.

The Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, National Defense, and Public Security shared many experiences in public investment management: Assigning a Deputy Minister to be directly responsible for basic construction work; assigning competent and experienced units to participate in investment management; promoting the application of information technology to manage disbursement data in real time; holding monthly meetings with all investors and contractors; classifying each group of projects to have solutions to handle problems; conducting monthly progress reviews and assessments.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang emphasized that the progress of public investment disbursement is very important for socio-economic recovery and development in 2023.

The Deputy Prime Minister highly appreciated the positive progress of ministries and agencies since the Working Group meeting in April 2023, as well as the ability to complete the disbursement task by the end of the year, especially ministries and agencies that have been allocated large amounts of public investment capital.

Regarding the direction and tasks for the last months of the year, the Deputy Prime Minister requested ministries and agencies to be more proactive and determined; to make detailed plans to implement investment projects, clearly defining the responsibilities of the heads; to select consultants with sufficient capacity, especially for ministries and branches without specialized investment agencies to avoid mistakes and loss of staff; to strictly report monthly disbursement progress to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for synthesis and reporting to the Government.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that for future public investment projects, ministries and agencies must thoroughly consider the conditions and disbursement capabilities, especially regarding site clearance, compensation, planning, etc., to avoid the situation of including them in the plan but not being able to disburse for many years and having to return the capital.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested that in the process of implementing public investment projects and works, if ministries and agencies encounter difficulties or problems, they should promptly report them to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for synthesis and other working groups to find solutions.