Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính chairs the meeting on public investment between the government and 63 localities on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on Tuesday underlined strengthening management and coordination as well as compliance with the Party and State directions to accelerate public investment.

He was speaking at a national conference on public investment, which reviewed and discussed disbursement rates in the first half of 2024 and set out the tasks and solutions to accelerate the progress for the next six months.

Compared to the national average, 11 out of the 44 ministries and state departments and 35 out of 63 localities across the country have higher disbursement rates, including the Electricity Vietnam (EVN) and the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).

In regard to expressway projects in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta, PM Chính himself made five visits to the construction sites to review the progress and send encouragement to workers.

He also directed deputy prime ministers and ministers to directly mitigate any material-related issues to accelerate construction progress.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), public investment disbursement is identified as a key political mission, as stated in Resolution No 01/NQ-CP dated January 5, 2024.

As of July 10, ministries, departments and localities have allocated 95.5 per cent of the planned public funding.

However, as of June 30, public investment disbursement only reached 29.39 per cent, lower than the same period last year.

Reports presented at the meeting showed that the slow disbursement of public funding this year is due to bottlenecks in land clearance for construction projects, land use conversion, the supply of ground levelling materials, fluctuating prices of raw materials and fuels, as well as other procedures in adjusting project plans and appraisals related to environment impacts or fire safety.

Officials at the meeting also acknowledged that the public investment disbursement rates tend to be low in the first half of the year and increase in the second, as several public employees demonstrated avoidance of responsibility due to fear of committing violations.

In ODA (official development assistance) funded projects, there are still challenges to meet the stringent technical and procedural requirements of investors, while the management and execution capacity of some project leaders remains limited.

Addressing the meeting, PM Chính expressed appreciation for the responsible and straightforward comments from leaders of ministries, departments and localities, while also praising units with higher public investment disbursement rates than the national average.

They had made important contributions to recent socio-economic development, especially economic growth, he said.

The 33 ministries, departments and 22 localities with lower public investment disbursement rates than the national average are required to learn from experience and propose solutions to improve in the near future.

Highlighting public investment as a priority for driving growth, mobilising resources, developing infrastructure and transport, reducing logistic costs and improving local, regional and national competitiveness, PM Chính called for adherence to the ‘five determinations’ and ‘five guarantees’ in public investment disbursement.

The ‘five determinations’ are related to upholding discipline and preventing misconduct, efficient land clearance, addressing issues and bottlenecks that arise, innovating implementation and leveraging new technologies and holding accountability.

Meanwhile, the ‘five guarantees’ concern sufficient materials for projects, capable and dedicated human resources for public investment projects, balanced benefits between the state, the investors and the local people, project management in alignment with regulations, as well as project progress, quality and safety according to plans.

Underlining that 2024 must be a breakthrough year in public investment to achieve the socio-economic goals for this year and the year after, especially the plan for 3,000km of expressways, PM Chính required ministerial, state department and provincial leaders to strictly implement the government’s directions and guidelines regarding this matter.

The government’s working groups must also continue their supervision and mitigate issues to accelerate public investment disbursement rates, with one more working group added under the leadership of Deputy PM Lê Thành Long.

Government members also conduct quarterly reviews with localities to address any problems that arise, according to Decision No 435/QĐ-TTg. — VNS