Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính during a government meeting in Hà Nội on January 9, 2026. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on January 9 chaired a national conference on accelerating public investment for 2025 and 2026, stressing that the legitimate rights and interests of the people must never be overlooked before, during and after project implementation.

In his opening remarks, the PM underlined that public investment has consistently been identified as a key political task, with public investment disbursement results serving as one of the criteria for evaluating officials under Party regulations. Through state spending, public investment directly boosts aggregate demand and serves as an effective tool for regulating and stabilising the macro-economy while safeguarding major economic balances.

Public investment plays a leading role in catalysing private and foreign direct investment, generating strong spillover effects that promote production and business activities, create jobs and livelihoods for people, and raise total social investment. It also helps drive rapid and sustainable growth, build strategic infrastructure, enhance national competitiveness, open up new development space, narrow development gaps, ensure social equity, and strengthen national defence, security and international integration.

According to the Prime Minister, among the three traditional growth drivers, investment – with public investment at its core – is the most proactive. Therefore, the Government and the Prime Minister have consistently exercised strong and close direction to accelerate public investment disbursement and implement the three national target programmes from the very beginning of the year.

In 2025 alone, the Cabinet organised four conferences on promoting public investment disbursement. The Government issued 11 resolutions, the Cabinet released two conclusions, and the PM promulgated eight directives, official dispatches and other documents to push ahead with disbursement. The PM, Deputy PMs and government members also made numerous working trips to localities to inspect projects on the ground, particularly nationally important and key projects, and to resolve specific difficulties and bottlenecks.

As of late December, public investment disbursement had reached more than VNĐ755 trillion (US$28.7 billion), equivalent to 83.7 per cent of the plan assigned by the Government leader. This represented an increase of 3.4 percentage points and VNĐ206.6 trillion in absolute terms compared to the same period in 2024, but remained below requirements. Notably, 22 ministries and agencies and 18 localities recorded disbursement rates below the national average.

The PM noted that with only 20 days remaining in January to disburse the remaining 16.3 per cent of 2025 capital, the task is extremely challenging. At the same time, immediate efforts are needed to roll out public investment for 2026, with total capital nearing VNĐ995.4 trillion, up 10.4 per cent from 2025, in order to contribute to the target of double-digit economic growth.

Regarding land clearance, resettlement and compensation, which are decisive factors for public investment progress, the Government leader stressed that under no circumstances should the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of the people be forgotten before, during or after project implementation, reaffirming that caring for people’s well-being remains a core objective of the Party and the State. —VNA/VNS Photo