A view of downtown HCM City. The municipal government has ordered faster public spending to support the city's double-digit economic growth target for 2026, — VNS Photo

HCM CITY — HCM City has instructed all agencies and investors to speed up public investment, describing it as a key task to achieve economic growth targets and deliver its 2026 investment plan.

Under a directive signed on June 29 by Vice Chairman of its People's Committee, Hoàng Nguyên Dinh, Party secretaries and chairpersons of people's committees at the ward, commune and special zone levels must directly oversee the review of all payment documents and ensure they are promptly submitted for disbursement.

Local authorities have been instructed to resolve issues within their remit rather than pass responsibility elsewhere or delay decisions, with their leaders to be held personally accountable to the city Party Committee and People's Committee for disbursement.

The directive also calls for faster resolution of bottlenecks involving compensation, resettlement, land acquisition, site clearance, investment and construction procedures, tendering, payments and project settlement so that eligible projects can move ahead.

Project investors have been instructed to prepare monthly disbursement schedules for every package, setting out workloads, deadlines and individual responsibilities.

They must also submit payment claims promptly, avoid backlogs, accelerate construction and acceptance procedures and immediately report issues beyond their authority.

The Department of Finance has been tasked with tracking the progress of every agency, unit, and project owner.

Every week, it will identify slow-disbursing units and delayed projects and recommend corrective measures to the city government.

It will also propose transferring capital from projects unlikely to spend their allocated funds to those capable of faster disbursement.

A public infrastructure project in HCM City. — Photo courtesy of laodong.vn

State Treasury Region II has been instructed to deploy additional staff and extend working hours where necessary to process all eligible payment applications without delay.

The Departments of Construction, Agriculture and Environment, Planning and Architecture and Justice are required to expedite administrative procedures to keep projects on schedule.

The Department of Home Affairs will use disbursement performance as one of the criteria for assessing the annual performance of heads of departments, agencies, and local administrations.

The directive comes as disbursement remains well behind schedule.

As of June 22, HCM City had disbursed VNĐ32.8 trillion (US$1.25 billion), or a mere 22.2 per cent of the VNĐ147.6 trillion allocated for 2026.

It still falls far short of the city's second-quarter target of 40-45 per cent and below the national average of 24.2 per cent.

Officials blame this slow progress on the restructuring of the city's project management system and administrative delays during the transition, which have left many works awaiting payment despite completion.

Progress has also been constrained because 2026 is the first year of the 2026-30 medium-term public investment plan, meaning many projects are in the preparatory stage and not ready for payment.

Other factors slowing implementation include delays in site clearance, relocation of infrastructure, lengthy legal procedures, contractual disputes, fluctuating construction material prices and the lack of official pricing for night-time construction.

Of the 46 projects allocated more than VNĐ500 billion each, with a combined investment in excess of VNĐ77.8 trillion, most have recorded low disbursement rates because the bulk of construction work will begin in the second half of the year after investment procedures are completed.

Speaking at a meeting on the city's socio-economic performance earlier last month, the chairman of the city People's Committee, Nguyễn Văn Được, said public investment would be one of the main drivers of the goal of achieving double-digit economic growth in 2026.

He exhorted officials to remove obstacles to site clearance and investment procedures and reallocate capital from slow-moving projects to those capable of making faster progress.

The city is targeting disbursement of 40-45 per cent of its public investment plan by the end of the first half of the year, around 70 per cent by the end of the third quarter, and 100 per cent by year-end.

Performance will also be tied to officials' annual assessments, emulation rankings, and future budget allocations to increase accountability in the public sector. — VNS