National Highway No 57 is upgraded using VNĐ875 billion of public investment. — VNA/VNS Photo Công Trí

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has ordered the Ministry of Planning and Investment to conduct a thorough review to remove inefficient State-invested projects and focus the budget on necessary projects in the 2021-25 period, with an aim to have about 5,000 projects invested by the State budget in this period.

The Cabinet leader recently issued a directive urging relevant agencies and localities to accelerate public investment disbursement and improve the quality of the mid-term public investment plan between 2021 and 2025.

He said the complicated and unpredictable situation in the region and the world, along with long-lasting COVID-19 impacts, had largely affected national socio-economic development.

He mentioned shortcomings of the economy while highlighting the urgent need for investment in infrastructure, environmental protection, natural disaster prevention and control and climate change response.

In that context, the effective formulation and implementation of the mid-term public investment plan plays a very important role, contributing to creating new production capacity, attracting investment, and promoting socio-economic development in the short, medium and long terms.

Looking back at public investment disbursement in the 2016-20 period, PM Chính said the disbursement was not focused on key projects.

He ordered ministries and localities to focus investment on key sectors, regions and big intra-regional projects, as well as urgent local projects to create a driving force for growth.

Investment must be poured in climate change response, disease prevention, natural disaster prevention and social security projects.

The PM ordered ministries and localities to say no to scattered, wasteful and inefficient investment. They must review the projects and cut down the number of newly-invested ones, step up inspection and remove obstacles in mechanisms, administrative procedures and land clearance.

He said unnecessary and inefficient projects must be removed from the public investment list.

Public investment capital must play a leading role and act as a driver to attract maximum resources from other economic sectors under the motto "public investment leads investment,” he said.

The disbursement of public investment sourced from the State budget in April this year was estimated at VNĐ30.4 trillion (US$1.32 billion), a year-on-year surge of 23.9 per cent, and reaching the highest monthly level since 2017, according to the General Statistics Office.

During January-April, VNĐ98.7 trillion worth of investment from the State budget was disbursed, accounting for 21.5 per cent of the annual plan, and rising 16.3 per cent from the same period in 2020.

Of the total figure, VNĐ15.1 trillion was disbursed by central agencies, or 19.6 per cent of the yearly plan, and up 25.5 per cent year-on-year. The remainder was disbursed by localities, making up 21.9 percent of the plan, and rising 14.8 per cent. — VNS