Vietnam likely to lack $3.93 bln in public investment capital in 2024: deputy minister

Vietnam is estimated to face a shortage of more than VND100 trillion ($3.93 billion) in public investment capital this year, according to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong.

How do you evaluate the disbursement of public investment capital this year?

Investment is one of the most important driving forces behind growth, with public investment being a vital area because the government can prepare policies to promote it. Public investment also has a spillover effect on the development of other sectors of the economy.

Public investment in recent years has received great attention from the government, which has taken specific actions to speed up disbursement. The results show the disbursement rate has continuously improved, reaching nearly 95% in 2023. This is a very impressive number, so we can achieve the goal set for this year.

In 2024, growth drivers, including public investment, are set to be promoted stronger and faster. Therefore, since the beginning of the year, the Prime Minister has been giving instructions on strengthening solutions to accelerate disbursement of public investment capital.

In the first quarter, we disbursed VND80 trillion ($3.14 billion), reaching over 13.7% of our year target, much higher than the 10% in the same period last year.

Now the socio-economic recovery and development program has wrapped up, the amount of public investment capital to be disbursed in 2024 is nearly VND100 trillion ($3.93 billion) lower.

However, in the first three months, the absolute figure of public investment disbursement was higher than the same period last year. It shows that the solutions that the government and the Prime Minister set out have proven effective.

To achieve this success, what specific solutions have been implemented recently?

The solutions have covered all areas. First of all, we have made many reforms and innovations in regulations, with new and specific mechanisms for large-scale and important projects submitted to competent authorities at all levels and the National Assembly - the legislature of Vietnam for approval.

Secondly, in recent years, the government has taken drastic measures to accelerate public investment disbursement. Working groups led by ministers and cabinet members to hasten the implementation of all solutions, including public investment, have increased from five to 26. In addition, the government and the Prime Minister have also issued many resolutions, directions, and directives to direct the synchronous deployment of solutions.

Thirdly, organizations, ministries and localities have shown their determination in carrying out construction projects.

There are solutions for almost all common obstacles so that work on construction sites can be expedited with the best quality. This has led to an increase in disbursement, so this is a very important factor.

The final factor is smooth coordination between local and central agencies in handling situations. In public investment, there are countless situations arising during implementation such as project adjustments, policy, mechanisms, and solution changes.

Obviously, one agency cannot do it all, there must be smooth coordination from central to local levels. And each solution or adjustment must have specific regulations that we must follow. The most important thing is to act quickly to ensure the public investment process is uninterrupted.

This year, the government targets a disbursement rate of 95%. Despite a successful 2023, this is still a challenging number. What specific solutions will be implemented in the near future?

In reports submitted to the government, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has pointed out the lessons to be learned for the future, especially regarding the disbursement of public investment capital.

Perhaps in 2024 we need to continue implementing the four above-mentioned solutions to raise public investment and its effectiveness, achieving the target of more than 95%.

One more solution is to handle situations that arise for projects, especially large projects.

The National Assembly has set up a supervision team for the implementation of important national projects decided by the legislature. These are large-scale projects with massive investment capital.

However, during the implementation process, problems are unavoidable, such as those related to site clearance and compensation. For example, if just a few households disagree with compensation plans, it can affect the progress of an entire project.

All these situations need to be solved quickly because if not, projects will come to a standstill, affecting the disbursement progress.

We cannot predict every obstacle for each project, but investors and project management boards must be very flexible to deal with any situations that arise. Only then can progress be guaranteed.

In fact, we need to prepare for a lack of capital at the end of the year, because if the ministries and sectors disburse public investment capital well, it is very likely that by the end of the year the money will run out, meaning that we will have no more capital to disburse. It is estimated that this year we may lack more than VND100 trillion ($3.93 billion).

We are considering solutions to deal with this situation. Of course, the general policy is to mobilize all available resources to supplement public investment capital. However, we don't always have the extra resources for that. The solution is to harmonize the public investment plan, and transfer public investment capital from units with surplus capital to those facing a shortage.