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May 30, 2018 / 08:02

Ministries urged to address slow public investment

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue recently required several ministries to quickly address their slow disbursement of public investment.

The ministries included Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Training, and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 
 
The capital disbursement for public investment projects has been moving at slow pace
The capital disbursement for public investment projects has been moving at slow pace
According to Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Manh Hung, as of May 20, the ministry had disbursed nearly VND233 billion (US$10.2 million), equal to 17 percent of the yearly target.
Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Khanh Hai reported that in the first four months of this year, his ministry’s disbursement reached 15.1 percent of the yearly target. The capital belonging to the 2017 plan that was rescheduled to be disbursed in 2018 has yet been disbursed.
Meanwhile, a report of the Health Ministry showed in the first five months of this year, the ministry disbursed over VND233 billion, equivalent to only 4.43 percent of estimates.
The ministry’s disbursement of public investment was 81 percent of the yearly target in 2016, and the figure in 2017 was 54.7 percent.
Deputy Health Minister Pham Le Tuan attributed the slow disbursement tempo to the disbursement of the Bach Mai II Hospital project and Viet Duc Huu Nghi II Hospital project under the Project 125.
He said it was difficult for the ministry to carry out the Project 125 projects within 3 years as the fact shows that it takes 5-7 years to accomplish the construction of big, modern hospitals.  
Deputy PM Hue said the two projects are examples of weaknesses in public investment. 
According to him, the ministry’s change from Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract to small bidding packages is a reason for the slow progress of the project 125.
He requested ministries, particularly the three above-mentioned ministries, to figure out reasons, and define the responsibility of the heads of the ministries as well as individuals and organisations involved in the slow transfer and disbursement of public investment.
Earlier, the Ministry of Planning and Investment asked centrally-run cities and provinces to rapidly submit their reports on the 2018 disbursement plans of public investment capital.
The ministry requested the People’s Committees of the localities to report on the pace of implementation of public investment plans in the first four months of this year as well as the direction and solutions they will take to carry out the work more effectively in the next months.
The capital disbursement for public investment projects has been moving at slow pace with only VND65 trillion (US$2.85 billion) in the first four months of this year, equal to 16.27 percent of the plan assigned by National Assembly.
According to the Ministry of Finance, only six ministries and sectors, and 14 cities and provinces had the disbursement rate of over 30 percent in the period. 
Among the ministries and sectors, Ministry of Public Security had the highest ratio of 43.43 percent. It was followed by Ministry of Home Affairs with 37.93 percent and Management Board of Cultural Village of Ethnic Minorities of Vietnam with 36.13 percent.
Meanwhile, Hoa Binh Province led among 63 cities and provinces nationwide with 40.86 percent. Lao Cai, Ninh Binh, Ha Giang and Hoa Binh had the ratio of between 36.73 percent and 37.57 percent.
The remaining ministries and provinces posted low disbursement of State investment capital. Specifically, 43 of 56 ministries and sectors, as well as 35 out of 63 localities had the disbursement rate of only 16 percent.
Especially, some ministries and sectors have not disbursed or had the disbursement ratio of only some 1 percent.