Vietnamese Gov’t identifies public investment key for high economic growth

A high disbursement rate of public funds remains an essential task for Vietnam’s socioeconomic development, including achieving estimated GDP growth of around 8% for this year.

Public investment remains vital for Vietnam to boost socio-economic development. Photo: Dang Tien

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highlighted the role of public investment in a directive sent to provinces, cities, and Government agencies, urging for a more significant acceleration of public projects in the remainder of the year.

“This is particularly significant amid growing global uncertainties, and the local economy is set to face major challenges, especially the financial, monetary markets, and trading activities,” Chinh noted in the directive.

“High public investment is seen as a key political goal for the Government and contributes to the successful implementation of monetary and fiscal policies, eventually leading to stable macro-economic fundamentals, keeping inflation under control and boosting growth,” he added.

Data from the Ministry of Finance revealed that as of October, the disbursed amount of public funds stood at VND293 trillion (US$11.8 billion), or 51.34% of the year’s target.

Ensuring high public investment performance in the coming months requires greater responsibility from leaders in agencies, units, and localities in this regard.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Construction is tasked with monitoring the prices of construction materials and issuing new guidance on using alternative materials in public projects in case of rising prices.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment would focus on addressing bottlenecks in land management in provinces/cities and the process of issuing licenses for mining operations to supply materials for public projects.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is expected to ensure supply-demand balance and stable prices of input materials, especially fuels, gasoline, steel, and construction materials.

For provinces and cities, the directive requested higher discipline measures to speed up public investment, including focusing on site clearance and compensation processes for affected households.

Hanoi accelerates public investment projects

During the first ten months of 2022, the disbursed amount of public investment in Hanoi stood at VND36.4 trillion ($1.46 billion), up 12.3% year-on-year and equivalent to 71.4% of the year's target.

This reflected the strong efforts from the local authorities in accelerating public investment, seen as a critical task for the city’s socio-economic development.

For the remainder of the year, Hanoi would focus on constructing major infrastructure projects, including the pilot metro line section Nhon – Hanoi station with a length of 12.5 kilometers and an investment capital of VND33 trillion ($1.38 billion). The line is 75.8% complete to date, with the elevated section of 8.5 kilometers set to be inaugurated by late 2022.

The Le Van Luong – Ring road 3 tunnel is one of Hanoi's six major transport projects. The work, with an investment capital of VND700 billion ($29.2 million) and a length of 475 meters, was completed on October 5 after nearly two years of construction.

The elevated Ring road 2 project section Vinh Tuy bridge – Nga Tu So, which started construction in April 2018 with an investment capital of VND9.4 trillion ($393 million) and a length of 5 kilometers, is scheduled for completion by late 2022.

The Vinh Tuy bridge phase 2 costs VND2.5 trillion ($105 million) with a length of 3.5 kilometers running from the junction of Nguyen Khoai and Minh Khai Street to the intersection of Long Bien - Thach Ban and Co Linh Street. The project could be completed by September 2023 and implemented on Hanoi Liberation Day, October 10, 2023.

Hanoi Children's Palace started construction in March 2021 with an investment capital of VND1.37 trillion ($57.3 million). The project, located in the Cau Giay new urban area, is currently under the first execution phase and is set to complete in 2024.