Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung held a meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in Hanoi on August 19 to examine public investment disbursement in the agriculture sector.

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung speaks at the meeting

The ministry has been assigned to allocate over VND17.32 trillion (US$749.9 million) in funds this year, including VND1.8 trillion in foreign capital the ministry returned to the State as it is unable to disburse it.

The sum also includes VND9.9 trillion sourced from Government bonds, with about VND8 trillion for construction and another VND1.88 trillion for site clearance compensation.

Though the greatest challenge facing construction is site clearance, the MARD has accelerated and completed many planned projects, it said, and affirmed it will disburse all of the funding for construction in 2020.

It was also tasked with allocating VND2.1 trillion for compensation and resettlement this year, but VND223 billion has been transferred to fund construction due to slow capital disbursement for site clearance.

Regarding projects funded through official development assistance (ODA), the ministry was given more than VND3.6 trillion to disburse this year but actual needs are just VND1.83 trillion. Given this, the MARD and the Ministry of Planning and Investment proposed the Prime Minister transfer the remaining capital to other sectors.

As of the end of July, the MARD had disbursed 36.6% of all public funding sources and expects the rate to reach 94.1% for the year as a whole.

Deputy PM Dung said the agriculture sector has many important projects in the pipeline and the disbursement of public investment is critical in developing agricultural infrastructure, which in turn creates conditions for attracting more investment to the sector and improving productivity and product quality.

He asked the MARD to work with other ministries and sectors to remove obstacles facing project implementation, including in regard to site clearance and construction, while ensuring project progress and quality and preventing waste.

He also suggested the MARD and other ministries build investment plans for important facilities like those regulating saltwater and freshwater in the Mekong Delta, wharves for fishing boats, reinforcement of reservoirs and dams, and natural disaster prevention efforts.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said the progress and the efficiency of public investment disbursement are both important, noting that the building of saltwater control facilities in the Mekong Delta has been sped up to help mitigate the severe drought and saline intrusion seen earlier this year.

He pledged that the ministry would work hard to ensure the progress and the quality of projects funded with public capital.