The conference saw the participation of Deputy Prime Ministers Le Minh Khai, Tran Hong Ha, Tran Luu Quang and Le Thanh Long, representatives of ministries, agencies and State corporations and companies. Leaders of 63 cities and provinces attended the event via virtual format.

Total public investment capital for 2024 reached VND669,3 trillion (nearly US$26.4 billion), including VND20,000 trillion in foreign loans.

In the first half of this year, around VND200 trillion (US$7.9 billion) had been disbursed, equivalent to 29.39 percent of the total volume of investment capital..

Eleven out of 44 ministries and central agencies and 35 localities have reported disbursement rates higher than the country's average.

Meanwhile, 33 out of 44 ministries and central agencies as well as 28 out of 63 localities have reported disbursement rates lower than the country's average.

Addressing the event, Prime Minister Pham underlined the importance of public investment capital for achieving this year's GDP growth, urging the central working groups to continue inspection tours to timely detect and promptly put forwards measures to remove legal bottlenecks arising in disbursement of public investment capital.

Pham tasked ministers, heads of central agencies and chairpersons of cities and provinces to uphold the sense of responsibility and promote their role in carrying out public investment projects; regularly review and resolve bottlenecks of each investment project.

Special focus must be paid to site clearance, project preparations, bidding and implementation process, stressed the Prime Minister.

In its Taking Stock bi-annual economic update released in April, the World Bank recommended the Vietnamese Government expedite infrastructure investment projects financed by public resources to back aggregate demand in the short term.

World Bank East Asia and Pacific Practice Manger for Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Sebastian Eckardt said efforts to enhance public investment management will also address critical infrastructure gaps in energy, transportation, and logistics, which are fundamental for Viet Nam's long-term economic growth./.