Slow site clearance is a deeply-ingrained problem that has dogged the disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) loans, Director General of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Economic Relations Department Luu Quang Khanh.

At the Ministry of Planning and Investment's press conference

At the regular press conference in Hanoi on June 27, the ministry said that only 48 percent of the 60 trillion VND (2.57 billion USD) capital assigned by the National Assembly has been disbursed.

Khanh stressed that apart from slow capital allocation, other factors are attributed to the cumbersome disbursement.

He pointed to the shortage of responding capital and glacial process for completing investment and bidding procedures as major obstacles.

In addition, he said that the Government should accelerate the signing of on-lending agreements with foreign partners to promote the ODA disbursement.

The ministry has recommended the Government to issue Directive on measures to promote management and use of foreign loans, and presented the Prime Minister a draft decree stipulating the use of non-government foreign aid. Besides, it is crafting a decree on Vietnam’s aid for foreign countries.