Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc spoke at the meeting. Photo: TL.

Many difficulties

The six localities are Quang Binh, Quang Tri, An Giang, Dong Thap, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau.

At the conference, Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that by November 30, 2021, the whole country had disbursed 65.7% of the plan. This was a very low rate in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and Vietnam needed to quickly disburse capital to attract private capital and socialized capital for development investment.

Within the framework of this meeting, the Ministry of Finance listened to the opinions of six provinces and cities to find out the causes and difficulties behind the slow disbursement progress, thereby making policy recommendations.

According to a report of the Ministry of Finance, in Decision No. 2185/QD-TTg dated December 21, 2020, the Prime Minister assigned the state budget capital plan in 2021 to six localities at VND24,048,659 billion.

Along with that, the capital disbursement (to November 30, 2021) of six localities is VND11,749,185 billion, reaching 48.9% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister in 2021.

In particular, Ca Mau province has the highest disbursement reaching 59.1%; An Giang province had the lowest result among the six provinces, reaching 33.8%. All six localities are lower than the national average with 65.7%.

At the meeting, the representatives of the above localities reported specific difficulties and problems to the working group. The common issues were difficulties in completing investment procedures; difficulties in shortage of workers, consultants and experts (especially for ODA projects); difficulties in site clearance; difficulties and obstacles in increasing prices of raw materials and materials in construction; difficulties in purchasing, importing and transportation of machinery and equipment.

In addition, another reason why the disbursement progress of these localities is lower than the national average is the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic; new projects must wait for the 2021-2025 medium-term plan because 2021 is the starting year of the 2021-2025 plan, localities arrange to start many new projects and implement inter-regional and large-scale projects so the preparation time was longer; mechanisms for notifying local capital for revenues from land are carried out in the form of revenue and expenditure recording, resulting in no detailed allocation of capital plans for this revenue.

Six localities worked with the Working Group on disbursement of public investment capital. Photo: TL.

Focus on untying the "knots"

At the meeting, the leaders of these six provinces made recommendations related to the functions and tasks of the ministries: the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and Ministry of Transport.

For example, in An Giang province, Mr. Le Van Phuoc, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, suggested that the Ministry of Planning and Investment should soon submit to the Government for consideration and approval a loan to support the Mekong Delta region to implement the project “building a freshwater reservoir system associated with irrigation infrastructure to serve the production linkages of the Long Xuyen quadrangle sub-region”.

Additionally, Mr. Pham Thien Nghia, Chairman of Dong Thap Province People's Committee, also proposed the Ministry of Planning and Investment consider reporting to the Prime Minister to allow localities to allocate medium-term public investment capital in the 2021-2025 period from the central budget based on the actual disbursement value of each project.

At the meeting, representatives of ministries such as the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Ministry of Transport also answered questions from each locality.

With comments beyond the authority of the Working Group, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc affirmed that he would summarize and report to the Prime Minister.

At the meeting, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc said that Resolution No. 63/NQ-CP of the Government stipulated that by the end of 2021, the disbursement must reach 95%-100%. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic was also complicated, but the disbursement rate for public investment still reached 96%. In 2021, although the pandemic is more intense and lasts longer, the leaders of the provinces need to make efforts from the province to the district level in order to remove difficulties, focusing on speeding up the construction of work in accordance with regulations.

"The Government's resolution stated that the disbursement in 2021 must reach over 95%, so the provinces need to make efforts day and night. At the same time, focusing on removing bottlenecks for investment. The Ministry of Finance would also advise the Government to issue documents on removing difficulties as soon as possible for the provinces," the Minister said.

The Minister also asked local leaders to study the issues under the authority of the Provincial People's Committee to resolve them as soon as possible.