More than VND638 trillion in public investment capital for this year has been allocated, reaching over 90% of the target set by the Prime Minister, according to a Ministry of Finance report.

Many companies in HCM City have reported high growth rates, which can be seen in the high Tet bonuses being offered to their workers. They now need support in capital and market information.

Overall, the disbursement of public investment was 58.33 per cent as of the end of November, leaving a huge workload for the remaining days of this year.

Total public investment to be delivered in 2023 is expected to top VND730 trillion ($31 billion), higher than the realised figure of VND540 trillion in 2022.

Disbursements of public funds sourced from foreign loans in the year through November had moved at a snail’s pace, reaching only slightly more than 25% of the full-year plan.

The Vietnamese government is continuing to promote infrastructure development with the construction of expressways and new bridges, in efforts to spur socioeconomic development and welcome new private investment.

If transport projects do not proceed on schedule, managers need to prepare to resign, Transport Minister Nguyen Van Thang has said.

Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc pointed out problems in the Law on Public Investment at the ongoing National Assembly session.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment by the end of last month VND66.3 trillion from the programme was disbursed.

Analyst’s Pick: Besides making all-out efforts to have better preparation, heads of ministries and localities should be free of wariness and dare to take risks.

Some ministries, agencies and localities have given back public investment capital as they had not used up the capital.

Several State agencies, ministries, cities and provinces have proposed returning thousands of billions of Vietnamese dong of the allocated 2022 public capital due to slower-than-planned disbursements.

Only 50 percent of public capital was disbursed in January-September 2022, but in September alone, the figure was VND40.92 trillion, or 1.5 times higher than the average in the first eight months.

The government has submitted a report to the National Assembly on public debt in 2022 and predictions for 2023.

Though Hanoi five years ago created a bus rapid transit (BRT) system to reduce the use of private vehicles and ease traffic jams, the goals have not been met.

The 15th National Assembly’s supervisory mission has released a report on the results of supervision over policies and laws on practicing thrift practice and combating waste in the 2016-2021 period.

The Ministry of Transport expects to draw out some VND7 trillion (US$286.6 million) to pay off defaulted loans from Korean and German financers in the construction of the Hanoi-Hai Phong Expressway.

Wrongdoings have been draining public investment funds, wasting nearly VND32 trillion, the 15th National Assembly’s (NA) supervisory delegation reported.

The National Assembly supervision mission’s report on thrift practice and combating of waste in 2016-2021 said several major projects were ineffective, including the Hanoi Museum and Cat Linh - Ha Dong bus rapid route in Hanoi.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has recently spent weekends traveling to many localities to examine delayed construction works which have been exposed to sun and rain.