Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has asked ministries,sectors and localities to strictly follow the direction of the Government andthe Prime Minister to achieve the highest disbursement rate in the remainingtime of 2021 while ensuring the effectiveness of public investment projects.
Minh made the request at a conference on December 6 to discuss measures to remove bottlenecks andaccelerate the disbursement of public investment for 2021.
As of November 30,the disbursement rate of public investment remained modest at 295 trillion VND (12.7 billion USD), reaching 63.86 percent of the set plan. Of which, domesticcapital made up 39.19 percent and foreign capital reached 21.51 percent. Both ofthem were lowered than the rate recorded in the same period last year.
Participantsat the event said one of the reasons why capital disbursement in the first11 months lagged behind the pace is the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemicwhich resulted in the prolonged social distancing.
Theprice of construction materials increased sharply, especially iron and steel,cement, sand and gravel which directly affected the construction cost as wellas the progress of the project, they said, adding that shortcoming in makingplans and capital distribution is also a problem. Anotherreason is that the procedures for the implementation of projects have not been streamlined,leading to a waste of time and capital.
Deputy Minister of Transport NguyenNgoc Dong suggested reducing preparation procedures for projects. It takes time to complete many procedures fromapproving a project to its start, he said, adding an environmental impactassessment report requires between three and six months to finish.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep said2021 is the first year of the mid-term public investment plan for 2021-2025. Thismeans new construction projects need time for completing the necessary procedures.
Many projects were suspended for six months due to COVID-19 so it isnecessary to extend public investmentcapital for 2021 for six months, he said.
Concludingthe conference, Minh requested reviewing the responsibilities of leaders in directing and dealing with bottlenecks in the disbursement of publicinvestment at each ministry, agency and locality and enhancing the capacity ofthe projects' management board. The administrativeprocedure preparations for the projects should be streamlined to save time and costs, he said.
The Deputy PM assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to continue identifyingcurrent difficulties facing ministries, sectors and localities in carrying outpublic investment projects, so as to promptly seek solutions to removethem./.
