Don't let mergers slow down public investment

“Bottlenecks” that need to be removed

In particular, in the context that the province is preparing to reorganize the administrative apparatus towards merger and streamlining, ensuring that public investment progress is not affected has become an urgent task. According to a report from the People's Committee of Quang Nam province, the province's GRDP in the first quarter of 2025 increased by 7.4% over the same period. However, in contrast to that growth momentum, the disbursement of public investment capital is "standing still". As of March 28, 2025, the whole province has only disbursed VND 543,187 billion out of the total planned capital of more than VND 8,311 billion, equivalent to only 6.5% - lower than the 9.8% of the same period in 2024 and also lower than the national average.

The causes are quite clear, in which the most prominent are the problems in compensation and site clearance. A representative of the Quang Nam Department of Finance stated that this is still the biggest "bottleneck", directly affecting the progress of project construction. Many localities are still confused in the implementation stage, and the direction is not close and not regular. Along with that, the shortage of construction materials, especially sand and landfill soil, has not been completely resolved.

The licensing of new material mines is facing difficulties due to inadequacies in the auction process, leading to prolonged procedures. Many large and key projects still do not have a stable source of materials, causing delays in progress. In addition, the coordination between authorities and investors is ineffective, causing many problems to not be resolved promptly.

Notably, recently, the policy of merging district-level administrative units and streamlining the organizational apparatus has begun to create apprehension among a number of cadres, civil servants and public employees. Many people are hesitant in handling work, especially procedures related to public investment projects, due to concerns about changes in investors, payment responsibilities or work transfers. Some contractors are even hesitant to implement construction, worrying that adjusting the apparatus will affect the acceptance and payment process...

Coastal route, one of the important public investment projects in Quang Nam

More drastic in direction, speed up disbursement

To achieve the growth target, Quang Nam identified the key tasks in the second quarter as boosting production and business, accelerating public investment disbursement, and continuing to support businesses in accessing credit, expanding output, and creating momentum for economic recovery. In particular, the work of reviewing planning, implementing large public investment projects and national target programs is given top priority.

Chairman of Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee Le Van Dung emphasized: "The province strives for a GRDP growth rate of 10% in 2025. Therefore, in the coming time, we must accelerate the implementation of the set goals, including public investment disbursement - a key task in economic development."

Accordingly, the Provincial People's Committee has assigned specific responsibilities to each leader in charge of the project group; civil servants and public employees are assigned to closely monitor the progress of each project. The review of disbursement progress is organized more frequently, in order to closely assess the situation, promptly adjust capital plans for slow projects, and at the same time transfer capital to projects with real needs.

The province has also established many specialized working groups to inspect and urge the progress of disbursement of public investment capital. Cases that fail to complete the plan will be reviewed and seriously handled, linking the implementation results with the assessment of the level of work completion by the heads of agencies and units.

Recently, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested departments, branches and localities to "concentrate all resources, completely remove difficulties" to disburse maximum public investment capital in 2025. In particular, the functional branches were directed to review and classify all delayed projects, clearly stating the capital source, investor, implementation progress and reasons for delay. For projects that are no longer suitable or have low efficiency, it is possible to propose to stop, terminate and settle according to regulations.

Quang Nam Provincial Party Secretary Luong Nguyen Minh Triet also gave strong instructions on this issue. He requested the development of a detailed disbursement plan for each project, especially projects under the national target program. The Provincial Party Secretary also requested to tighten discipline and order in disbursing public investment capital, and emphasized: "Do not let the merger of the administrative apparatus become a reason for delaying work progress. If officials do not have enough spirit and responsibility, it will be very difficult to survive in the new apparatus." Mr. Triet also requested to end the situation of "avoiding and shirking responsibility", clearly affirming that all levels and sectors need to proactively take part in promoting project progress. Strictly handling cases of irresponsibility and delay is considered a key factor to restore discipline in public investment management.

In the long term, Quang Nam also identified the important task of stabilizing the psychology of the staff during the period of preparing for the merger of the apparatus. Propaganda and ideological orientation work has been stepped up to ensure that civil servants and public employees can work with peace of mind and are not affected by organizational changes. "Even if there is only one day or one hour left, we must make every effort for the benefit of the people, businesses and the sustainable development of the province," affirmed the leader of Quang Nam province.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/khong-de-viec-sap-nhap-lam-cham-dau-tu-cong-163236.html