Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai (centre) leads the meeting on April 18. (Photo: quochoi.vn) The meeting also discussed the budget for projects under the nationalsocio-economic recovery and development programme.
In a report presented at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Planning andInvestment Tran Quoc Phuong said that the total capital for public investmentof the medium term 2021-25 was approved by the NA at 2.87 quadrillion VND (122.1billion USD , of which 2.44 quadrillion VND (103.8 billion USD) have beenassigned to projects, leaving nearly 430 billion VND (18.3 billion USD)unallocated.
The total capital for the socio-economic recovery and development programme is 176trillion VND (7.5 billion USD), of which 14.1 trillion VND (602 million USD)has not been assigned to projects.
Deputy Minister Phuong said that the compiling and reporting processes hadencountered difficulties in planning, site layout and balance with the localbudget, as well as the technical and price criteria and standards.
It led to ministries and localities requiring more time to complete thedossiers to submit for approval.
Although other localities had completed project dossiers, they had to waituntil the provincial People’s Council meetings for submission.
At the discussion, delegates said that the unallocated capital was quitesubstantial, which would impact public investment progress and socio-economicdevelopment missions if not assigned with a detailed plan to projects qualifiedfor investment.
They said that it was necessary to review and gather options for capitalallocation for the 2021-25 public investment plan, which would then besubmitted to the NA for assessment and approval at the 5th sitting of the15th-tenure NA following the laws.
The capital must be allocated to important missions if the unallocated amountis transferred to the contingency budget.
In that case, there would be a significant impact in achieving the threebreakthrough strategies, especially in terms of strategic infrastructure, thefive-year socio-economic development goals, and the goals of the medium-termpublic investment plan for 2021-25.
Suppose the socio-economic recovery and development programme fails to continuereceiving the capital. In that case, the impact might extend to theimplementation of key transport projects and the healthcare sector, affectingthe overall programme and the 2023 plan.
Delegates at the meeting also required departments to recognise theirresponsibilities for the delay in capital allocation and said that thesituation would persist if no stringent measures were taken.
The Government must submit a comprehensive report and determine a deadline toallocate the remaining capital.
NA Vice Chairman Hai said that while the matter was beyond the NA StandingCommittee’s authority for comment, the body held responsibility for the issuesarising during actual implementation.
Regarding the capital reallocation between ministries, central departments andlocalities within the committee’s authority according to the public investmentlaw, he requested that the government conduct a separate report to submit to theNA Standing Committee for approval.
Hai also asked the NA Committee on Finance-Budget and the Ministry of Planningand Investment to report to and coordinate with the government to review andclarify the goals of urgent projects, programmes and structures that havecompleted the procedures for investment.
The report would then be submitted to the NA Chairman and Standing Committee atthe upcoming 5th NA plenary session for allocation decision./.
VNA
