Decisively Accelerating Public Investment Disbursement: Replacing Officials Who Fail to Meet Requirements

On the afternoon of May 4, under the chairmanship of Mr. Tran Duy Dong – Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, and Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee – the Provincial People’s Committee (PPC) held a conference to evaluate public investment results for the first four months of 2026. The meeting was conducted both in-person and online, connecting to 148 communes and wards across the province.

Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Tran Duy Dong delivering his keynote speech at the conference.

According to the Department of Finance, the total assigned capital for 2026 is 21,934.94 billion VND. As of April 29, over 2,922 billion VND has been disbursed, accounting for 13.3% of the plan assigned by the Provincial People’s Council and 14.7% of the Prime Minister’s target. Notably, local budget disbursement (15%) outperformed central budget disbursement (only 0.9%).

Regarding regional Project Management Boards (PMBs), the Phu Tho PMB achieved the highest rate (22.1%), followed by Hoa Binh (14.3%) and Vinh Phuc (9.8%). However, 13 departments and investors have yet to disburse any capital. The total outstanding advance payment as of April 2026 exceeded 12,444 billion VND, with overdue advances totaling over 384.9 billion VND.

Concluding the conference, Chairman Tran Duy Dong affirmed that public investment disbursement is a top-tier political task for 2026 and the entire term, serving as the engine to achieve double-digit growth.

While the province’s disbursement rate is higher than the national average, it remains below the internal requirement. Over the past month, the rate increased by only 1%. The Chairman pointed out that the core issues are subjective: lack of seriousness in implementing directives, hesitation among officials, and a "fear of responsibility."

Highlighting the stern message: “Replacing officials who fail to meet requirements,” the Chairman asserted that the province will resolutely reassign or replace any officials under its jurisdiction who show a lack of responsibility or decisiveness that delays general progress. Disbursement results will be the primary criterion for evaluating the performance of collectives and individuals in 2026.

To achieve the goal of 100% disbursement of the 2026 capital plan, the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee (PPC) requested departments, sectors, localities, and units to continue strictly grasping and implementing directives from the Central Government, the Prime Minister, the Provincial Party Committee, and the PPC on promoting public investment allocation and disbursement. This requires the highest spirit of determination, effort, and drastic action throughout all agencies, units, and the entire local political system. Accelerating disbursement progress must go hand in hand with ensuring construction quality and labor safety, while preventing corruption, negativity, loss, and waste.

Investors, regional Project Management Boards (PMBs), and People’s Committees of communes and wards are tasked with developing detailed disbursement plans for each project, ensuring compliance with specific milestones: finalized settlement projects and recovery of advanced capital must be completed before May 15, 2026; completed projects must finish disbursement before May 30, 2026; and transitional projects must reach at least 50% by June 30, over 75% by September 30, and 100% by December 31.

Investors must urgently finalize dossiers for project approval and contractor selection, particularly for the group of 17 projects that have completed Investment Policy Appraisal. Units are required to establish detailed charts and update online disbursement data by May 10, 2026, while closely supervising contractors to expedite construction for advance recovery and strictly controlling advance costs. Notably, the province will reform public investment procedures under a “green lane” mechanism, cutting processing time by 50%. Capital will be promptly reallocated from stalled projects to those with good progress and high capital demand.

The Chairman also mandated increased inspections into the use of advanced funds, with immediate recovery enforced if contractors misuse funds or fail to cooperate in returning overdue advances. Monthly disbursement results of all units will be made public on the provincial portal and via mass media.

To concretize these tasks, the Chairman assigned the Department of Finance to advise on detailed monthly and quarterly disbursement plans and synthesize progress reports by 4:00 PM every Friday. The Departments of Construction, Agriculture, and Environment are responsible for ensuring the supply and price management of raw materials, planning waste disposal sites, and resolving bottlenecks related to soil and sand mines for projects.

The Vice Chairmen of the PPC, based on their assigned areas and sectors, will actively monitor, urge, and direct units to accelerate disbursement. Simultaneously, they are to conduct direct inspections to resolve difficulties and resolutely handle, or propose the handling of, weak organizations and individuals who fail to meet job requirements.

Dinh Vu