When Capital Opens the Way to Growth

Beyond mere disbursement figures, public investment is expected by Phu Tho to become a key driving force in perfecting infrastructure, expanding development space, and crowding in social resources. In pursuit of the double-digit growth target for 2026, the quality and pace of disbursement are no longer just stories of individual projects, but are directly tied to the province’s capacity to generate new growth drivers.

Hoa Son Bridge on the Hoa Binh – Moc Chau Expressway, a key transport project accelerating its progress, contributing to expanding the province’s development space.

In public investment activities, disbursed budget capital is considered only the starting point. The greater value of capital lies in what it generates afterward: a new transport route, a completed industrial park infrastructure, an expanded urban space, a connected production area, and, more broadly, the capacity to pull social capital flows into the development process.

In 2026, Phu Tho was assigned a public investment plan with total capital of nearly 27 trillion VND. While this represents a significant resource for development investment, it also imposes high pressure on implementation. As of August 21, the province disbursed 8,617.5 billion VND, reaching 46.7% of the capital plan assigned by the Prime Minister. Thus, a massive volume of capital still needs to be injected into the economy during the final months of the year. However, looking solely at the disbursement percentage makes it difficult to fully grasp the story’s significance. A project delayed in disbursement means not only that budget funds have not been injected into the economy, but behind it may lie an uncompleted structure, an unhanded-over plot of land, or an industrial park unable to accept additional projects. Conversely, when a project proceeds on schedule, capital begins working: contractors have jobs, workers earn income, materials and services are consumed, and, more importantly, a new infrastructure asset is formed to generate value over many years.

From practical project execution realities, Mr. Nguyen Tu Linh, Director of the Vinh Phuc Regional Project Management Board, observed: “The most crucial thing right now is translating capital plans into actual workload on construction sites. With public investment projects, delays at any stage impact both disbursement progress and investment efficiency. Therefore, we must closely track each project and progress milestone, coordinating with localities to resolve land clearance, procedural, and construction organization entanglements. The objective is not just disbursing all capital, but completing structures on schedule and ensuring quality to bring them into early operation, generating socio-economic efficiency.”

Looking broader, this marks the difference between disbursement and generating growth. Public investment capital truly takes effect only when it creates new capacity for the economy. A road must shorten transit time; a bridge must expand connectivity; an industrial park must possess sufficient infrastructure to stand ready for investors; an urban project must create additional space for trade and services. Only then does the structure’s value transcend the invested capital, converting into new growth momentum and development room.

Song Lo 1 Industrial Park receives methodical infrastructure investment, attracting numerous domestic and foreign enterprises to lease land for production and business development.

In economic development, infrastructure always possesses a “one step ahead” nature. Enterprises struggle to expand production if transport connections are inconvenient; investors find it difficult to deploy projects quickly if site clearance is incomplete or power, water, and environmental treatment infrastructure lack synchronization. A production zone also struggles to form a value chain if it lacks market connectivity. Therefore, public investment plays a foundational role in building infrastructure, expanding space, and creating conditions for economic activities to thrive. This holds even greater significance for Phu Tho in the context of its post-merger expanded development space.

Phu Tho currently holds vast room for industrial development, hosting hundreds of domestic and FDI investment projects. Yet, one of the persistent “bottlenecks” remains land clearance and infrastructure. By July 2026, nearly 3,000 hectares of land across industrial parks had not completed compensation for handover to investors. This demonstrates that investment attraction potential converts into growth capacity only when infrastructure and clean land are genuinely ready.

From a business perspective, Mr. Trinh Van Quang, Executive Director of Vina-CPK Joint Stock Company (Ba Thien 2 Industrial Park), stated: Transport and industrial park infrastructure directly impact production and business efficiency. Businesses care very specifically about infrastructure. Convenient transport roads help reduce transit time and costs; stable power, water, and environmental treatment infrastructure help businesses feel secure in maintaining production. When infrastructure is synchronously invested, businesses not only operate more conveniently but also gain a basis to calculate investment expansion. That is also the factor helping the locality boost its appeal to new investors."

Focusing on accelerating progress in renovating and upgrading several inner-city roads in Viet Tri ward contributes to driving public investment capital disbursement.

This represents the intersection between public and private investment. From one unit of public capital, multiple units of social capital can be activated. In the first 8 months of the year, Phu Tho attracted over 2.3 billion USD in FDI capital, approximately 2.6 times higher than the same period in 2025; domestic direct investment (DDI) reached 54.2 trillion VND. That is the “leverage” effect toward which public investment must aim.

However, for capital to truly generate that effect, the story lies not only in the scale of capital, but in how it is selected and allocated. Under conditions where resources are always limited, the question is not how many projects can be invested in, but which capital unit can create the greatest development efficiency. Phu Tho is orienting a reduction in spread-out investments, concentrating on key projects with regional connectivity that generate momentum and spillover effects. This is a necessary pathway as the province sets a double-digit growth target in 2026, aiming to sustain high growth rates in subsequent years.

According to Mr. Le Van Loc, Deputy Director of the Department of Finance, public investment must be viewed in relation to the entire economy, rather than merely by individual project disbursement rates. “The target of 100% capital plan disbursement is an important requirement, but ultimate efficiency must be measured by the ability to generate development capacity. Projects that resolve infrastructure “bottlenecks,” expand production space, connect economic regions, create conditions to attract private investment, and elevate people’s living quality need to be prioritized with resources. Public capital must truly play a leading role, creating a foundation for social resources to participate jointly,” Mr. Loc remarked.

The 11% growth target for 2026 demands that public investment be not just about “fast disbursement,” but also “correct investment generating real efficiency.” Growth is created not merely by disbursement figures, but must be converted into new production capacity, new economic spaces, and new capital flows. Therefore, alongside accelerating disbursement, authorities must select the right projects, resolve the right bottlenecks, and execute with sufficient speed and decisiveness to turn investment resources into growth drivers.

Quang Nam