A street vendor carries bouquets of flowers for sale in Hanoi on October 22, 2025. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP)
HANOI: Hanoi is under mounting pressure to accelerate public investment disbursement in the final months of the year, as chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Tran Sy Thanh urges drastic efforts to reach 100% of this year’s plan and create momentum for growth in the 2026 to 2030 period.
Statistics from the municipal Department of Finance showed that the central government assigned 87.69 trillion dong or about US$3.3bil worth of public investment this year.
After adjustments, the city’s updated public investment plan totalled 107.13 trillion dong, 19.44 trillion dong higher than the prime minister’s allocation.
However the disbursement rate remains lower than expected, according to director of the municipal Department of Finance Nguyen Xuan Luu.
He cited statistics that as of Oct 10 the capital city had disbursed around 44.43 trillion dong, equivalent to 51% of the prime minister’s allocation and 41.5% of the city’s plan.
The rate is expected to reach 55.6% by the end of October, ranking Hanoi 18th out of 34 local governments in terms of disbursement rate but second nationwide in absolute disbursed value, after Ho Chi Minh City.
“Hanoi faces significant pressure in disbursing public investment in the last two months of this year,” he said, adding that an additional sum of more than 43 trillion dong needs to be disbursed to meet Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s plan and 62.7 trillion dong to fulfil the city’s plan.
He attributed the stagnant disbursement progress to several factors, including slow land clearance and compensation, rising construction material prices and delays in project approval and adjustment processes.
Leaders of the city’s project management boards pledged to overcome difficulties and fully complete their assigned disbursement by year-end.
Local officials are also committed to speeding up site clearance and administrative procedures.
Nguyen Cong Phuoc, deputy chairman of Dong Anh Commune, said the communal authorities are hastening efforts to speed up public investment, urging the city to accelerate the decentralisation of project handover to shorten settlement time.
Tay Tuu Ward’s chairman Vu Duy Hung said site clearance continues to hinder the disbursement of public investment but affirmed that local authorities are striving to achieve the full-year target.
Nguyen Xuan Dai, director of the city’s Department of Agriculture and Environment, which has seen a modest disbursement rate of only 7% of its plan, said causes for stagnation have been identified and roadmaps to accelerate six stagnant projects have been laid out.
Director of the Hanoi Department of Planning and Architecture Nguyen Trong Ky Anh said the department has set up four task forces to directly assist 126 communes and wards in the city with planning, project appraisal and approval.
Deputy director of the city’s Public Administrative Service Centre Hoang Van Bang said the centre is enhancing coordination to shorten administrative processing time and ensure disbursement documentation flows smoothly. — Viet Nam News/ANN
