Hanoi (VNA) 💮– To ensure 100% of public investment is disbursed as instructed by the Government, projects of the Ministry of Transport (MoT) are being accelerated by investors and management boards and even injected with more capital to speed up progress.

Accelerating disbursement for expressway projects

So far, the MoT has disbursed about 27.5 trillion VND (nearly 1.1 billion USD), or 44% of the 62.6 trillion VND from the central budget assigned to it, reported the MoT’s Department of Planning and Investment. It said the National Assembly Standing Committee has approved an additional 8.68 trillion VND sourced from the increased sum of the central budget last year for MoT’s key projects. As much as 6.3 trillion VND of the funding is allocated for the North-South Expressway projects of the 2021 - 2025 period. Relevant ministries are finalising reports to be submitted to the Prime Minister so that the money could be provided this August. Including the additional funding from the central budget, the capital assigned to the MoT this year totals 71.28 trillion VND. Nguyen Vu Quy, Director of the Ho Chi Minh Road project management board – and investor of the Van Ninh - Cam Lo expressway project, said about 46% of this expressway project’s workload has been fulfilled. The average monthly disbursed value is 230 billion VND, 1.4 times higher than the planned pace. He estimated that about 2.37 trillion VND will be disbursed for the project by the end of 2024, equivalent to more than 95% of the registered capital plan. By that time, the fulfilled workload will reach some 65 - 70% of the project’s contract value.

Le Duc Tuan, Deputy Director of the My Thuan project management board – investor of the Can Tho - Hau Giang expressway project, noted a total of more than 6.43 trillion VND, equivalent to over 34% of the contract value, has been disbursed for expressway construction. Under the 2024 plan, nearly 5 trillion VND will have to be disbursed for the project this year. More than 2.4 trillion VND, or about 48%, of the sum, has already been allocated. The management board is urging contractors to mobilise more manpower and equipment to speed up construction and ensure progress, he said. Regarding two expressway projects traversing central Quang Binh province, the Vung Ang - Bung and Bung - Van Ninh sections have had over 58% and 51% of their workload completed, respectively, the Director of the Project 6 management board Tran Huu Hai said. He added the management board has registered for another 1 trillion VND and 200 trillion VND to be respectively added to the Vung Ang - Bung and Bung - Van Ninh sections. The board and contractors are hastening construction so that the entire route from Bai Vot to Van Ninh could be open to traffic on April 30, 2025.

Injecting more capital to speed up projects

The disbursed sums for projects of the North - South Expressway are relatively high, but they mainly focus on facilities like bridges and tunnels on the route other than roads. As the rainy season is coming, investors need to accelerate road construction to ensure progress, said the Department of Planning and Investment.

An official of the department pointed out the need to keep a close watch on monthly disbursement progress, transfer capital from projects with slow disbursement to more viable projects, and handle incapable investors, project management boards, and contracts that affect construction and disbursement progress. The North - South Expressway is to have 100% of public investment disbursed by 2025. Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said project management boards must maximise the disbursed funding and the completed workload. They also need to submit proposals regarding the projects needing more funds to MoT leaders so that capital is allocated on time./.