At the conference (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - More than 50 percent of this year’s revisedplan for public investment sourced from foreign concessional loans and officialdevelopment assistance (ODA) funds has been left undisbursed as the year’s end approaches,Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha told a Hanoi conference on December 7.

Over 6.31 trillion VND worth of foreign concessional loans and ODA fundswere disbursed in the first 11 months of 2020, accounting for 45.51 percent ofthe annual goal, which was revised down earlier in the year, Ha said at theconference reviewing the 11-month disbursement of foreign-sourcedpublic investment.

Among the underperformers are the Ministry of Planning and Investmentand the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said Hoang Hai, deputydirector general of the Ministry of Finance’s Debt Management and ExternalFinance Department. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, which pledged to fullydisburse these sources of financing this year, are doing no better, Hai said.

As of November 30, the MARD had disbursed 763 billion VND worth of foreignloans, representing 41.7 percent of the already-revised plan of 1.83 trillionVND for 2020, said Vu Thanh Liem from the ministry.

The MARD expects to disburse around 90-94percent of the total this year, largely due to a lack of corresponding fundsand the historic flooding striking central Vietnam in October and November,causing delays in many projects’ progress.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport is among the best performers, disbursingclose to 4.65 billion VND, or 75 percent of the plan, as of November 24, as theministry has significantly cut the time required for handling procedures and,more importantly, assigned specific tasks and responsibilities to each staffmember, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said.

Foreign sponsors in some cases have also played a role in slowing downprojects, Hai said, adding that there were lengthy delays in the issuance of“no objection” letters from foreign sponsors to approve procurement or the appointmentof consulting firms.

To enable faster disbursement, the Ministry of Finance proposed thatpriority be given to accelerating the progress of projects that end in 2020 or 2021.It also urged other ministries, governmental agencies, and investors to speedup the completion of procedures in terms of investment and constructionlicensing, residential resettlement, and site clearance for projects.

♒ It is working with the Ministry of Justice and relevant agencies torevise Decree No 97/2018/ND-CP dated June 30, 2018 regarding the on-lending of governmentODA and foreign concessional loans in a way that simplifies on-lendingprocedures and verification./.