In the next 5 years, public investment capital will be prioritized for urban railway and high-speed railway projects with inter-regional connectivity, promoting the socio-economy.
This content is stated in the Resolution on principles, criteria and norms for the allocation of public investment capital for 2026-2030, which was voted and approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee on the afternoon of February 7.
Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that compared to the principle of allocating public investment capital 5 years ago, in the coming period, this resource will be prioritized for important national projects, highways, high-speed railways, and urban railways. This is to accelerate the progress and soon complete important infrastructure projects, inter-regional connectivity, and promote socio-economic development.
In addition, State resources are also prioritized for projects in the fields of defense and security, science and technology, innovation, atomic energy, digital infrastructure, semiconductor technology, and green transformation.
Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man spoke at the afternoon session on February 7. Photo: National Assembly Press Center
Verifying the Government’s report, Mr. Le Quang Manh, Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee, said that this agency agreed with the principles and criteria for allocating public capital to 2030. However, this agency proposed that the Government carefully review the criteria for allocating capital for projects using ODA and foreign concessional loans. This is to ensure consistency and consistency with the new provisions of the Law on Public Investment.
The Government also needs to review regulations to prioritize the allocation of ODA capital for projects associated with technology transfer in important fields that Vietnam has not done or mastered technology.
Vietnam is accelerating the progress of a series of key projects, such as component projects of the Eastern North-South Expressway in the 2021-2025 period; urban railways in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Long Thanh airport… This year, the agencies also strive to complete the procedures and start the construction of the Lao Cai – Hanoi – Hai Phong railway.
With the North-South high-speed rail project, the National Assembly approved it at the end of November 2024. The route is 1,541 km long, starting at Ngoc Hoi station (Hanoi), ending at Thu Thiem station (Ho Chi Minh City), passing through 20 provinces and cities.
The whole line is newly invested in a double gauge of 1,435 mm, a design speed of 350 km/h, a load of 22.5 tons/axle; there are 23 passenger stations, 5 cargo stations. The project is applied in the form of public investment, with a total preliminary investment of 1,713 million billion VND (67 billion USD). The National Assembly requires the preparation of a feasibility study report from 2025, striving to complete the project in 2035.
High-speed trains in Japan. Photo: Asahi
This year, Vietnam aims for economic growth of over 8% and double digits in the period to 2030. Mr. Vu Hong Thanh, Chairman of the Economic Committee, said that a huge amount of resources are put into the economy to achieve the double-digit growth target, so it is necessary to have the criterion that “public investment capital is the primer capital, as a basis for attracting other resources”.
One of the shortcomings in the implementation of the resolution for the 2021-2026 period is the lack of a management mechanism, binding the responsibility of local budgets to allocate public capital for infrastructure investment. The rate of disbursement of foreign capital and ODA is still very low, only reaching 52.7% of the assigned plan.
Therefore, Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man noted that the criteria for allocating public investment capital in the coming time need to overcome the spread and unreasonableness between important sectors and fields.
Mr. Man asked that the criteria for allocating public capital in the next period should be based on the level of urgency, efficiency, transparency and fairness. “Projects that are urgent are allocated, and those that are not urgent are put aside. It is necessary to allocate definitive capital for unfinished projects and works,” said Chairman Tran Thanh Man.
He also noted that the Ministry of Planning and Investment prioritizes allocating capital for the fields of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation.
Giving an explanation, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said that in the previous period, there were 20,000 public investment projects, in the period 2016 – 2020, it decreased to 10,000 projects. This number has been cut to less than 5,000 projects in the previous term. In this term, the Prime Minister requested to reduce the number of public investment projects to about 3,000, dedicate resources to large projects, and decentralize and decentralize authority to localities.
Minister Dung also said that public capital will be prioritized for infrastructure projects, in the fields of science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.