Enhance the responsibility of the leader when approving the project

Speaking at the meeting, National Assembly delegate Ta Van Ha (National Assembly delegation of Quang Nam province) said that despite many achievements in socio-economic and public investment over the past year, there were still some limitations, including slow disbursement.

The delegate pointed out that, through practical research, in addition to large projects and national key projects, infrastructure construction projects across the country are "stuck". The reason is the problem of raw material prices. For small projects that are not licensed to exploit sand, they have to buy sand elsewhere, causing prices to increase; or because there are loopholes in the regulations on bidding deposits, leading to taking advantage of the auction to raise the price and then abandon the deposit, then sell the raw materials they have at an increased price for profit.

The underlying cause is that the quality of medium-term public investment planning is not good. Therefore, investment preparation for projects is still poor, leading to slow progress.

Delegate Ta Van Ha said that in 2025, in addition to implementing the 2025 public investment plan, it is also necessary to prepare for the 2026-2030 public investment plan. Therefore, the delegate recommended that the Government should promptly start preparing the public investment plan for the next period.

Discussing at the meeting hall, National Assembly delegate Trieu Quang Huy (National Assembly delegation of Lang Son province) agreed with many contents of the assessment of existing problems and limitations in implementing the 2024 public investment plan stated in the Government's Report and the Verification Report of the Finance and Budget Committee.

In many assessments of difficulties, delegates were particularly concerned about the low quality of project investment preparation work, leading to adjustments, pending project capital, completion of investment procedures... prolonging the capital allocation time and affecting the progress of disbursement, as well as the efficiency of using public investment capital.

The main reason is that the role of leaders in some central and local agencies has not been fully promoted; the capacity to plan investment preparation and project implementation is still limited... From that reality, delegates proposed to improve the quality of investment preparation work, enhance the role and responsibility of leaders when approving project investment policies and deciding on project investment.

Consider proposal to reduce 5% of regular expenditure to eliminate temporary housing

Participating in the discussion, National Assembly delegate Nguyen Truc Son (National Assembly delegation of Ben Tre province) said that the Government requires saving 5% of regular expenditure to increase development investment. To do this, it is necessary to do it right from the beginning of the year to facilitate the allocation of public investment capital. This requires close coordination between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in planning and allocating public investment capital.

Delegate Cam Ha Chung (National Assembly Delegation of Phu Tho Province) said that the Government proposed to allow 5% of regular spending savings to implement the policy of eliminating temporary and dilapidated houses. This policy is very good and appropriate. However, the delegate said that the Government needs to consider because the proposal to reduce regular spending by 5% in 2024, but now it is October, many localities have basically disbursed all.

The delegates suggested that the Government consider this issue and at the same time, there should be a more open mechanism. If any locality has the ability to save, then it should do so; it cannot be required that all localities do the same. If any locality has used up all of its resources and is forced to save, then the proposal should be considered.

National Assembly delegate Nguyen Quang Huan (National Assembly delegation of Binh Duong province) said that currently, regular expenditure allocation is still low, there are still many unallocated items, which hinders the economic stimulus tools.

There will be innovation in regular and investment expenditures.

Explaining and clarifying a number of issues raised by National Assembly deputies, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc highly appreciated the contributions of National Assembly deputies on the implementation of the 2024 State budget, the State budget estimate, and the central budget allocation plan for 2025.

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that according to the reflection of National Assembly deputies, the budget allocation and development investment plans must be innovated in form and method, however, the law stipulates that budget allocation must have full procedures to be implemented. The same is true for regular expenditures, there must be an approved estimate and unit price; the allocation of expenditures for science and technology must also have an approved estimate and norm.

Regarding solutions, the Government will soon have innovations in regular and investment expenditures. Accordingly, the provinces will allocate the budget according to regulations. After that, the Ministry of Finance will re-examine...

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, to reduce regular expenditures, the Government has directed ministries, branches and units to reduce business expenses, expenses at conferences, seminars and receptions. This year, the Government has also reported that the whole country has saved about 7,000 billion in regular expenditures.

Currently, the Government Standing Committee is directing to save expenditure in public investment. Saving from estimated standards to construction standards, saving in preservation, construction, and transportation. This issue will be included in the bidding documents for organizing bidding.

Regarding difficulties in public investment and regular expenditure, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc said that there are currently shortcomings such as lack of land for leveling, because according to regulations, land is a mineral, so it must follow the general process for minerals.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that it is necessary to amend the regulations accordingly; or if the old viewpoint is still maintained, it is necessary to stipulate that land and mines be granted to contractors constructing the road only for the purpose of building the road, prohibiting selling to outsiders, and closing the mines immediately after completing the construction work. The Government will submit to the competent authority to decide on amending and supplementing this regulation.