Discussing at the National Assembly hall on the morning of November 2, many delegates agreed with the reports of the Government and the National Assembly's verification agency on the mid-term assessment of the implementation of the Medium-term Public Investment Plan for the 2021-2025 period; the National Financial Plan and 5-year public debt borrowing and repayment for the 2021-2025 period.

Prevent the exploitation of public investment for personal gain

Delegate Le Huu Tri (National Assembly delegation of Khanh Hoa province) assessed that recently, the public investment work according to the medium-term plan has been resolutely directed by the National Assembly and the Government to be implemented with focus and key points.

Many key and important projects and works of the country have been implemented and completed, bringing positive results. Public investment has increasingly demonstrated its leading role, attracting investment resources from non-state economic sectors, creating momentum for economic growth...

However, according to Mr. Tri, overall, public investment work still has many shortcomings and limitations, especially in the implementation organization stage from planning, determining investment targets, investment preparation, resource allocation for site clearance, construction implementation and disbursement.

According to Mr. Tri, investment capital is still scattered, many programs have not prioritized the maximum concentration of resources to invest in the rapid and synchronous development of key and important national strategic infrastructure projects, highways, coastal roads, and inter-regional roads to create connectivity and create momentum to promote socio-economic development, especially in the Central and Southwestern regions.

The implementation of the policy of taking public investment, leading investment, attracting investment resources from the non-state sector and investing in the form of public-private partnership has not really brought about efficiency.

In addition, according to Mr. Tri, discipline in public investment is not strict and has not become a routine, and still depends on the determination of the Government and the Prime Minister. Therefore, for this work, it is necessary to summarize, evaluate, analyze, and clearly identify the causes of the shortcomings and limitations that have not only occurred this year but have lasted for many years.

"It is necessary to clearly identify the real causes leading to the long-standing problems and limitations in order to have more effective solutions to ensure the acceleration of the implementation of public investment projects...", Mr. Tri stated.

Mr. Tri also emphasized that the important issue is that investment must be on target, each project must be effective and ensure quality, avoiding the pressure to disburse at all costs.

This is even more meaningful when the country's resources are limited, while the need for investment in economic, technical and social infrastructure is huge for the country to develop to keep up with other countries in the region.

At the same time, Mr. Tri suggested that there should be a strict control mechanism to ensure that public investment is for the right purpose and effective, and to prevent the abuse of public investment for personal gain, corruption and waste of the country's resources.

Increased investment in highways

Concerned about the issue of disbursement of public investment capital, delegate Au Thi Mai (National Assembly delegation of Tuyen Quang province) said that the disbursement of public investment capital is still facing difficulties when the international situation, the epidemic and many other factors have led to high fuel and raw material prices.

Some legal regulations are not consistent, unified, and do not meet practical requirements, causing confusion for localities in implementing projects.

Ms. Mai proposed that the Government direct ministries, branches and localities to strengthen solutions to overcome shortcomings and limitations in the process of implementing the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period.

At the same time, Ms. Mai also proposed to continue reviewing and perfecting institutions, policies and laws on public investment and related laws to amend and supplement regulations under the Government's authority or submit to the National Assembly for consideration and amendment of the Law on Public Investment and related laws to promptly remove difficulties and improve the efficiency of public investment.

To effectively implement the proposed public investment disbursement plan, delegate Nguyen Thi Yen (National Assembly delegation of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province) proposed that the Government and ministries further strengthen the disbursement of public investment capital. If disbursed well, it will contribute to promoting socio-economic development and the set targets. In addition, it is necessary to allow the extension of the source of increased revenue and savings to invest in the construction and renovation of highways...

According to Ms. Yen, investment in highways such as Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot, Bien Hoa - Vung Tau, Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang and some other projects is important for the socio-economic development of localities. According to the provisions of the Budget Law, if the expenditure is not used up within the year, the locality must return it to the budget or the State must recover it.

Based on the current situation, Ms. Yen said that the expressways under construction are also very convenient for ensuring the basic progress of the routes. However, if these routes are withdrawn, they will face difficulties in funding.

"We have to redo the procedures to get another source of capital for investment. On the other hand, the construction of highways cannot be stopped," Ms. Yen said and proposed that the National Assembly allow the extension of the source of increased revenue to save about 13,000 billion VND for these highways to continue implementation.