In Da Bac district, efforts are underway to accelerate construction on the inter-commune road linking Hien Luong – Vay Nua – Tien Phong, in an effort to boost public investment capital disbursement in the first half of 2025.

Accelerating the disbursement of public investment capital is now considered a top political priority for Hoa Binh province as it works toward achieving its 2025 growth target of 10% or higher.

This year, the Prime Minister assigned Hoa Binh a public investment capital plan worth VND 9.18 tillion VND from the state budget. The Provincial People’s Council has approved an adjusted figure of 9.12 trillion VND, which includes an additional 7 billion VND in revenue from land-use fees. In addition, the province is permitted to roll over 2.68 trillion VND in unspent funds into 2025 for continued implementation.

As of May 10, the province had disbursed only 1,03 trillion VND, just 11.3% of the 2025 plan detailed by the PM and the provincial government. Of this amount, capital from the province’s balanced budget reached 286.6 billion VND (11% of plan), domestic capital from the central government hit 745 billion VND (11%), ODA disbursement stood at 8%, and funding under the three National Target Programmes (NTPs) achieved 19% disbursement.

Regarding the capital carried over into 2025, approximately 1,.07 trillion VND has been disbursed, equivalent to 40% of the approved rollover plan. Specifically, the economic recovery and development programme reported a 42% disbursement rate, while the three NTPs lagged behind at 27%, significantly below expectations.

According to the Department of Finance, Hoa Binh’s disbursement rate remains lower than the national average. While some funding sources, such as allocation based on provincial budget criteria (34%) and lottery revenue (20%), are performing relatively well, domestic and foreign capital from the central budget continue to see poor disbursement. Alarmingly, as of May 10, some projects had disbursed 0% of their allocated funds, and many districts and cities reported disbursement rates far below target.

Amid growing economic pressures, public investment capital is seen as one of the key engines to propel growth and expand development capacity. In Hoa Binh, a slowdown in disbursement during April and early May has prompted urgent action. Authorities are now instructed to conduct a thorough review of each project to identify causes of delay and accelerate implementation. Despite socioeconomic challenges, the province remains committed to its ambitious 2025 growth target of at least 10%. Achieving this goal requires mobilising all available resources, starting with unblocking public investment capital, a crucial driver of economic momentum.

To date, the provincial People’s Committee has issued six directives to departments, agencies, district-level governments, project management boards, and investors, outlining comprehensive measures to boost disbursement. Monthly meetings are held to review project progress, address emerging issues, and assign deadlines for each project group. The province has also established task forces to inspect, supervise, and remove difficulties related to public capital-funded projects. For stalled projects or those unable to use their allocated funding, the province has made its first round of capital adjustments, reallocating 142.9 billion VND.

In particular, major projects with large capital allocations, including the Hoa Binh–Moc Chau expressway, the regional connectivity road linking Hoa Binh, Hanoi, and the Son La expressway (Hoa Binh–Moc Chau), the Luong Son - Xuan Mai - Hanoi connector (Phase 1), and the road linking Tran Hung Dao street to Dan Chu ward and National Highway 6, are being prioritised. The provincial government has directed stakeholders to focus on clearing land clearance hurdles to remove key bottlenecks and advance disbursement progress soon.