Vietnam had disbursed just 30.3 percent of the public investment funds from foreign loans at the end of November. This was an improvement over the same time last year when that number was sitting at just 24.89 percent, though still well below the target of 95 percent.
On the issue, Bao Chinh Phu has comments from several provincial leaders that have all detailed the same sort of problem in that plans are often changed after being approved which has seen delays as approvals for the revised plans have been sought. This often connects with site clearance delays.
Of note, VietnamNet is carrying comments from Nguyen Thai Son, from Vietnam’s Department of Construction Management, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in which he says the delayed pricing frameworks after the new Land Law came into effect has seen site clearance procedures ‘almost stopped’.
“The problem is that in some projects, households that comply with the policy are only compensated very low, while households that are slow to stay are compensated higher,” he is quoted as saying.
Of note, Reuters reported back in May that the United Nations, World Bank, and a handful of other donors had sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam pointing out the country has lost US$2.5 billion in aid funding over the last three years due to approval delays. It also noted that a further US$1 billion was awaiting project approval. Reuters went on to assess that this was due to the ongoing ‘blazing furnace’ corruption crackdown.
See also: Economy of Vietnam