Directive 13/CT-TTg 2021 raising quality of the medium-term public investment plan in 2021-2025 period

DIRECTIVE

On accelerating the formulation and raising
the quality of the medium-term public investment plan
for the 2021-2025 period^[1]

The socio-economic development strategy for the 2021-2030 period and orientations for the 2021-2025 five-year socio-economic development plan adopted by the XIII^th National Party Congress have identified the goal of fast and sustainable development, specifically, in the 2021-2025 period, the average growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) is 6.5%-7% per year, striving for the target that Vietnam will become a developing country with modern industry and upper middle income by 2030, and a developed and high-income country by 2045.

The economic situation in the world and the region still sees complicated and unpredictable developments; impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are forecast to be prolonged, greatly affecting the implementation of the country’s socio-economic development goals. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s economy still has many limitations and inadequacies. Demands for development investment, especially in infrastructure, environmental protection, natural disaster prevention and control, climate change adaptation, etc., are huge and urgent. In this context, the formulation and effective implementation of medium-term public investment plans play a very important role and significance, helping generate new production capacity, attract investment and promote socio-economic development in the short, medium and long terms.

The Prime Minister has highly appreciated the contents of the Report assessing results of the implementation of the medium-term public investment plan for the 2016-2020 period and the tentative medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period, which was prepared by the Ministry of Planning and Investment as the agency in charge, with numerous opinions contributed by other ministries, central agencies and localities to meet the set requirements. However, some ministries, agencies and localities have delayed submission of their reports or submitted low-quality reports or failed to strictly comply with regulations. Their fund allocation plans have revealed that the allocation of funds was thinned-out without a focus on key and important works and projects; the number of new projects was large, including also projects involving fund allocation in contravention of regulations, etc.

In order to ensure the quality and progress of formulation and submission of medium-term public investment plans for the 2021-2025 period to competent authorities for consideration and decision, the Prime Minister requests ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies, other central agencies, and socio-political organizations; secretaries of provincial-level Party Committees and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees to focus on directing the synchronous and resolute performance of the following major tasks:

I. GUIDING VIEWPOINTS

1. To keep close to and concretize the viewpoints, objectives, tasks, solutions, and 3 breakthroughs mentioned in the 2021-2030 ten-year socio-economic development strategy and orientations for the 2021-2025 five-year socio-economic development adopted by the XIII^th National Party Congress, for the common goals and interests of the country and the nation.

2. To make focused and selective investment in key sectors and fields, dynamic areas, growth poles, national large and important projects, large-scale and interregional connection projects, and local important and urgent projects so as to improve use efficiency of public investment funds, ensure spillover effects, create new development spaces and generate new driving forces and capacity, and promote the development of all sectors, fields and localities; at the same time, to attach importance to projects on prevention and control of disasters and epidemics, climate change, assurance of social security, and care for people’s lives.

3. To resolutely address the situation of thinned-out, wasteful and inefficient investment; every ministry, agency and locality shall focus on thoroughly reviewing and drastically reducing the number of projects, especially new projects; to resolutely abolish the “ask-give” mechanism and combat negative phenomena, corruption and group interests; to tighten up discipline; to intensify delegation of powers and assignment of tasks in tandem with strengthening supervision, inspection, evaluation of implementation, proper commendation and rewarding, and strict discipline; to promptly remove difficulties and obstacles, especially those relating to institutions, administrative procedures and ground clearance.

4. Public investment funds must really play a leading role, which serves as a “lure” to attract to the utmost resources from other economic sectors under the motto “public investment leads private investment” to serve socio-economic development goals, especially investment in infrastructure development in the form of public-private partnership.

5. To focus on directing, and raising the effectiveness and efficiency of, the formulation and implementation of the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period in order to enhance discipline, clearly define responsibilities of related organizations and individuals, uphold responsibility of heads of units, and ensure close and timely coordination in working relations at all levels and in all sectors, localities, agencies and units.

II. REQUIREMENTS ON FORMULATION OF THE MEDIUM-TERM PUBLIC INVESTMENT PLAN

1. The medium-term public investment plan shall be formulated on the principles of perpetuating and promoting the achievements and lessons from the 2016-2020 period; thoroughly addressing problems and limitations; promoting innovation and creativity for common goals, and thoroughly grasping and strictly implementing the above-mentioned guiding viewpoints.

2. To adhere to the principles, criteria, norms and order of priority for fund allocation specified in the Law on Public Investment, the National Assembly Standing Committee’s Resolution No. 973/2020/UBTVQH14  of July 8, 2020, the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 26/2020/QD-TTg of September 14, 2020,  Documents No. 419/TTg-KTTH and No. 32/TTg-KTTH of April 2, 2021, and directions, and relevant legal documents.

3. To carry out the procedures for formulation and appraisal specified in Article 55 of the Law on Public Investment and relevant regulations; in particular, the 2021-2025 medium-term public investment plans of localities shall be put for solicitation of opinions of provincial-level People’s Councils before being incorporated in the national medium-term public investment plan.

4. Ministers, heads of central agencies, secretaries of provincial-level Party Committees, and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall personally direct, inspect and review every project, especially new projects, strictly control necessity, scope and scale of every project in accordance with the approved master plans, orientations and objectives, ensuring investment efficiency and outcomes of each project.

5. To promote the spirit of initiative, creativity, self-reliance, and non-reliance, and not being too cautious and afraid of bearing responsibility; to encourage and protect those who dare to think, dare to do, and dare to take responsibility for the common interests; to further proceed with the matters that are “ripe”, clear, practically proven to be true, effectively implemented, and agreed by the majority; for the matters that are not yet regulated or fall beyond existing regulations, to implement them on a pilot basis and draw experience from them, then expand their models in reality gradually, preventing both perfectionism and hurry.

III. TASKS

1. Tasks that need to be performed immediately

a/ Ministries, central agencies and localities:

- To expeditiously assimilate appraisal opinions of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, review all projects expected to be included in the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period; to resolutely cut unnecessary and inefficient projects; to reduce the number of new projects, especially those of ministries, central agencies and localities, ensuring that every new project shall be accompanied by specific reason explanations and the concerned ministry, central agency or locality shall take full responsibility to the Government and Prime Minister for the necessity, investment efficiency and compliance of such project with regulations. No central budget funds shall be allocated for group-C new projects of localities, except those in which the Prime Minister has given his/her permission. Programs and projects to be implemented in 2 periods of medium-term public investment plans must strictly comply with regulations, ensuring no excess of the 20% threshold specified in Clause 2, Article 89 of the Law on Public Investment. The total number of the whole country’s public investment projects to be funded by the central budget in the 2021-2025 period is expected at about 5,000.

- To take the initiative in using the announced central budget funds (excluding advance funds recovered, key projects, projects with regional connectivity, and coastal roads as announced in Document No. 419/TTg-KTTH of April 2, 2021) so as to retrieve advance funds for projects which have not yet been synthesized and included in the medium-term public investment plan for the 2016-2020 period and for which competent authorities have not yet permitted postponement of the retrieval of advance funds (if any).

- To allocate central budget fund amounts at least equal to the amounts announced in Document No. 419/TTg-KTTH for objectives, tasks, key projects, projects with regional connectivity and coastal roads. In case the allocated amounts are smaller than the announced amounts, the difference shall be refunded to the central budget. Local budget funds shall be allocated to perform the tasks of compensation and ground clearance and offset the deficit as compared to the approved total investment in order to complete and promote the investment efficiency of projects.

- To direct their units to urgently complete procedures for formulation, appraisal and approval of investment policy for new projects for inclusion in the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period; to fully prepare conditions and procedures for approving investment decisions, cost estimates and designs of key projects, projects with regional connectivity, and projects on coastal roads, transport infrastructure, energy, etc., so that such projects can be implemented as soon as the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period is approved.

- To propose mechanisms and policies that need to be revised in order to ensure the effective implementation of the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period.

b/ Agencies managing national target programs:

- The Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs shall expeditiously complete the dossier for submission to the Prime Minister for the latter to approve investment decision, principles and criteria for allocation of funds for the national target program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the 2021-2030 period.

- The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall prepare necessary conditions (feasibility study report, principles, criteria for fund allocation, etc.) to facilitate the implementation of the national target program on building a new-style countryside in the 2021-2025 period and the national target program on sustainable poverty reduction and social security in the 2021-2025 period right after the National Assembly approves investment policy for these programs.

c/ Localities shall concentrate efforts on thoroughly reviewing and reducing the number of projects funded by local budgets, avoiding thinned-out investment, focusing on important and urgent projects, and soon promoting their efficiency in conformity with the viewpoints, requirements and principles specified in relevant laws, resolutions of the Party, National Assembly and Government, directions of the Prime Minister, and the guiding viewpoints and requirements set out in this Directive.

d/ The Ministry of Planning and Investment:

- To closely coordinate with ministries, central agencies and localities in reviewing and finalizing the plan on allocation of funds in the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period; to provide guidance on addressing arising problems according to their competence or reportcases falling beyond their competence to the Prime Minister according to regulations, immediately giving a focus on guiding, urging, and directly exchanging opinions on, the review and reduction of projects, particularly new projects, and unnecessary and inefficient projects mentioned at Point a above. After the review, if fund allocation plans of ministries, central agencies and localities show that to-be-allocated funds are thinned-out, the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the initiative in reviewing and exchanging opinions with each ministry, agency or locality in order to continue cutting out unnecessary and inefficient projects and select really necessary and efficient projects that should be implemented in the 2021-2025 period, striving for the target that the total number of the whole country’s public investment projects to be funded by the central budget is about 5,000.

- To urgently summarize the national medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period and report it to the Prime Minister, Government, Political Bureau, Party Central Committee, National Assembly and National Assembly agencies, ensuring its quality and progress as required.

- To propose the Prime Minister to commend or criticize ministries, central agencies and localities and heads of units for their implementation of regulations, and formulation and implementation of public investment plans.

dd/ The Ministry of Finance shall reach agreement with the Ministry of Planning and Investment on amounts and structure of medium-term public investment funds to be allocated from the state budget, and review the 2021-2025 medium-term public investment plans of ministries, central agencies and localities.

2. Tasks that need to be performed in the coming time:

a/ The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, central agencies and localities in performing the following tasks:

- To further review and finalize regulations aimed to promote delegation of powers, while ensuring uniform management, effectiveness and operation efficiency; promote the initiative and creativity and uphold the sense of responsibility of every level and sector in association with intensifying inspection, supervision, commendation and disciplining in a timely and strict manner;

- To study and develop criteria, principles and norms of allocation of support funds, and specify subjects entitled to, and types of locally managed programs and projects eligible for, support funds from the central budget. Regarding local budget funds reserved for public investment, to propose mechanisms, policies and regulations to ensure strict control, focused investment, effective management and use, thrift, and waste prevention.

- To intensify the examination, inspection and supervision of the observance of discipline in public investment management; to strictly control use purposes and efficiency of investment capital sources; to ensure publicity and transparency in the mobilization, management and use of loans.

- To form working teams to inspect and urge the implementation, remove difficulties, timely commend persons and units with merits, and strictly handle violations that cause losses and waste in public investment.

b/ Ministries, central agencies and localities shall, in the spirit of ensuring focused public investment, thrift, efficiency, compliance with regulations, and within the ambit of their assigned state management functions and tasks, take the initiative in studying, reviewing and revising regulations on management, investment and construction of works and projects using public investment funds; promulgate regulations on economic and technical norms, investment rates, etc., for public investment projects without construction components; propose competent authorities to revise relevant regulations toward delegation of powers and creation of autonomy accompanied by close supervision and inspection measures, thereby ensuring investment efficiency.

IV. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. Ministers, heads of central agencies, secretaries of provincial-level Party Committees and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall personally direct and grasp, and request agencies, units, cadres, civil servants and public employees under their respective management to immediately perform the tasks mentioned in this Directive, and take full responsibility before the Government and Prime Minister for the quality, efficiency and progress of the formulation and implementation of public investment plans; update information on the National Information System on Public Investment Management, and send reports on the 2021-2025 medium-term public investment plans to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and Ministry of Finance before May 25, 2021.

2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, central agencies and localities in, monitoring and urging the reporting, and summarizing the report on the national medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period; promptly report to the Prime Minister the situation of implementation and arising difficulties and problems; expeditiously complete the report for submission to the Government’s standing body by May 27, 2021, and to the Government at the latter’s May 2021 regular meeting before reporting to the Political Bureau, Party Central Committee, National Assembly and National Assembly agencies according to regulations.-

For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
LE MINH KHAI