Resolution 124/NQ-CP 2022 promote disbursement of public investment capital in remaining months of 2022

RESOLUTION

On major tasks and solutions to promote disbursement of public investment capital in remaining months of 2022

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THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015; Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 39/2022/ND-CP dated June 18, 2022 on promulgating the Working Regulation of the Government;

At the proposal of the Minister of Planning and Investment in Report No. 5701/TTr-BKHDT dated August 12, 2022, Document No. 6018/BKHDT-TH dated August 25, 2022, Report No. 6195/TTr- BKHDT dated September 04, 2022, Report No. 6200/BC-BKHDT dated September 04, 2022 and Document No. 6326/BKHDT-TH dated September 08, 2022.

RESOLVES:

In the first months of 2022, the fast, complicated and unpredictable change in the world’s socio-economic situation causes a significant impact on our country’s economy, but under the leadership of the Party, efforts of the whole political system, citizens and enterprises, the Vietnam’s economy is gradually recovering and developing with the stable macroeconomic and ensured major balances; the inflation situation is controlled, exchange rate level and appropriate interest rates are maintained, etc. However, there are many great risks and challenges, especially the adjustment of monetary and fiscal policies by countries in the world, fluctuations in petroleum prices and input materials, etc. In that context, it is very important and urgent to accelerate the disbursement of public investment capital, and effectively implement the socio-economic recovery and development program and 3 national target programs for the purposes of rapid recovery and sustainable development, maintaining of macroeconomic stability, successful implementation of defined socio-economic development goals in 2022.

In the first 8 months of the year, the Government and the Prime Minister issue 10 resolutions (including 02 thematic ones), 04 Official Telegrams, 07 directing documents on disbursement of public investment capital; organize 02 online conferences with ministries, central and local agencies; establish 06 working groups to inspect and urge disbursement of public investment capital; set out many tasks and solutions, request ministries, central and local agencies to focus on and drastically direct the disbursement of public investment capital. However, the estimated rate of the state budget investment plan disbursement from the beginning of the year to August 31, 2022 only reaches 39.15% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister, in which 42/51 ministries and central agencies and 21/63 localities achieve disbursement rate below the national average. The slow disbursement is due to many reasons, including objective and subjective ones, long-lasting reasons and particular reasons of each plan year.

In order to achieve best targets of the plan for socio-economic development and disbursement of public investment in 2022, the Government requires ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies, other central agencies, chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to continue directing the synchronous and effective implementation of key tasks and solutions mentioned in resolutions of the Party and National Assembly, the Government, and the direction of the Prime Minister. Based on the results of the Government’s online conference with ministries, central and local agencies on August 03, 2022 and result reports of 6 working groups to inspect and urge disbursement of public investment capital and discussion at the Government’s regular meeting in August 2022, the Government agrees to direct the drastic implementation of major tasks and solutions to promote disbursement of public investment capital in the remaining months of 2022 as follows:

I. VIEWPOINTS, ORIENTATIONS

1. Thoroughly grasp and strictly, synchronously and effectively implement the Resolution of the 13^th National Congress of the Party, Resolutions of Party Congresses at all levels, Resolutions of the National Assembly and the Government, and consider disbursement of public investment capital as the most important political task of all levels and sectors in 2022.

2. Uphold administrative discipline, strictly handle violations, and obstruction that decelerate the schedule of capital allocation, implementation and disbursement of capital plans; individualize the responsibility of heads for slow disbursement, associated with the assessment of assigned task completion level.

3. Follow, identify and properly assess the situation; take drastic action with dogged determination and great effort; focus on solving difficulties and obstacles in terms of institutions, mechanisms and policies, on the principle that the authority promulgating policies may remove such policies, and cases beyond the competence must be reported to the direct superior agency. Strengthen the coordination between ministries, central agencies, localities, agencies and units, ensuring efficiency of work settlement.

II. OBJECTIVES

Strive for the disbursement rate of investment capital from the state budget in 2022 of 95 - 100% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister; disbursement rate of 100% of local budget capital. Disburse at least 50% of the assigned capital of the socio-economic recovery and development program in 2022.

III. MAJOR TASKS AND SOLUTIONS

1. Review and complete law regulations to remove difficulties and obstacles related to institutions, mechanisms and policies

a) Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies, other central agencies, chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities, heads of agencies directly in charge of and taking responsibility for reviewing the current regulations on public investment shall point out the inadequacies during the implementation; on that basis, immediately amend and supplement regulations within their competence for sectors, fields and areas assigned to manage; propose competent authorities amendments and supplements to matters beyond their competence; including urgent proposal of amendments and supplements to regulations related to the implementation of public investment projects (from project formation, capital allocation, implementation organization) within the competence of the Government and the Prime Minister, send them to the Ministry of Planning and Investment in September 2022 to synthesize and report to the Prime Minister.

b) The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall

- Assume the prime responsibility for synthesizing proposals by ministries, agencies and localities on amending and supplementing regulations related to the implementation of public investment projects (from project formation, capital allocation, implementation organization) within the competence of the Government and the Prime Minister; on that basis, assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies in, proposing reports to the Prime Minister before October 20, 2022.

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance and relevant agencies in, carefully reviewing the law regulations applicable to transitional projects with adjustment to the levels of investment policy decision, investment decision between the 2014 Law on Public Investment and the 2019 Law on Public Investment to propose a plan to remove obstacles and report to the Prime Minister in September 2022.

- Continue studying and developing a scheme on pilot separation of ground clearance and resettlement from investment projects, and report to the Government before September 30, 2022 for submission to the National Assembly Standing Committee, the National Assembly for consideration and decision.

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Justice in, guiding the competence to approve estimates of investment preparation tasks for public investment projects for uniform implementation throughout the country; the completion before October 10, 2022 is required.

c) The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant ministries and central agencies in, researching and absorbing as much as possible opinions of ministries, central and local agencies, and inspecting the licensing of mines of common construction materials in accordance with the law regulations and consider it in the process of amending the  Land Law, Mineral Law, Law on Environmental Protection, in which:

- For the Land Law, study and amend regulations on land classification, land use principles, land price determination, land price in cases of land recovery by the State and the land price used for compensation by investors, including land area under the agreement mechanism, that lead to citizens’ comparison, complaints, lawsuits, submit legal procedures for land recovery, etc.

- For the Mineral Law and the Law on Environmental Protection, research and amend regulations on the order and procedures for re-granting mining licenses, mineral scopes, and making environmental impact assessment reports for projects with change in paddy land use purpose, etc.

d) The Ministry of Construction shall: research and absorb as much as possible opinions of ministries, central agencies and localities in the process of amending guiding documents on construction, which amend regulations on the competence to appraise construction investment prefeasibility study reports of specialized construction agencies; competence to inspect the pre-acceptance test during the construction process and upon work completion; the time of compensation and resettlement support for projects on the principle of improving the efficiency of state management, ensuring the implementation capacity at the decentralized and uniform implementation in the localities at all localities, the completion before October 15, 2022 is required.

dd) Ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall, according to their assigned functions and tasks, urgently review and prepare the proposal on amendments and supplements to laws related to the implementation of public investment projects and disbursement of public investment capital that are still inconsistent, inappropriate, or cause difficulties and obstacles during the implementation, send it to the Ministry of Justice before September 30, 2022 so that the latter shall synthesize and report to the Government and Prime Minister for opinions to submit to the National Assembly Standing Committee or the National Assembly.

e) The Ministry of Justice shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with other ministries and central agencies in, synthesizing proposals of ministries and ministerial-level agencies on amendments and supplements to laws related to the implementation of public investment projects and disbursement of public investment capital that are still inconsistent, inappropriate, or cause difficulties and obstacles during the implementation to include them in the National Assembly’s Law-making Program in 2022 and 2023; ministries and ministerial-level agencies assume the prime responsibility for formulating proposed law projects in accordance with the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents.

g) The Ministry of Transport shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Construction and relevant ministries and central agencies in, reviewing, studying to amend and supplement law regulations related to the system of regulations, standards, norms and unit prices of specialized railway equipment and supplies for using as a basis for implementation; cases beyond its competent shall be reported to the Prime Minister before September 30, 2022.

h) Governing agencies of the 3 national target programs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant ministries and central agencies in:  completing all documents guiding the implementation of 03 programs before September 20, 2022 so that localities may start the implementation. Heads of the governing agencies of 3 national target programs shall take responsibility before the Prime Minister if projects under the national target programs cannot be implemented due to lack of guiding regulations.

2. Drastically carry out solutions to promote disbursement of public investment capital

a) The Ministry of Construction shall speed up the settlement of administrative procedures; guide, urge and inspect localities in performing the tasks of determining and announcing construction material prices and construction price indexes in accordance with law regulations.

b) The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall provide ministries, central and local agencies guidance on procedures for licensing of mines, exploitation of mines of construction materials for public investment projects, ensuring quickness, effectiveness and the compliance with law regulations.

c) The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in monthly publicizing the public investment capital disbursement rates of all ministries, central and local agencies at the Government’s meeting and on the mass media; proposing the Government to specifically criticize ministries, central and local agencies for slow disbursement; praising ministries, central and local agencies for good disbursement.

- Synthesize proposals of ministries, central agencies and localities for adjustment (increase/decrease) of the 2022 central budget capital investment plan, and report to the Prime Minister on the plan to adjust the 2022 central budget capital amounts among ministries, central agencies and localities before September 30, 2022.

d) The Ministry of Home Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance in, proposing appropriate forms of commendation and discipline for heads of agencies, localities and units in performing their duties related to disbursement of the public investment plan in 2022 assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister (for cases of reaching or failing to achieve 95 - 100% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister until January 31, 2023).

dd) The Ministry of Finance shall direct the State Treasury to promote payment through the State Treasury’s online public services in order to save time and travel expenses of project owners, publicize process of application handling at payment control agencies.

e) The Ministry of Health shall accelerate the grant of medical device circulation certificates specified in the Government’s Decree No. 98/2021/ND-CP dated November 08, 2021 on the management of medical devices in order to limit the storage of imported medical equipment at ports, failure of implementation of the disbursement procedures as prescribed, and to remove difficulties, bottlenecks and obstacles in the procurement bidding in the medical sector before October 15, 2022.

g) Ministries, central and local agencies shall

- Strengthen discipline in disbursement of public investment capital, review the entire implementation progress of projects deployed in 2022 to adjust the capital plan in conformity with the implementation schedule, avoid spreading out, fragmenting or division of capital that results in waste of resources and delay in the process of disbursement of public investment capital.

- Based on the actual disbursement situation, in case the 2022 central budget investment plan assigned by the Prime Minister is not fully disbursed or there is a need for additional capital, they shall send a written proposal for capital plan adjustment (increase/decrease) to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance before September 25, 2022 for general synthesis.

- Improve the quality of investment project preparation, selection of qualified, experienced and potential consultants, eliminate the situation of project adjustment during implementation, which waste time and slow capital disbursement schedule. Closely coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to promptly remove difficulties and obstacles in the process of project implementation and disbursement of public investment capital.

- Coordinate closely with the Ministry of Finance in working with donors to harmonize the donors’ procedures and the Government’s regulations on the principle of ensuring the compliance with Vietnam’s regulations and creating favorable conditions during the project implementation and disbursement of foreign loans.

- Take strict sanctions in accordance with the law regulations for project owners, project management boards, organizations and individuals who intentionally cause difficulties, obstruct or slow down the schedule of allocation and disbursement of public investment capital. Timely replace cadres, civil servants and public employees who are weak in capacity, stagnating, corrupt; resolutely handle acts of violation related to public investment management. Do not rate “completion of tasks” good for organizations and individuals that do not complete the disbursement task in 2022 due to subjective reasons.

- Heads of ministries, central and local agencies shall: (i) Assign specifically leaders of agencies and units directly in charge and directing the disbursement of each project; (ii) Increase the frequency of site inspection to promptly handle shortcomings; (iii) Select a project owner, project management board with sufficient capacity and experience to implement the project; request the project management board, the contractor to have an overall and detailed schedule and sign a commitment on the project completion schedule; resolutely terminate contracts with contractors not ensuring the schedule and quality of project; (iv) Hold weekly progress meetings with governing bodies and project owners on the project implementation and disbursement of public investment plans.

- The Ministry of Transport is allowed to continue allocating the unallocated central budget capital in 2022 until June 28, 2022 to component projects under the North-South expressway construction project right after the project is assigned a medium-term public investment plan for the 2021 - 2025 period.

- For tasks and projects assigned medium-term public investment plan (phase 3) by the Prime Minister, in case it is necessary to supplement the capital plan in 2022 to implement projects in 2022, ministries, central agencies and localities shall send written proposals to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance before October 01, 2022 for general synthesis.

h) Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities shall

- Complete the allocation and handing over of the state budget investment plan in 2022 for 3 national target programs until the end of September 15, 2022 at the latest.

- Review and immediately transfer the state budget investment plan from slow disbursed projects, projects that are in trouble with procedures to projects with good disbursement schedule and needing additional capital according to their assigned competence and report on cases beyond their competence to the People's Council at the same level.

- Review, inspect and handle the grant of mining licenses, ensuring sufficient supply of raw materials for projects, especially key projects and important national projects in accordance with the Government’s regulations.

- Focus on settling the ground clearance, compensation and resettlement support in a timely manner and in accordance with regulations for citizens, ensuring compliance with the law and harmonizing the interests of the State and the people. Strengthen effective and efficient land management, especially land origin, land use planning, etc., to minimize the adjustment of compensation plans and ensure implementation schedule.

- Implement measures to control prices and quality of construction materials for public investment projects; strengthen examination, inspection and strictly handle violations, especially the act of assigning raw material mines to wrong subjects or ultra vires.

- Implement on a monthly basis the update, adjustment and announcement of construction material prices and construction price indexes in accordance with the Construction Law and the Government’s Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP dated February 9, 2021 to serve as a basis for adjustment of bidding packages and total project investment. Control price fluctuation of raw materials, fuels and materials used for construction and strictly handle acts of speculating, raising prices for profits.

i) Request ministries, agencies and localities whose results of disbursement of state budget investment plans in 2022 are below the national average to clarify subjective and objective reasons, and to seriously review them, on that basis, to propose specific and effective solutions to accelerate disbursement in the coming time.

IV. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. The Government requests Ministers, Heads of central agencies and Chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels to focus on immediately grasping and strictly and effectively implementing this Resolution; promptly propose and report to the Government and the Prime Minister for consideration and decision on arising matters beyond their competence.

2. The Minister of Planning and Investment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Minister of Finance and other ministers, heads of central agencies, and chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels in urging, monitoring and inspecting the implementation of this Resolution.

3. The Government requests agencies of the Party, the National Assembly, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, enterprises and citizens to accompany and closely coordinate with State administrative agencies at all levels, strengthen the supervision of public service performance and contribute opinions, create social consensus, contribute to the acceleration of 2022 public investment capital disbursement.

4. The Ministry of Information and Communications shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Central Propaganda and Training Commission, press agencies, ministries, central agencies and localities in popularizing this Resolution.