Overcoming the situation of arbitrariness and authoritarianism in public investment management

On the morning of May 9, the Provincial National Assembly Delegation held a conference to collect comments on the Draft Law on Public Investment (amended). Deputy Heads of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation Nguyen Thanh Hien and Tran Van Mao chaired the conference. Photo: Thanh Le

Giving opinions at the conference, the majority of delegates agreed with the name of the law, but it is necessary to supplement and perfect some contents so as not to be too dependent on the subjective will of the agencies and individuals holding the power to manage capital sources, leading to widespread investment, unfinished projects, long-term debt, inefficiency, affecting socio-economic development and ensuring national security and defense.

Speaking at the conference, Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee Tran Van Son said that the capital allocation according to the Law on Public Investment is regulated by each group (group A projects are allocated capital for no more than 8 years, group B for no more than 5 years, group C for no more than 3 years), so the capital allocation should be revised according to the project implementation time.

Mr. Son recommended that the law should regulate project warranty limits to ensure construction quality and at the same time aim for professionalism in the field of construction investment.

Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee Tran Van Son spoke at the conference. Photo: Thanh Le

Sharing the same view, Chief of the Provincial People's Council Office Nguyen Van Hoa said: If the regulation on capital allocation by group is implemented, it will lead to a situation where one enterprise can push the project implementation plan, but another contractor will also push the plan, while the total capital is limited.

"Regarding the regulations on priority capital allocation, it is necessary to divide priority projects into mandatory and urgent groups that must be included in the annual plan, and the remaining projects should be ranked in order of priority," Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa proposed.

The provincial National Assembly delegation supervises public investment projects in Thai Hoa town. Photo: Thanh Le

In addition, delegates commented on the following contents: authority to decide on investment policies; conditions for transferring investment projects; public investment plans should be based on socio-economic plans and financial plans; criteria for project classification; principles for arranging and appraising capital sources and disbursement; site clearance should not be separated into independent projects in public investment projects, etc.

Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation Nguyen Thanh Hien acknowledged and accepted the delegates' comments. The Provincial National Assembly Delegation will synthesize the comments and report to the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration and discussion at the upcoming 7th session of the 14th National Assembly.

The Law on Public Investment has 7 chapters and 106 articles, which have been implemented for nearly 4 years and have revealed many issues that need to be amended and supplemented to remove difficulties in implementing the law. The National Assembly Standing Committee agreed that it is necessary to review and reconsider a number of articles in the Law, and that unreasonable articles need to be amended. Focus on removing cumbersome procedures, difficulties and obstacles, in accordance with reality.