Hanoi keeps hastening investment attraction, disbursement

A stretch of the Belt Road No. 4 project in Hoai Duc district, Hanoi, under construction (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi – Hanoi recorded encouraging results in investment attraction and disbursement during the first half of 2024, and is poised to push ahead with this work in the coming time.

The municipal People’s Committee reported that development investment in Hanoi reached 208.8 trillion VND (8.2 billion USD) during the January - June period, representing a year-on-year rise of 9.5 per cent.

Added with 43.8 million USD registered in June, the city recorded 1.165 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) during H1, comprising 1.036 billion USD for 120 new projects, 55 million USD for 78 existing projects, and 74 million USD spent on contributing capital to or purchasing shares of local companies.

Thanks to the effective use of public investment capital, construction activities continued to be sped up in the first six months, the administration said, noting that together with investment attraction, it has also asked contractors and construction units to harness resources to accelerate key projects and infrastructure development, helping boost public investment disbursement.

In 2024, Hanoi has 226 public investment projects on basic construction, consisting of 155 projects launched in previous years and invested with 205.5 trillion VND in total (including 24.4 trillion VND planned to be disbursed this year), and 71 new projects worth 7.2 trillion VND (including 1.1 trillion VND to be disbursed this year). Among them, there are 58 transport projects, accounting for 19.5 per cent of the capital plan.

Key projects in the city are being accelerated so as to be completed on schedule, the People’s Committee went on.

It elaborated that the Belt Road No. 4 project in the Capital Region, invested with about 12.6 trillion VND so far, has had 9.6 per cent of its workload done. Invested with over 7.2 trillion VND from the city’s budget, the Hoang Cau - Voi Phuc section of the Belt Road No. 1 project (Phase 1) has had 32.4 per cent of its investment capital disbursed.

The project on upgrading the Ba La - Xuan Mai section of National Highway 6, with investment totalling 8.1 trillion VND funded by the city’s budget, has seen 7.5 per cent of its capital plan allocated.

The city has also disbursed about 7.3 per cent of the 5.2 trillion VND in total investment for a project that builds a road connecting Thang Long Avenue with Hanoi - Hoa Binh Expressway.

Meanwhile, the first phase of the Hanoi Children’s Hospital has recorded 53.6 per cent of its total investment, nearing 785 billion VND, disbursed. The hospital is expected to be completed and put into use by the end of 2024.

The Hanoi Children’s Palace project, worth over 1.3 trillion VND in total, has had up to 75.8 per cent of its capital plan allocated. The facility is scheduled to open in the third quarter of this year.

Hanoi is taking various big and long-term measures to attract investment to many areas and create a favourable environment for projects to be sped up.

Chairman of the municipal People’s Council Nguyen Ngoc Tuan said the city will soon announce the Hanoi Capital Master Plan for the 2021 - 2030 period with a vision to 2050, and the adjustments to the general master plan on building Hanoi until 2030 with a vision to 2050. It will also make implementation plans for these two master plans as soon as they are approved by the Prime Minister.

In particular, special attention will be given to devising concrete measures and detailing progress targets to serve as the basis for implementing projects and calling for domestic and foreign investment.

Authorities will also focus on perfecting land-related regulations and thoroughly deal with prolonged shortcomings and weaknesses pertaining to land management and use, Tuan added.

Disbursement delay deemed unacceptable Public investment continues to suffer from poor disbursement, with names of culpable units being highlighted by the government.

FDI disbursement in January-April period reaches five-year record The total foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursed in Vietnam in the first four months of this year is estimated to reach 6.28 billion USD, up 7.4 per cent year on year, the highest four-month amount in the past five years, reported the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Public spending still behind desired level Public spending in some localities is still far too slow, despite leaders issuing strict instructions on the issue.