ODA disbursement alarmingly slow in H1

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc addresses the conference

This claim was made at a teleconference between the Government and 63 provinces and cities nationwide held under the chair of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on July 4.

The event was aimed at reviewing overall socio-economic outcomes during the first half of 2019 and formulating fresh measures to accelerate overall national growth during the remaining months of the year.

PM Phuc stressed that the disbursement of public investment capital and official development assistance (ODA) remained alarmingly slow in the reviewed period, reaching only 15 per cent of the projected figure.

A string of key projects in the fields of transport, infrastructure, and energy lagged behind schedule. This has considerably hampered national energy security and made electricity shortages imminent. Meanwhile, the country has been working on diesel-fueled power generation and the import of power from neighbouring countries.

The EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which was inked by both sides in late June, was also discussed at the conference, specifically how to implement the pact in an effective manner and create domestic products that meet the trading bloc’s quality standards.

Vietnam’s GDP growth during the first six months of 2019 reached 6.76 per cent, lower than the ratio seen in the same period last year but higher than in corresponding periods between 2011 and 2017.

However, the Ministry of Planning and Investment still described the GDP growth rate of 6.76 per cent as a positive signal amid 70 per cent of worldwide economies facing slowdowns during the reviewed period.

In fact, the Vietnamese economy faced a number of complicated developments in global trade, including US-China trade tensions, the Government leader said, therefore requiring authorities at all levels to make a proper response as a way of jointly deepening the country’s international integration.

Given difficulties facing a number of industries, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, in expanding their operations, PM Phuc urged the need to streamline unnecessary conditional business lines, especially those related to sectoral inspection.

He stressed that the implementation of tasks during the second half of 2019 remains an extremely challenging issue, therefore calling upon heads of ministries, agencies, and localities to come up with solutions in order to ease the difficulties and realize the full-year targets as well.