Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s economic powerhouse, reported robust gains in industry, services, and foreign investment in the first eight months, but officials warned that sluggish public investment is threatening its 8.5% growth target.

Vietnam’s public investment disbursement reached VND409.17 trillion (US$15.49 billion) by August 31, equal to 39.9% of the annual plan and 46.3% of the Prime Minister’s target, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) reported.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has established eight working groups to remove difficulties related to production, business, infrastructure construction, and imports and exports, as well as promote growth and accelerate disbursement of public investment capital.

VOV.VN - Vietnam’s public investment disbursement from the State budget witnessed a significant boost in the first half of 2025, reaching an estimated VND268.1 trillion as of June 30, representing approximately 32.5% of the total amount allocated under the plan approved by the Prime Minister.

Accelerating public investment disbursement is critical to sustaining Vietnam’s economic momentum and completing 2025 goals.

VOV.VN - Prime Minister Pham Minh urged ministries, sectors, and localities to accelerate the completion of national key projects while chairing a national teleconference on June 22 in Hanoi to review progress in eradicating substandard housing, advancing major transport initiatives, and speeding up public investment disbursement.

Vietnam’s public investment efforts are gaining significant results, with total capital disbursed from the beginning of 2025 through May 31 estimated at VND199.33 trillion (US$7.65 billion), according to a new report from the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

To achieve its ambitious goal of high-income status by 2045, Vietnam needs to deepen the sweeping institutional reforms that are underway and promote greener development, according to two new World Bank reports released on May 22.

VOV.VN - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, while chairing a Government meeting on public investment in Hanoi on May 20, asked ministries, sectors, and localities to identify bottlenecks and take responsibility for underperformance, in an attempt to accelerate public investment disbursement.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha urged ministries, sectors, and localities to identify and resolve bottlenecks hindering the disbursement of public investment capital while presiding over a meeting of the Prime Minister’s task force No.2 on the work in Hanoi on May 7.