Under the direction of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Business Forum Magazine, in coordination with the HCMC Mineral Industry Association, hosted a seminar titled “Public Investment: Removing Bottlenecks to Break Through Growth in 2026” on the afternoon of December 23.
In his opening remarks, VCCI Vice Chairman Vo Tan Thanh noted that the 2021–2025 period has exposed enduring, systemic bottlenecks, particularly in institutional frameworks, implementation coordination, and the supply of construction materials. These constraints have slowed project execution and driven up costs. Without fundamental reforms, he warned, the same obstacles are likely to persist in the 2026–2030 period, even if public investment capital expands significantly.
Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, Deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Agriculture and Environment, underscored that construction materials are integral to both the pace and quality of public investment projects. In 2025, major projects such as Ring Road 3, Ring Road 4, and the HCMC–Moc Bai Expressway are facing intense pressure, while supplies of fill sand and construction stone remain locally constrained.
According to the department, HCMC is implementing 290 public investment projects this year, with total compensation and site clearance funding exceeding VND60 trillion and a disbursement rate of over 65 percent. Compensation and resettlement activities alone have reached nearly 90 percent of plan targets. However, with quarry extraction capacity approaching its limits, ensuring sufficient materials for construction remains a significant challenge.
Participants at the seminar pointed to institutional and procedural hurdles as the root cause of the supply shortfall. Mining approval processes, licensing, and environmental assessments have failed to keep pace with project timelines. As a result, despite ample reserves, bringing mines into operation has been slow.
Mr. Phan Tan Dat, Chairman of the HCMC Mineral Industry Association, said inflexible licensing regimes and legal bottlenecks have prevented abundant resources from being efficiently exploited. He called on authorities to allow increased extraction capacity at mines with complete documentation, amend conflicting provisions between special policy resolutions and Decree 193/2025, and address shortcomings in auctions for mining rights and land-use rights to secure a stable material supply for public investment.
Nationwide, total public investment capital for 2025 exceeds VND1.08 quadrillion. Yet, according to the Ministry of Finance, cumulative disbursement in the first 11 months reached only about VND553.25 trillion—nearly 61 percent of the target assigned by the Prime Minister, falling short of expectations. The shortfall is largely attributed to internal bottlenecks, including inadequate project preparation, limited implementation capacity, and prolonged obstacles related to procedures, site clearance, and construction material supply.
