From development plan to scattered economic resources
Restructuring and resistance from interest groups
Restructuring: Facing facts to develop
According to Dr. Vu Thanh Tu Anh from the Fulbright Economic Teaching Program, from now to 2020, Vietnam will have to spend nearly $15 billion to build infrastructure facilities like airports, seaports, coastal economic zones, highways, the north-south railway, etc.
Meanwhile, total investment in Vietnam, according to Minister Vinh, is too small, which accounts for only 19.9 percent of government’s spending. “We approved many projects that exceed our current financial capability. Investment plan is chopped into many pieces and projects are implemented in many years,” Dr. Phan Thanh Ha, vice chief of the MoPI’s Finance and Monetary Department.
Many state-funded projects are not based on the market demand, the actual need and economic effects but on some officials’ subjective thoughts. Recently, two new airports were ratified, one in the central province of Thanh Hoa and one in the southern province of An Giang. The airport in An Giang will be built just 60km from the Can Tho and Rach Gia airports. Meanwhile, the Can Tho airport is operating at less than 20 percent of designed capacity.
National Assembly deputies supported cutting down and restructuring government’s spending but it is difficult to implement because most of them are key officials of provinces. Many NA deputies took advantage of the ongoing NA session to campaign for investment projects in their provinces.
Speaking at a recent NA meeting, Minister Vinh said that it is difficult to immediately cut down government’s spending. He said that so far, the government has not cut down any coin in the plan on allocating capital to provinces and sectors in 2011.
Earlier, at a workshop on restructuring government’s spending, an official from the MoPI said that it is very difficult to cut down government’s spending. “To have a project, many stages have been carried out, with many effort and money so it is uneasy to stop it,” he explained.
An expert from an international organization in Vietnam said frankly: “It is impossible because they run about soliciting favors for their projects.”
However, Minister Vinh confirmed that the government gave the first shot for restructuring government’s spending by issuing the Instruction 1792 in October. “This time the Prime Minister and the government will implement this policy seriously. The government will take back capital from projects that break the rules,” he said.
The key for investment restructuring is not a technical issue but the political will and firm stuff of the government, otherwise “there will not have restructuring,” as former Deputy PM Vu Khoan said.
Phuong Loan
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