HO CHI MINH CITY DISBURSES OVER $3.26 BILLION IN PUBLIC INVESTMENT IN EIGHT MONTHS

According to Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance, by the end of August, the city disbursed VND85 trillion ($3.26 billion) in public investment, equivalent to 57.7 per cent of the plan.

Hoang Vu Thanh, director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance, said that the eight-month performance showed positive improvements in both absolute value and the disbursement rate compared to the same period in 2025, rising from 44.1 per cent to 57.7 per cent, an increase of 13.6 percentage points.

“According to the Ministry of Finance’s assessment, the city is among the localities with strong disbursement performance, handling a large volume of capital and ranking among the 20 localities with rates above the national average,” Thanh said at a meeting on the city’s socioeconomic performance, held by Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on September 4.

Ho Chi Minh City sees positive improvement in public investment disbursement in first eight months. Photo: Le Toan

One notable development has been the positive progress in land clearance and compensation for key infrastructure projects. Ho Chi Minh City has allocated $2.15 billion for compensation across 147 projects, with 65.5 per cent of the allocated capital disbursed to date.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Department of Agriculture and Environment, land clearance and compensation for key projects have also achieved encouraging results. In particular, 100 per cent of the required site has been handed over for the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh Expressway expansion project, while the Ho Chi Minh City-Moc Bai Expressway project has achieved 97.7 per cent site clearance.

Other projects, including Ho Chi Minh City-Thu Dau Mot-Chon Thanh Expressway and Ring Road 4, are also undergoing site clearance procedures.

Ho Chi Minh City has identified accelerated public investment disbursement as a key priority for the remaining months of the year. The city will assign clear responsibilities and timelines to individual project groups, strengthen on-site inspections, and focus on addressing impediments related to compensation and site clearance, technical infrastructure relocation, and construction material supplies.

The city aims to achieve a disbursement rate of at least 70 per cent by the end of the third quarter, equivalent to approximately $3.96 billion.

In September alone, Ho Chi Minh City targets disbursements of at least $692 million and aims to complete the entire capital plan assigned by the prime minister by year-end.

According to Nguyen Khac Hoang, head of Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office, to fulfil the annual plan, the city will need to disburse an average of around 10.6 per cent of the plan each month over the remaining four months of the year, approximately 47 per cent higher than the average pace recorded during the first eight months.

Public investment should therefore continue to be identified as one of the key drivers of growth in the final months of the year. The city needs to focus on removing impediments, particularly in compensation, site clearance and the handover of cleared land, while accelerating investment procedures, technical infrastructure relocation, securing construction material supplies, and enhancing construction capacity for key projects.

Accelerating disbursement will not only directly boost aggregate demand but also generate spillover effects across construction, building materials' production, transportation and a range of related service sectors.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, the city broke ground on 22 key projects and works in the first eight months, with total investment of approximately $24.8 billion.

In the fourth quarter, the city plans to commence construction on around nine additional projects, including the upgrade and expansion of National Highway No.22; the upgrade of the North-South arterial road from Nguyen Van Linh street to Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway; Thu Thiem 4 Bridge; Can Gio Bridge; Phu My 2 Bridge; and an inter-port road linking Cat Lai-Phu Huu ports with Ring Road 3, among others.

Source: VIR