Low investment efficiency hinders Vietnam’s economic growth: World Bank

HCMC – A decline in public investment efficiency and climate change vulnerabilities are holding back Vietnam from making the desired progress in its economic development, according to the World Bank. Inefficient public investment management resulted in project delays and cost overruns. The Government’s decentralized expenditure policy allocated an average of 80% of public investment to subnational governments from 2017 to 2022, which often resulted in duplicate projects and inefficiencies. The report also noted that Vietnam’s public investments and assets are increasingly vulnerable to climate change risks, including extreme weather patterns. To address these challenges, the report suggests allocating more time and resources for pre-feasibility studies and rebalancing the infrastructure investment budget from provincial to central levels.