HCMC – A working delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on October 25 conducted an on-site check on the progress of the National Library of Vietnam upgrade project and inspected the 2022 public investment disbursement at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The deputy prime minister urged the ministry to speed up disbursement and remove obstacles impeding the progress, the local media reported.

The first phase of the renovation and upgrade project was approved in 2018 and got off the ground in 2019, with a total cost of VND92 billion.

Until now, the project is over 90% complete, while the disbursement has reached some 70% of the total required investment, according to the ministry.

The first phase of the project will be completed in late 2022.

The ministry attributed the slow disbursement of the project to the impact of the Covid pandemic but said that from late October onward, there would be no obstacles and difficulties facing the project. Work on the second phase of the project will begin in the 2026-2030 period.

As of October 24, the ministry had disbursed over VND290 billion of the total VND1.18 trillion allocated, reaching 17.7% of the target.

The ministry is set to disburse more than VND660 billion by the end of January next year, meeting over 55.7% of the target.

As its disbursement lagged behind schedule, the ministry plans to lower its target and transfer over VND496 billion of the public capital to other ministries.

Obstacles over site clearance, slower-than-expected investment procedures, changes in projects and exchange rate fluctuations have slowed down the public investment disbursement, said the ministry.

Deputy Prime Minister Dam asked the ministry to work closely with other ministries to eliminate these bottlenecks to accelerate work on its projects and ensure their quality.