TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING HITS $2.3 BILLION IN FIRST HALF OF 2026

Vietnam disbursed $2.3 billion for key transport infrastructure projects in the first half of 2026, but sluggish spending on two flagship railway projects continued to weigh on overall public investment progress.

According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the Ministry of Construction (MoC) and local authorities allocated approximately $9.8 billion in state budget investment for major transport infrastructure projects in 2026, accounting for around 22 per cent of the country's total public investment plan.

Of the total, about $7.93 billion comes from the central budget, while $1.88 billion is financed by local budgets.

By the end of June, the projects had disbursed approximately $2.37 billion, or 24.2 per cent of the annual plan.

Central government funding accounted for around $1.5 billion, equivalent to 19.5 per cent of the allocation, while local government funding reached approximately $829 million, or 44.2 per cent of the plan.

The MoF said the two nationally significant railway projects alone were allocated around $4.04 billion, representing 75.6 per cent of the Ministry of Construction's 2026 investment plan.

As a result, the pace of disbursement for these projects has a major impact on the overall implementation of key national infrastructure projects, but their disbursement progress has remained behind schedule.

Of these, the North-South high-speed railway project had disbursed just about $43 million, or 2 per cent of its allocated funding, while the Lao Cai–Hanoi–Haiphong railway project had disbursed approximately $48 million, equivalent to 2.5 per cent of its annual plan.

Excluding the investment allocation and disbursement for the two railway projects, the disbursement rate for major transport infrastructure projects would have reached 40.8 per cent of the annual plan, exceeding the national average.

According to the MoF, major transport infrastructure projects continues to face multiple challenges in implementation, including shortages and price volatility of construction materials, delays in site clearance and land acquisition, and incomplete investment procedures for several projects.

Based on actual funding requirements and implementation capacity, the MoC has proposed reducing the capital allocation for the two railway projects by approximately $3.2 billion, as the funds are not yet required.

The ministry has suggested reallocating the amount to other ministries, central agencies, and local authorities requiring additional funding, or returning it to the unallocated portion of the 2026 public investment plan.

In addition, the MoC has put forward the reallocation of approximately $433 million to local authorities and Vietnam Electricity to implement 16 standalone compensation, support, and resettlement projects associated with the North-South high-speed railway.

According to the MoF, the MoC's proposal could affect both the government's public investment disbursement target and economic growth objective for 2026.

Source: VIR