Second Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement Project

Processing teams need to ensure that the scope and cost estimate of projects are realistic and reflect the actual contexts. Changes in the procurement plan and safeguards document necessitated by the revisions in project scope and costs caused startup delays. The Viet Nam component had a large amount of undisbursed budget because of overestimations in the cost of civil works and land acquisition and resettlement. Advance actions to engage critical consultants early enough should have helped mitigate the delays. More realistic estimations that reflect the actual contexts would have prevented the risk of budget underutilization.