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Lesson
The development of specialized expertise requires careful selection and the engagement of qualified consultants and proper management of expectations from all parties. Future thinking and foresight is a specialized expertise. It is crucial to identify and engage consultants with proven experience to ensure they can provide the necessary guidance and insights. It is also a new approach for ADB and thus, clear onboarding, communication, and setting expectations for both Staff and consultants who were critiical to the success of the TA.

Project Number: 52299-001
Project Name: Demonstrating Future Thinking and Foresight in Developing Member Countries
Report Date:
Lesson
Engaging an international firm with extensive experience proved to be the best option for this TA which focused on a complex and highly specialized topic. Nevertheless,there will always be an indispensable need for national perspectives and experiences, best provided by national consultants, to inform and be considered in TA analyses and recommendations. Future TA could benefit from increased engagement with local experts, either as individual consultants or as subcontracted members of international consulting firms or TA implementation teams.

Project Number: 53198-001
Project Name: Developing a Disaster Risk Transfer Facility in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region
Report Date:
Lesson
Changes in scope and consultants' contracts need to be anticipated in future TA, with sufficient contingencies provided. Despite the difficult circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, several workshops were conducted to present the interim and final deliverables. While these helped to foster stakeholder and ADB agreements, adherence to the originally agreed upon TA scope of the TA was challenging, as the executing agency refocused and added additional tasks to the TA.

Project Number: 54092-001
Project Name: Institutional Support to the National Quality Center for Road Assets
Report Date:
Lesson
The knowledge team (formerly Knowledge Advisory Services Center) from the former Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department administered the TA and supervised consultants until the TA was transferred to the Partner Funds Division. Managing consultants through external resources should be based on a clear understanding of ADB procedures and guidelines and should be adopted only if necessary.

Project Number: 52299-001
Project Name: Demonstrating Future Thinking and Foresight in Developing Member Countries
Report Date:
Lesson
Cost management and quality assurance mitigate the risk of cost increases due to project design changes during implementation. Despite modifications to the project, the final cost aligned closely with the estimates at appraisal as a result of coordinated efforts. A well managed tender process secured favorable offers, while proactive project management throughout the procurement and construction phases ensured cost efficiency and quality.

Project Number: 45022-002
Project Name: Jiangxi Ji'an Sustainable Urban Transport Project
Report Date:
Lesson
A time-based contract suits consultants better than a lump sum contract as it prevents issues when service extensions are necessary for unforeseen project extensions, which typically imply annual price escalations.

Project Number: 45022-002
Project Name: Jiangxi Ji'an Sustainable Urban Transport Project
Report Date:
Lesson
To ensure knowledge creation, documentation, and dissemination, a good combination of consultants with both practical and documentation capacity needs to be considered in the preparation of the terms of reference of the TA and selection of consultants. The national consultant team, which conducted most of the TA activities, lacked adequate skills in summarizing and writing down key knowledge acquired through the TA. The international consultant was brought in to help improve documentation only after the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Project Number: 53035-001
Project Name: Sustainable Fodder Management
Report Date:
Lesson
A functional coordinating mechanism centered around a competent consultant team leader is key to the success of a complex implementation arrangement. The TA engaged a consulting firm, which subcontracted six additional international and national partners. This helped build a great partnership for knowledge and solutions. However, as many parallel activities were unfolding, the firm had difficulty coordinating input and outputs.

Project Number: 53035-001
Project Name: Sustainable Fodder Management
Report Date:
Lesson
A combination of consulting firm and individual consultant inputs may prove effective in meeting the consulting requirements of projects. The quality- and cost-based selection method used by the TA to engage the firm offered a number of key benefits, including improved quality, increased competition, transparency, accountability, and sustainability.

Project Number: 44184-012
Project Name: Afghanistan and Turkmenistan: Regional Power Interconnection Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Designation of existing consultants to higher positions and responsibility levels may be explored to fill vacancies during implementation. There were two changes to the team leader position. The first was due to the resignation of the specialist because of an unexpected urgent assignment from his hiring university. The consultant recruited as the replacement team leader was not capable of performing the role. Instead of going through contract termination and recruitment process again, the TA team appointed the national simulation specialist, who had demonstrated strong leadership.

Project Number: 54037-001
Project Name: Innovation-Driven Green Economic Diversification for Resource-Exhausted Cities in Heilongjiang
Report Date:
Lesson
Additional budget and time could be instrumental in successful project implementation. The major factor for the successful outputs was the provision of additional budget and time for improving and completing the feasibility studies despite delays during TA implementation. Additional TA financing helped in improving the feasibility assessments which were deemed essential before committing the detail design resources.

Project Number: 51249-003
Project Name: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Water Resources Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Accurate cost estimates, including for contingencies, and effective utilization of loan savings are critical to the attainment of intended project results and timely financial closing. The actual contract price was lower than the amount estimated because of the inaccuracy of the engineering cost estimate and contingency estimates. Cost savings, however, were effectively utilized through minor changes in the project, further enhancing the achievement of project outcomes and outputs. Eligible expenses should be clarified early on, so as not to delay the project financial closing.

Project Number: 47047-002
Project Name: Shandong Groundwater Protection Project
Report Date:
Lesson
It is important that consultants are knowledgeable in their fields and have established relationships with the ADB team. team. Well managed working relationships result in satisfactory performance.

Project Number: 54246-001
Project Name: Impact Evaluation of Financial Technology Innovations in Selected Developing Member Countries
Report Date:
Lesson
Careful selection of competent experts and close consultant monitoring and coordination is essential to ensure the quality of TA outputs. As the two consultants engaged by this TA needed to work on separate topics to deliver one report, close monitoring and coordination by the ADB team proved critical to the timely attainment of consultant deliverables. Regular meetings were conducted to oversee progress, give guidance, avoid preventive abortive work, and deliver quality outputs.

Project Number: 55319-001
Project Name: Southeast Asia Aviation: COVID-19 Impact and Short-term Strategy
Report Date:
Lesson
Using individual consultants and resource persons provides flexibility in contract implementation. A summary recording of pertinent contract data must be kept updated to support efficient consultant management.

Project Number: 54423-001
Project Name: A New Operational Economic Corridor Development Framework for Central Asia and Beyond
Report Date: