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Lesson
The One ADB approach to project implementation is an exemplary cooperation modality in ADB. The Central and West Asia Department initiated the TA activities covering all ADB DMCs in the subregion and were strongly supported by the Regional Cooperation and Integration and Trade Division of then Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department and the regional cooperation and integration units of South Asia and Southeast Asia departments in providing inputs, mobilizing DMC participants, and generating financial support.

Project Number: 54423-001
Project Name: A New Operational Economic Corridor Development Framework for Central Asia and Beyond
Report Date:
Lesson
A longer implementation is required for complex TA projects. The TA was designed to support the development of a new economic corridor development (ECD) framework and operational guidelines that apply to the Central and West Asian countries and beyond. Taking lessons from other long-term ECD-related TAs, the TA could have been designed for a longer time frame from the start, with a more realistic timeline for completion, given the complexity of the ECD and the COVID-19- related constraints. A regular TA, instead of a small-scale TA, could have been a better option.

Project Number: 54423-001
Project Name: A New Operational Economic Corridor Development Framework for Central Asia and Beyond
Report Date:
Lesson
Close collaboration among ADB’s regional departments that support subregional programs and broad participation these subregional programs and their member countries, (i.e. the Central Asia Regional Economic Corridor, the Greater Mekong Subregion program, and the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation program), and development partners are critical in successfully implementing ECD-focused TA. These have helped improve the content and focus of the ECD guidance note produced by the TA.helped improve the ECD guidance note.

Project Number: 54423-001
Project Name: A New Operational Economic Corridor Development Framework for Central Asia and Beyond
Report Date:
Lesson
Early engagement with DMCs in knowledge-sharing activities is advisable for TA with comprehensive and complex topics. For this TA, it could have facilitated in-depth discussion and debate among DMCs and development partners on the new concept of ECD, lessons learned from ECD initiatives, and ECD pipeline development.

Project Number: 54423-001
Project Name: A New Operational Economic Corridor Development Framework for Central Asia and Beyond
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:
Lesson
Financial sustainability of project assets and benefits, in this case, the sanitary and phytosanitary system, should be addressed at the outset or during implementation and not only identified as an issue at appraisal, and establishing appropriate financing mechanisms for operation and maintenance at the outset would help ensure adequate maintenance after project completion.

Project Number: 43120-013
Project Name: Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling in Greater Mekong Subregion Trade Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Active support of relevant government agencies and strong ownership of the project management units contribute significantly to project success. In developing member countries where institutional capacity is weak, it is critical that concerned agencies are both capacitated and committed in achieving the intended results.

Project Number: 43120-013
Project Name: Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling in Greater Mekong Subregion Trade Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Accessibility of healthcare data in Azerbaijan needs to be improved. Reports from the Ministry of Health Care are not publicly available on its website. In addition, the State Agency for Mandatory Health Insurance considers healthcare information to be highly sensitive. Accordingly, this information is not contained on its website. Information related to daily coronavirus infections and vaccinations was released publicly. It would be useful for the agency to disseminate gender, age, and region-disaggregated information to the public.

Project Number: 55073-001
Project Name: COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Sex-disaggregated data need to be accurate and usable for in-depth analyses to support policy development and program planning and implementation. The government has increased its focus on gender equality and has made significant progress on gender data tracking and transparency. Although there are a few publicly available national resources, they lack qualitative information.

Project Number: 55073-001
Project Name: COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Insufficient up-to-date macroeconomic data on government websites, which could hinder timely and effective planning especially during crisis periods, needs to be rectified. The State Statistical Committee (SSC) has numerous macroeconomic indicators on its website. However, in most cases, very recent data are missing. International organizations such as ADB, the IMF and the World Bank release forecasts of macroeconomic indicators for upcoming years, and SSC should consider following the same approach.

Project Number: 55073-001
Project Name: COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Ensuring the sustainability of project benefits would require serious efforts from the component implementation units (CIUs) to raise funds from various sources. Governments have allocated annual budgets for CIUs to continue post-project operations. But financial sustainability is still a concern, as government allocations are sufficient to cover only routine facility maintenance and supplies and not surveillance, animal and pest outbreak responses, and repair of critical laboratory equipment.

Project Number: 43120-013
Project Name: Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling in Greater Mekong Subregion Trade Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Continued capacity building is required for Cambodia and the Lao PDR to move to a higher level of technical capacity in handling sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) concerns. The project has strengthened SPS capacity in Cambodia and the Lao PDR and facilitated product-specific market access agreements with neighboring countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion. It strengthened academic aspects of SPS, which were nonexistent before the project. It enabled knowledge transfer in priority SPS areas from the training and day-to-day coaching provided by project consultants.

Project Number: 43120-013
Project Name: Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling in Greater Mekong Subregion Trade Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Unsynchronized consultant recruitment, procurement of goods, and facility upgrades could create inefficiencies and lead to a wastage of time and resources and delayed delivery of project benefits. While overall the project proceeded smoothly, it encountered some challenges that offer valuable lessons to future projects. First, as the timing of consultant inputs and procurement of laboratory facilities and equipment were not synchronized, i.e., consultants would arrive early while facilities were not yet ready, less-than-efficient inputs were obtained.

Project Number: 43120-013
Project Name: Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling in Greater Mekong Subregion Trade Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Providing targeted resources to ensure sufficient understanding of ADB procurement and project administration guidelines, particularly among first-time ADB executing and implementing agencies, will help avoid startup delays. Minor implementation startup delays were encountered because of the unfamiliarity of some first-time implementing agencies with ADB procurement, financial management, and disbursement procedures. But after trainings were provided and consultants mobilized, implementation accelerated significantly.

Project Number: 43120-013
Project Name: Trade Facilitation: Improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Handling in Greater Mekong Subregion Trade Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Identifying critical risks and assumptions are an important element of design. However, design could also usefully identify mechanisms to mitigate these risks.

Project Number: 48143-001
Project Name: Enhancing Association of Southeast Asian Nations Capital Market Integration
Report Date: