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Lesson
The government’s internal approval processes need to be carefully considered when designing and implementing a policy reform program. In Viet Nam, the consensus-building approach to policymaking requires significant time and coordination, particularly for policies that would entail changes to the legal framework. The process for amending laws is a significant constraint, as the lawmaking cycle usually takes 5 years. Inadequate consideration of these features of policymaking and lawmaking in Viet Nam could lead to unrealistic program schedules.

Project Number: 49331-001
Project Name: Financial Sector Development and Inclusion Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Combining finance sector development and financial inclusion under an umbrella framework enables a finance sector reform program to address both supply and demand to further develop the sector. The program as originally designed was to include two subprograms. Technical assistance, provided to help the government continue the reform measures adopted in subprogram 1, was key in supporting many of the reforms programmed under subprogram 2, even as the government elected not to proceed with a second loan. Nevertheless, government elected not to proceed with a second loan.

Project Number: 49331-001
Project Name: Financial Sector Development and Inclusion Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Government budget regulations, particularly on official development assistance (ODA), the main source of ADB funding, need to be fully considered during appraisal as these could cause disbursement delays. In 2015, the allocation of ODA funds to project Implementation units was late and in 2016 no funds were allocated. This meant delays in project Implementation.

Project Number: 46293-005
Project Name: Greater Mekong Subregion Tourism Infrastructure for Inclusive Growth Project
Report Date:
Lesson
It is critical that the risk assessment and management plan of the project preparatory technical assistance in the tourism sector incorporate measures to be taken in case of future pandemics. The COVID-19 pandemic led to delays in realizing project tourism benefits. Nevertheless, the ensuing pent-up demand from domestic and foreign tourists seems likely to lead to increases in future incremental visitor numbers, visitor days, and visitor expenditure from each of the subprojects. These increases could contribute to the financial sustainability of the subprojects.

Project Number: 46293-005
Project Name: Greater Mekong Subregion Tourism Infrastructure for Inclusive Growth Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Land acquisition procedures, processes, consultations, and reporting are complex in Viet Nam, not least because of the number of agencies involved. Therefore, more time, energy, and expertise need to be allocated to project land clearance and subsequent resettlement compensation.

Project Number: 46293-005
Project Name: Greater Mekong Subregion Tourism Infrastructure for Inclusive Growth Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Similar projects in similar contexts can learn from the following Implementation lessons learned from the[project: (i) potential startup delays need to be anticipated when developing the project Implementation plan and the contract awards and disbursement projections, withmitigating measures identified; (ii) engaging a single detailed engineering design consultant for projects covering multiple provinces can cause delays;and (iii) use of local consultants could expedite the awarding of civil works contracts.

Project Number: 46293-005
Project Name: Greater Mekong Subregion Tourism Infrastructure for Inclusive Growth Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Effective and efficient implementation of large-scale land acquisition and resettlement activities depends largely on strong political will and commitment at all levels of the government. An executing agency needs to be proactive and initiate close working relationships with local authorities to resolve identified issues on the ground. Local communities, particularly affected households, must be engaged and their concerns should be adequately factored in by project design.

Project Number: 41444-013
Project Name: Second Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement
Report Date:
Lesson
The governments' internal review and approval processes and executing agencies' limited prior experience in ADB-financed projects and unfamiliarity with ADB procurement procedures were major contributing factors to the substantial startup and implementation delays experienced by this project.

Project Number: 41444-013
Project Name: Second Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement
Report Date:
Lesson
Opportunities for knowledge exchange and sharing among resident mission staff need to be included in the design of regional projects. Regional cooperation and integration elements were not included in this project. As a result, resident mission staff missed the opportunity to share knowledge and exchange experiences that would have enhanced their capacities.

Project Number: 41444-013
Project Name: Second Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Establishment of professional project administration divisions and retention of experienced and trained government officials in these units can help mitigate the risk of project delays. Project implementation experienced substantial delays despite the preparation of time-bound action plans, project completion was still delayed by 60 months for Lao PDR and 48 months for Viet Nam. The recurrence of this experience in this project may be better addressed by putting in place professional project administration divisions, staffed by trained and experienced personnel.

Project Number: 41444-013
Project Name: Second Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement Project
Report Date:
Lesson
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.

Project Number: 41444-013
Project Name: Second Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Review of the gender action plan (GAP) should be done within a year from loan effectiveness to facilitate the enhancement of both the GAP and project implementation. GAP implementation in Viet Nam was challenged by the late recruitment of a gender consultant, which prevented the EA/IA from receiving timely capacity-building inputs and limited the opportunity of the project to improve its gender equality design and targets.

Project Number: 41444-013
Project Name: Second Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Administration by a single team of future regional projects will enable better assessment of their regional impacts. The sector division in ADB headquarters delegated the administration of this project to respective resident missions after the midterm review in 2016. Country review missions were conducted separately after the delegation, causing discrepancies in loan financial management, safeguard compliance, and benefits and results monitoring. This led to difficulties in assessing the project's regional impacts.

Project Number: 41444-013
Project Name: Second Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Reduced counterpart funding and increased use of loan proceeds will facilitate timely implementation and project closure. This project was designed with substantial counterpart funding from governments. While demonstrating strong ownership, this affected implementation as the governments were unable to disburse the budget on time. Besides reducing the requirement for counterpart funding, sufficient documentation and incorporation of counterpart fund releases in the audited annual financial statements can help facilitate the financial closing of future projects.

Project Number: 41444-013
Project Name: Second Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement Project
Report Date:
Lesson
A thorough needs assessment is necessary to align the livelihood restoration training programs to the needs of severely affected households (SAHs) and so increase their uptake of the programs. Only a few SAHs attended the livelihood restoration programs designed to support them. The opportunity cost in terms of farmers’ time was high either because the SAHs were involved in more rewarding economic activities, or the trainings did not respond to their needs.

Project Number: 40190-023
Project Name: Greater Mekong Subregion Flood and Drought Risk Management and Mitigation Project
Report Date: