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Lesson
It will be essential to find a balance in future TA projects between continuing support for the whole region and having activities and outputs focus on a subset of countries to allow for more granularity in analyses and deeper engagements. This was the first TA for the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) in the field of disaster risk financing (DRF), and as such, was designed to cover all 11 CAREC countries.

Project Number: 53198-001
Project Name: Developing a Disaster Risk Transfer Facility in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region
Report Date:
Lesson
Cofinancing expands possible project activities and outputs. Cofinancing from the Financial Sector Development Partnership Special Fund (FSDPSF) for this project allowed a more comprehensive set of deliverables and activities under outputs 1, 3, and 4. It provided flexibility in the use of resources, as FSDPSF beneficiaries are not differentiated according to country categories.

Project Number: 53198-001
Project Name: Developing a Disaster Risk Transfer Facility in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region
Report Date:
Lesson
English and Russian language TA publications increased the visibility of project activities and this may be replicated in future similar projects. Video tutorials on a CAREC Disaster Risk Modelling Interface (DRMI), an interactive online platform, was particularly helpful in allowing country stakeholders to visualize their risk profiles, perform high-level cost-benefit analyses of implementing disaster risk reduction measures, and quantify risk transfer costs for earthquake and flood parametric insurance structures.

Project Number: 53198-001
Project Name: Developing a Disaster Risk Transfer Facility in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region
Report Date:
Lesson
Greater invovement from resident missions (RMs), e.g., by designating RM staff to regional TA teams, is important to ensure that potential solutions identified through analytical work are translated into tangible projects. Conversely, team members of regional TAs may also be involved in country programming.

Project Number: 53198-001
Project Name: Developing a Disaster Risk Transfer Facility in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region
Report Date:
Lesson
Virtual workshops are not as effective, particularly where new and complex concepts have to be discussed. This was demonstrated by the TA experience under COVID-19 that restricted in-person meetings and workshops for over 2 years.

Project Number: 53198-001
Project Name: Developing a Disaster Risk Transfer Facility in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region
Report Date:
Lesson
A separate budget for a fund-raising roadshow is essential to ensure the successful establishment of a funding facility. This should not have been neglected in the establishment of the CAREC Climate and Sustainability Project Preparatory Fund aimed for under this TA. Engaging with potential donors is a critical step in securing the necessary funding for the fund's operation.

Project Number: 54344-001
Project Name: Supporting the Establishment of a CAREC Regional Infrastructure Projects Enabling Facility
Report Date:
Lesson
A knowledge-sharing workshop in targeted beneficiary countries of a regional TA project could help strengthen the concept development of future such TA. This interactive approach offers several advantages, including: (i) Enhanced stakeholder engagement. A workshop focusing on the initial research findings would allow representatives from benefiting countries to participate actively from the outset. This would foster a sense of ownership and enhance buy-in for the initiative by ensuring stakeholders feel invested in its success. (ii) Improved needs identification.

Project Number: 54344-001
Project Name: Supporting the Establishment of a CAREC Regional Infrastructure Projects Enabling Facility
Report Date:
Lesson
Early consultation with relevant ADB units is essential to ensure a well-rounded TA design and a robust monitoring framework. These units' expertise can significantly enhance TA effectiveness and impact. By collaborating with experts from these units during the design phase, the possibility of overlooking critical components that are vital for a successful TA could be avoided.

Project Number: 54344-001
Project Name: Supporting the Establishment of a CAREC Regional Infrastructure Projects Enabling Facility
Report Date:
Lesson
All the output and activity requirements to achieve planned outcomes need to be identified and mapped out in a clear implementation plan with well-defined targets and a definite timeframe. The original project design overlooked securing donor funding as a key output for establishing the Facility. The proposed timeline for stakeholder consultations was overly optimistic.

Project Number: 54344-001
Project Name: Supporting the Establishment of a CAREC Regional Infrastructure Projects Enabling Facility
Report Date:
Lesson
The plan to establish an enabling facility for regional infrastructure projects will benefit from an assessment of existing trust funds within ADB that support project preparation funding, such as the Project Preparation and Implementation Support Trust Fund. Analyzing the processes of their establishment and the challenges faced would have helped.

Project Number: 54344-001
Project Name: Supporting the Establishment of a CAREC Regional Infrastructure Projects Enabling Facility
Report Date:
Lesson
Technical assistance (TA) is important to ensure timely identification and support to critical reforms at challenging times. TA support contributed to the program being implemented within the original timeline. Transaction TA allowed for the development of additional activities that formed the post-program partnership framework (P3F). The practice of including P3F actions in the design of the programmatic policy-based lending should be continued, as it shapes up next-level dialogue with the government. It also helps ADB and the government to maintain a longer-term prospective.

Project Number: 51066-001, 51066-003
Project Name: Finance Sector and Fiscal Management Improvement Program (Subprograms 1 and 2)
Report Date:
Lesson
Ownership of the reform process is critical and, given the experience of this, it will remain so. The reform agenda was fully in line with government and ADB strategies and priorities. This allowed for timely and quick support that resulted in comprehensive products. Detailed discussion on outcome indicators at the design stage is critical to finding the best possible indicators for measuring outcome.

Project Number: 51066-001, 51066-003
Project Name: Finance Sector and Fiscal Management Improvement Program (Subprograms 1 and 2)
Report Date:
Lesson
Gender actions could be strengthened by P3F actions that contribute to future dialogue and maintain the momentum in discussing this sensitive topic.

Project Number: 51066-001, 51066-003
Project Name: Finance Sector and Fiscal Management Improvement Program (Subprograms 1 and 2)
Report Date:
Lesson
Construction timelines in climate-affected areas need to be reliably assessed to minimize completion delays. The construction timelines for Karamyk BCP, located at altitude of 2,300 meters above sea level, were tight. The contractor faced various issues due to the harsh weather, electricity supply interruptions, and delays with the supply of materials and equipment. Combined with the contractor’s relatively low financial capacity, this resulted in a 4-year construction period versus the originally planned 15-month implementation timeline.

Project Number: 46124-001
Project Name: Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Regional Improvement of Border Services Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Trade facilitation reforms and national single window (NSW) development are complex undertakings requiring much time to be completed. This project's timelines were very ambitious with regard to the NSW component given that it required institutional and regulatory reforms; business process reengineering across multiple government agencies; as well as design, development, and integration of the SWIS.

Project Number: 46124-001
Project Name: Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Regional Improvement of Border Services Project
Report Date: