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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
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Lesson
Designation of an alternate TA team leader despite resource constraints is necesssary to ensure seamless project continuity and institutional knowledge transfer. It will also mitigate potential disruptions caused by staff turnover.

Project Number: 54344-001
Project Name: Supporting the Establishment of a CAREC Regional Infrastructure Projects Enabling Facility
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
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
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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
Frequent review missions are crucial to overcoming implementation challenges. The TA was administered by staff located in head office with good support from the Pakistan Resident Mission. However, ADB staff assignment changed during the TA implementation period; and the limitations and delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic induced challenges to consultant management and client interaction. Frequent review missions significantly helped address these challenges.

Project Number: 51249-003
Project Name: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Water Resources Development Project
Report Date:
Lesson
It is important to listen to government counterparts and to understand the local context of the country through in-depth diagnostic study. This will help in recommending suitable and context-specific solutions. Project teams should try to anticipate country requests, especially during the conduct of the diagnostic studies, for which costs can sometimes be underestimated.

Project Number: 54076-001
Project Name: Strengthening Property Tax Management to Enhance Local Revenue
Report Date:
Lesson
Responding to the government’s changing needs and external factors could cause delays in the delivery of expected TA outputs particularly capacity building activities. Furthermore, organizational restructuring of revenue agencies, as well as frequent turnover of counterpart staff meant that capacity building was constantly in repeat mode. Addressing these issues could lead to efficiency gains and could help the government reach key performance targets quicker.

Project Number: 53105-001
Project Name: Strengthening Tax Policy and Administration Capacity
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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
The average size of 35 participants and duration of 2-3 days is appropriate while larger DMCs with large number of participants may have longer duration. With the momentum in 2023-2024 of the multilateral development banks forum for disbursement harmonization, cofinancing and related collaborations, and its impact on DMC capacity building and efficiency improvements, the scope of the TA needs to be expanded. Due to inflation, future TA size is expected to go beyond small-scale technical assistance of $225,000.

Project Number: 46534-004
Project Name: Disbursement Capacity Building for Developing Member Countries
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Lesson
It is critical for project design to include key activities and budget for the executing agency and implementing agency to be accountable for realizing the targets indicated in the design and monitoring framework (DMF). In this case, the DMF indicator for “report identifying and addressing constraints on achieving gender balance in senior hospital management” was canceled due to the absence of activities and resources planned at the project design stage to identify and address the gender parity issues in senior hospital management.

Project Number: 41243-012
Project Name: Fourth Health Sector Development Project
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Lesson
Detailed market analysis through strategic procurement planning and accurate cost estimates could prevent unexpectedly low bids, leading to significant project savings. Under this project, it is noted that low bids did not negatively affect the quality of construction.

Project Number: 45509-002
Project Name: Chongqing Urban-Rural Infrastructure Development Demonstration II Project
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Lesson
Thorough preparation of reliable and accurate cost estimates for each subproject is critical to help project implementation. Possible cost changes during implementation need to be kept within the acceptable threshold level and cost contingencies. Substantial cost overrun may lead to cancellation of critical project components.

Project Number: 42414-013, 42414-045
Project Name: Sustainable Urban Transport Investment Program (Tranche 5 and Multitranche Financing Facility)
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Lesson
Resource constraints can impede the participation of smaller firms in ADB procurement as well as hinderCapacity development of counterpart agencies. Smaller firms struggled to respond appropriately in some bidding processes, which resulted in their being considered ineligible to participate. The project implementation unit experienced resource constraints, which hindered sustainedCapacity development throughout the project and the participation of outer islands officials in the training activities.

Project Number: 46351-002
Project Name: Climate Resilience Sector Project
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Lesson
Climate risk assessments must be undertaken during project preparation, with results factored into the project design and budgets. The project experienced unforeseen landslides, pointing out the need to (i) improve climate modelling at design stage to incorporate potential climate change impacts on frequency and severity of landslide hazards for projects located in mountainous areas, and (ii) ensure adequate budget or contingency for potential increase of land acquisition during implementation.

Project Number: 46042-002
Project Name: Shaanxi Mountain Road Safety Demonstration Project
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