Sector issues

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.

Careful political economy analysis can help identify potential legal or regulatory changes on the horizon that could impact planned interventions. In this case, changes in the regulatory framework related to hazardous waste management resulted in the cancelation of one output.

Ensuring that the design of the TA aligns with ADB strategic regional efforts is important in order for the TA to contribute to longer-term sustainable results. In this case, the TA was aligned with ADB strategies and policies on RCI, energy, and environment, as well as the national and regional policies and strategies of the SASEC member countries.

An established cooperation platform like the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) facilitates the design of a regional TA and is particularly helpful in ensuring that TA activities are well grounded, technically sound,and flexible. The TA design and planning process followed a comprehensive and collaborative approach, analyzing regional cooperation and integration (RCI) potential and challenges in the energy sector of the SASEC region, with extensive consultations undertaken among various stakeholders in each SASEC member country.

Public sector management reform programs have the potential and can be designed to support the government in staying on the reform course despite challenges. A lack of fiscal buffers and effective social protection systems exacerbated the economy’s vulnerability to the COVID-19 pandemic.This program has successfully supported the government in hanging on to the reform process despite these challenges.

Development partners, such as the World Bank, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), have been working alongside ADB in supporting the 4Ps program that has led the Department of Social Welfare and Development to request for joint review missions.

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.

Proposing reforms during crises requires careful risks assessments, including in particular the likelihood of reforms being sustained, and well-prepared mitigation measures. It also requires an in-depth knowledge of the sector in the country through previous successful involvement and will demand intensive policy dialogue to be pursued after the crisis. These conditions, which were met by ADB for this overall project, were essential for the success of the project. Social protection and social assistance programs are politically sensitive.

Technical knowledge in the sector and confident partnership with the sector’s main agencies built up over long-term policy dialogue are required for successful interventions and country assistance in a period of crises. When the food and financial crises required rapid assistance to Mongolia, ADB’s sector knowledge and the relations built up over several years of policy dialogue and assistance were the basis for rapidly preparing a program and project package to assist the government.

The transition of PWWs into independent corporate entities requires adequate preparation to ensure they have the capacity, technical and financial management skills, and resources for viability and sustainability. To support this transition, the PMU adopted a phased and practical approach, implementing vital actions with training and technical support. The PWWs developed business planning and financial reporting systems and adopted supervisory control and data acquisition systems. The PMU has identified the first PWWs that are considered ready for the next step as a corporate entity.