Time allocation or task sequencing

Land acquisition issues in PNG are more difficult to resolve than in other countries, as 97% of land is customarily owned. In this project, In this project, In this project, they were harder to contend with than expected at design stage due to changes in weather patterns that affected travel plans, with many of the sites located at sea. In a project as widely dispersed geographically as this one, more time will also have to be allowed for site access and community engagement activities.

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.

Extensions in project implementation period provide opportunities not only to fully achieve but also enhance project results. In this case, the agreement on TA extension was premised not only on overcoming delays due to COVID-19 but also to facilitate additional safeguards and technical studies which provided better upstream guidance to the detailed design phase of the ensuing project the TA supported.

Close communication and timely adjustments in implementation arrangements help minimize the impact of disruptions and ensure TA completion within the original or revised timeframes.

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.

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.

For TA requiring knowledge product publication, the Department of Communication and Knowledge Management, ADB needs to be consulted early in TA implementation. This would have helped prevent TA implementation period to be extended by 8 months partly to ensure the quality of the knowledge product.

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.

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.

Early identification of the need to cancel subprojects and faster decision-making on project scope changes could shorten the extension of project implementation periods. This project's completion date was extended twice for a cumulative period of 3 years from the original completion of 31 December 2018. The first extension was until 31 December 2020 for the utilization of loan savings across different subprojects, necessitating a minor change in project scope that could have been shortened had the request for the scope change been made earlier.