Vientiane Times-Oct 16
The Lao government, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) jointly opened the floor for discussion in Vientiane yesterday on ADB and World Bank-funded projects in Laos. The annual Joint Country Portfolio Review (JCPR) consultation meeting also took stock of the status and achievements of the portfolio of ADB- and World Bank-funded projects in Laos during the past year.
The meeting allowed the fund providers to highlight the key issues and seek suggestions on how best to address these issues. In his remarks, Country Director of ADB-Lao PDR Resident Mission, Mr Yasushi Negishi said “In preparing this year’s JCPR, initial meetings with executing agencies of ADB- and WB-funded projects were held to obtain feedback on several issues identified in last year’s JCPR report.”
Mr Negishi said the findings indicated progress in some areas, particularly in improved project start-ups, the use of advanced actions, timely submission of audit reports and more effective project monitoring and evaluation. “However, challenges still remain. In general, procurement capacity is improving, but the results are uneven. Variations in capacity exist between national and provincial and district levels, across ministries, which are reflected in the time required to process and approve procurement documents.”
Meanwhile, another area in need of improvement is disbursement, Mr Negishi stressed. “On top of our list is replenishment of project accounts. The standard level of service for payments is five working days, but this is rarely met,” he said. “Based on our observations, difficulties arise because of incomplete documents or missing or incorrect information when submitting withdrawal applications, which results in delayed replenishment and payments.”
“To address this issue, ADB is planning to roll out our Client Portal for Disbursement, an online disbursement system by the end of the year to simplify procedures reduce mistakes. We understand that the World Bank will also be implementing an e-disbursement system,” he said. Safeguard compliance is becoming increasingly challenging particularly with regard to social and environmental issues.
“Based on due diligence done during the past year, we note that surveys, public consultations, documentation, monitoring and reporting has fallen short of expectations,” he said. “We believe that by addressing the underlying issue of portfolio management, the efforts that we take will be reflected in disbursement figures, accelerated implementation, improved portfolio ratings, and successful project completion.”
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Dr Kikeo Chanthaboury and Country Manager at the World Bank, Mr Nicola Pontara and other guests were also present at the meeting.
(http://annx.asianews.network/content/govt-adb-wb-review-funded-projects-laos-83862)
