DUSHANBE, September 23, 2008, Asia-Plus — Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) today undertook the fourth joint assessment of their Tajikistan portfolio operations under the Country Portfolio Performance Review (CPPR), press release issued by ADB said.
The overall objective of the review process is to help Tajikistan improve effectiveness and efficiency in the use of loans and grants for public investment and development policy support provided by ADB and WB.
The three previous reviews, which took place in March 2004, June 2005 and October 2006, resulted in the adoption of time-bound action plans addressing critical issues relating to portfolio management.
Actions undertaken following the 2006 review included measures to improve developmental impact of projects and project management. Progress was tracked in the areas of procedure harmonization, project activities, and strategies. However, some other issues require more attention.
Specific objectives of the current review were to review the progress made since the last portfolio review; identify recurring issues affecting current and future projects’ implementation and define remedial actions; update ADB, WB and the Government on the relevance and impact of project portfolio; and inform participants about the proposed Joint Country Support Strategy currently under preparation by donors.
Representatives from the Government, project implementation units and project implementing agencies, ADB, and World Bank participated in the review meeting. Among the major issues discussed were development impacts, project management issues, and project implementation set-up.
The meeting identified issues in project implementation, disbursement, weak fiduciary management, and taxation as the main issues that the Government and the banks need to address in a timely manner to achieve better performance of the projects. A set of specific actions has been identified to tackle all of these issues.
The State Committee for Investments and State-owned Property Management were instrumental in preparing and conducting the CPPR and implementing the recommended measures.
Tajikistan became a member of WB in 1993 and ADB in 1998. As a low-income country, with per capita GDP of US$437 in 2007, Tajikistan receives highly concessional financing from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and ADB’s Asian Development Fund (ADF) in form of loans and grants. In fiscal year 2007, Tajikistan was eligible for 45% grant financing from IDA and 50% grant from ADF. In fiscal year 2008, the IDA and ADF grant financing was changed to 100% due to high risk to debt distress.
The joint ADB-WB active portfolio stands at US$491 million in 2008. The top sectors of portfolio’s assistance are the agricultural and rural development, energy, and transport sectors, accounting for three-fourth of total commitment of the portfolio. Agriculture and rural development is the leading sector accounting for 33%, followed by energy, 21%, and transport, 19%.
