DUSHANBE, December 22, 2009, Asia-Plus — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) presented today the findings of their fifth Joint Country Portfolio Performance Review.
The overall objective of the review that was conducted in cooperation with the Government of Tajikistan 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 meeting was chaired by Nematjon Bouriyev, Senior Adviser to the Tajik President for Economic Matters, and co-chaired by Makoto Ojiro, ADB”s Country Director for Tajikistan, and Chiara Bronchi, WB”s Country Manager for Tajikistan. Representatives from the Government, project implementation units and agencies, ADB, and WB also participated in the meeting.
The Review, completed in conjunction with the Government of Tajikistan, assessed the performance of Tajikistan”s loan and grant portfolio, identified positive and challenging factors affecting its performance, and agreed on remedial actions to be undertaken by the Government, ADB and WB.
Previous reviews have resulted in time-bound action plans addressing critical issues in portfolio management, including measures to improve project implementation, loan disbursement, fiduciary management, and taxation. Progress has been made in some areas, while other issues still require more attention.
According to Nematjon Bouriyev, the discussion is dedicated to promote creation of a strong monitoring and evaluation system and efficient project implementation setup to achieve better project performance to maximize development impact in a timely manner.
The ADB Deputy Country Director for Tajikistan, Mr. Joji Takeshi, noted that the joint ADB-WB active portfolio stood at $655 million as of November 2009. The top sectors of portfolio’s assistance are agriculture and rural development, energy, and transport.
