DUSHANBE, July 24, 2012, Asia-Plus – On Tuesday July 24, the Government of Tajikistan, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) presented the findings of their seventh Joint Country Portfolio Performance Review (the Review), press release issued by the ADB Tajikistan Resident Mission (TJRM) said.
The Review assessed the performance of the joint country portfolio of projects funded by both banks, its relevance and impact. Participants also discussed issues that affect performance of the country portfolio and actions necessary to address them.
The meeting was chaired by Davlatali Saidov, Chairman of the State Committee on Investments and State Property Management; Marsha McGraw Olive, WB’s Country Manager in Tajikistan; and Asel Chyngysheva, ADB”s Officer-in-Charge for Tajikistan. Government officials, project implementation units, ADB and WB staff participated in the meeting.
Joint portfolio reviews have been organized since 2004. Previous reviews have resulted in action plans addressing critical issues in portfolio management, including measures to improve project implementation, disbursement, fiduciary management, and tax issues. Progress has been made in some areas, while a number of issues remain that require attention.
The meeting highlighted that the joint portfolio performance remains satisfactory. The review has also shown that the government and the banks need to continue efforts to strengthen the institutional capacity of implementing agencies associated with monitoring and evaluation, linkage to sector institutional frameworks, incentives, and procurement knowledge and skills; as well as to address pending issues with taxation.
The Review also presented findings of a pilot results-focused assessment of portfolio impact on achievement of sector-wide development objectives in the transport and health sectors, and recommended the approach be expanded to other sectors.
Tajikistan became a member of WB in 1993 and ADB in 1998. The total joint ADB-WB assistance to Tajikistan stands at $1.55 billion with more than 80% of all committed funds being concentrated in energy, agriculture, and transport. This includes $860 million from ADB (55.5%) and $690 million from WB (44.5%).
