UNB, Dhaka :
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has prepared a time-bound agreed action plan with the government to gear up the implementation progress of its funded-projects in Bangladesh, accelerate its fund disbursement and thus deliver better results for the beneficiaries.
The ADB recently held a tripartite portfolio review meeting (TPRM) with government officials here to review the projects being assisted by the Bank.
Representatives from the line ministries and project directors concerned were present at the meeting jointly chaired by Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Md Mezbahuddin and ADB country director Kazuhiko Higuchi.
Talking to UNB, an ERD official said the meeting decided to act on a project-wise time-bound agreed action plan to ensure better outcomes of the ADB-assisted projects for which a draft paper has been prepared in consultation with the line ministries.
He said, the ADB team will send the draft of the time-bound agreed action plan to ERD and then it would take opinions from the executing agencies of the relevant line ministries.
Contacted, ERD Joint Secretary Saifuddin Ahmed said the meeting highlighted some generic issues like lengthy process in approval of Development Project Proforma (DPP) and problems in procurement and land acquisition as some of the major issues which are hampering the ADP implementation progress.
Since the disbursement of fund by the Manila-based lending agency was encouraging
in the 2014 calendar year, the ERD Joint Secretary, however, said the ADB team expressed its satisfaction over the pace of disbursement of fund as well as stressed the need for keeping up the momentum.
Saifuddin Ahmed said, the last TPRM of the current calendar year aimed at speeding up the implementation progress of ADB-funded projects as also to enhance the fund disbursement. He said the probable future allocation of the lending agency also depends on the pace of implementation progress.
He said, the meeting discussed the status of the ADB-funded ongoing projects as well as to speed up the process of finalising the projects in the pipeline.
The ERD Joint Secretary said both the ADB and the government at the meeting noted that most of the ADB-funded projects are on track except a few ones.
He also informed that the next TPRM is likely to be held in April or May, 2015.
Another official at the ERD said, the ADB has been providing technical assistance to improve the quality of approval process of the DPP and TPP while the Manila-based lending agency focusing more on project readiness.
In this connection, he said the more a project has its preparation, the greater chance it has to get ADB assistance. The meeting also discussed the root causes of project start-up delays and stressed acceleration of procurement actions.
The current portfolio size of ADB in Bangladesh as of October 31, 2014 includes 58 ongoing loans and 13 grants with a net amount of $5.9 billion. Of the amount, the multilateral lending agency approved around $ one billion assistance to Bangladesh in calendar year 2014, including six loans worth $ 895 million.
Of the approved amount, the ADB approved $65 million Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk management Investment Program (tranche 1) which will support state-of-the-art riverbank protection measures to prevent land erosion, which is destroying livelihoods and causing huge socio-economic losses.
The $46 million Irrigation Management Improvement Project will help strengthen Bangladesh’s efforts for sustainable high growth and productivity in agriculture by establishing performance-based irrigation management and agriculture support services.
The $100 Skills for Employment Investment Program (tranche 1) will help scale up skills training for young workers to boost income and productivity.
The $505 million SASEC Railway Connectivity, Akhaura-Laksam Double Track Project will help improve railway transport system, and increase goods and passenger movement in Bangladesh, and raise domestic and sub-regional trade flow.
The $125 million Third Urban Governance and Infrastructure Improvement Project will improve services and governance in pourasabhas (municipalities), making them more livable and attractive, and helping to ease population pressures in major cities.
The $52 million Coastal Towns Environmental Infrastructure Project will contribute to protect coastal towns from the ravages of natural disasters and climate change.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has prepared a time-bound agreed action plan with the government to gear up the implementation progress of its funded-projects in Bangladesh, accelerate its fund disbursement and thus deliver better results for the beneficiaries.
The ADB recently held a tripartite portfolio review meeting (TPRM) with government officials here to review the projects being assisted by the Bank.
Representatives from the line ministries and project directors concerned were present at the meeting jointly chaired by Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Md Mezbahuddin and ADB country director Kazuhiko Higuchi.
Talking to UNB, an ERD official said the meeting decided to act on a project-wise time-bound agreed action plan to ensure better outcomes of the ADB-assisted projects for which a draft paper has been prepared in consultation with the line ministries.
He said, the ADB team will send the draft of the time-bound agreed action plan to ERD and then it would take opinions from the executing agencies of the relevant line ministries.
Contacted, ERD Joint Secretary Saifuddin Ahmed said the meeting highlighted some generic issues like lengthy process in approval of Development Project Proforma (DPP) and problems in procurement and land acquisition as some of the major issues which are hampering the ADP implementation progress.
Since the disbursement of fund by the Manila-based lending agency was encouraging
in the 2014 calendar year, the ERD Joint Secretary, however, said the ADB team expressed its satisfaction over the pace of disbursement of fund as well as stressed the need for keeping up the momentum.
Saifuddin Ahmed said, the last TPRM of the current calendar year aimed at speeding up the implementation progress of ADB-funded projects as also to enhance the fund disbursement. He said the probable future allocation of the lending agency also depends on the pace of implementation progress.
He said, the meeting discussed the status of the ADB-funded ongoing projects as well as to speed up the process of finalising the projects in the pipeline.
The ERD Joint Secretary said both the ADB and the government at the meeting noted that most of the ADB-funded projects are on track except a few ones.
He also informed that the next TPRM is likely to be held in April or May, 2015.
Another official at the ERD said, the ADB has been providing technical assistance to improve the quality of approval process of the DPP and TPP while the Manila-based lending agency focusing more on project readiness.
In this connection, he said the more a project has its preparation, the greater chance it has to get ADB assistance. The meeting also discussed the root causes of project start-up delays and stressed acceleration of procurement actions.
The current portfolio size of ADB in Bangladesh as of October 31, 2014 includes 58 ongoing loans and 13 grants with a net amount of $5.9 billion. Of the amount, the multilateral lending agency approved around $ one billion assistance to Bangladesh in calendar year 2014, including six loans worth $ 895 million.
Of the approved amount, the ADB approved $65 million Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk management Investment Program (tranche 1) which will support state-of-the-art riverbank protection measures to prevent land erosion, which is destroying livelihoods and causing huge socio-economic losses.
The $46 million Irrigation Management Improvement Project will help strengthen Bangladesh’s efforts for sustainable high growth and productivity in agriculture by establishing performance-based irrigation management and agriculture support services.
The $100 Skills for Employment Investment Program (tranche 1) will help scale up skills training for young workers to boost income and productivity.
The $505 million SASEC Railway Connectivity, Akhaura-Laksam Double Track Project will help improve railway transport system, and increase goods and passenger movement in Bangladesh, and raise domestic and sub-regional trade flow.
The $125 million Third Urban Governance and Infrastructure Improvement Project will improve services and governance in pourasabhas (municipalities), making them more livable and attractive, and helping to ease population pressures in major cities.
The $52 million Coastal Towns Environmental Infrastructure Project will contribute to protect coastal towns from the ravages of natural disasters and climate change.
