Countries and Regions

	Table of Contents
p. 7 of 20 BACK | NEXT I. Country Performance Assessment II. Country Operational Strategy III. Sector Strategies IV. Subregional Economic Cooperation V. Donor Activities and Aid Coordination VI. Cofinancing and Catalyzing External Resources VII. ADB’s Operational Program VIII. Economic and Sector Work Program IX. Local Cost Financing

Country Assistance Plans - Mongolia

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II. Country Operational Strategy

A. The COS

39. The new COS, which was endorsed by the Board of Directors in March 2000, is first and foremost a poverty reduction strategy, in which the choice of core sectors for ADB interventions is dictated by the main objective of growth that contribute the most to poverty reduction. This strategy differs from the traditional growth-oriented strategies that select the sectors for ADB interventions on the basis of considerations other than the sectors’ potential for poverty reduction, and then incorporate elements of poverty reduction in each intervention. In the new COS, the additional emphasis on good governance at the economy-wide level and within all sectors will further contribute to the main objective of poverty reduction by improving the efficiency and fairness/transparency of the utilization of the gains from economic growth. The new strategy envisages considerable interlinkage among sector interventions so as to enhance the results achieved from each project.

40. The new COS identifies five core sectors: the financial sector (for its potential to remove the single most important barrier to private sector investment and savings, which is the fragile and thin banking system, and for developing microfinance schemes); agriculture sector (for its potential to generate viable small-industry employment and income); the public sector (for its potential to reorient the machinery of the Government to become more conducive to and supportive of private-sector-led growth and to improve service delivery by seeking to devolve responsibility for public service delivery to lower appropriate levels of the Government in a phased manner); social sector (education, health, and social protection for the potential to empower the labor force with market-related human capital investment, maintain standards of health, raise the general public’s health awareness, and improve accessibility of education and health care); and urban development (for its potential to support health improvement and enhance living conditions).

B. Partnership Agreement

41. The main features of the strategy and the strong commitment to reduce poverty are summarized in the Partnership Agreement, which was signed on 24 March 2000. The Partnership Agreement also identifies specific targets for poverty reduction and establishes mechanisms to monitor performance. A key target is to reduce by at least half the proportion of people living below the poverty line by 2005. Other key targets are the achievement of universal primary education, halving the mortality rates for infants and children under five years, all by 2005. Providing universal access to reproductive health services for all females of appropriate age is targeted for achievement by 2015. It was agreed that the Partnership Agreement may be expected to evolve over time and that the planned annual review would be important in this regard. It is envisaged that the primary role in monitoring targets and indicators should be undertaken by the Government with appropriate assistance from ADB. Given the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) well-established role in the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS), it was agreed that ADB should concentrate its immediate efforts in strengthening the National Statistics Office (NSO) capacity to monitor and analyze social statistics.

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