Countries and Regions

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p. 3 of 4 BACK | NEXT I. Current Development Trends and Issues II. Implementation of the Country Strategy and Program III. Portfolio Management Issues IV. Country Performance and Assistance Level

Country Strategy and Program Update 2003-2005: Mongolia

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III. Portfolio Management Issues

A. Portfolio Performance

28. As of 31 December 2001, Mongolia had 15 ongoing loans at various stages of implementation. Portfolio performance is generally satisfactory (Appendix 1, Tables A1.6-A1.9). As assessed by the project performance rating system, the share of projects at risk stood at 13.3% of total portfolio by number of ongoing loans, and 9.1% by volume of total net loan amount, compared with the ADB-wide average of 24% and 27% over the same period. ADB and the World Bank have agreed to undertake a joint annual portfolio review in the third quarter of 2002, and propose a new portfolio review mechanism that will be led by the Government to strengthen portfolio management.

29. Start-up delays due to the prolonged parliamentary review for loan signing and ratification, as discussed in the last CSPU, have been reduced thanks to the diligence of MOFE. To improve the situation, the Government has prepared draft legislation, as part of formulating an aid coordination act, to rationalize the parliamentary review procedure.

30. In view of an expected increase in the share of project over program loans in the portfolio, Mongolia will face more challenges in project implementation and administration. ADB has provided a series of training workshops, with support of MNRM, to strengthen the capacity of the Government and the executing agencies in consultant recruitment, disbursement, project performance rating, procurement, and overall project management. Training is expected to equip the Government and project personnel with sophisticated portfolio management skills. TA has been programmed for capacity building in portfolio management.

B. Performance Monitoring and Evaluation

31. Since the last CSPU, four project postevaluation missions have been fielded to Mongolia to study the Ulaanbaatar Airport Project¹³, Employment Generation Project¹⁴, National Air Navigation Development Project¹⁵, and the Agriculture Sector Program.¹⁶ In parallel, a postevaluation team is assessing the country assistance program. The postevaluation reports are yet to become available. The postevaluation missions for the four projects found that one of the four projects could be rated highly successful, two successful, and one partly successful. The major lessons learned from the partly successful project are that project design should have a thorough estimate of impact of policy reforms and provide necessary assistance to help the Government minimize the negative impact of the policy adjustment. The initial findings of the postevaluation study on the country assistance program have confirmed ADB's significant contribution to the transition process over the past decade. The findings and recommendations of the postevaluation studies will be reviewed and timely incorporated into the next version of the country strategy and program, which is scheduled to commence in 2003 (para. 11).

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