Countries and Regions

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p. 4 of 7 BACK | NEXT Executive Summary I. Current Development Trends and Issues II. Assessment of Development Strategies from a Regional Perspective III. Asian Development Bank Development Experience IV. Asian Development Bank Strategy V. Asian Development Bank Assistance Program VI. Risks and Performance Monitoring and Evaluation

Country Strategy and Program 2004-2006: The Pacific

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III. Asian Development Bank Development Experience

A. Impact of Past Assistance

29. During the last 26 years (1977-2002), ADB has provided about $22.0 million of grants for regional technical assistance (RETA) to the Pacific. There has been no loan project of a regional nature for the Pacific.¹³ The past RETA projects were more directed toward thematic and crosscutting issues, rather than development of specific sectors, which were addressed more at the country level. About 58% of total regional assistance in the past 25 years, in terms of sector classification,¹⁴ falls under the category "others," indicating lower emphasis on the development of specific sectors.

30. The impact of ADB's regional projects in the Pacific has been modest and difficult to measure. However, regional assistance served a strategic purpose and complemented ADB's country assistance programs. Many of ADB's regional assistance projects were strategically designed to disseminate international best practices, a fact which explains the emphasis on thematic and crosscutting issues. Such projects helped promote the acceptance, at the country level, of the importance of economic, governance, and public sector reforms; private sector development; and management of public finances, financial sector development, and statistical development. However, ADB assistance lacked selectivity in sector/thematic, as well as geographical, focus. The latter is critical for greater consensus and commitment. A lack of lending operations also constrained the regional cooperation efforts of ADB.

B. Portfolio Performance and Status

31. A major discernible change in the composition of ADB's RETAs in the last two and a half decades arose from the influence of economic, governance, and public sector reforms initiated by most Pacific countries around the mid-1990s, which led to an increased emphasis on economic and policy analysis. As of 30 June 2003, ADB had 23 ongoing RETAs in the Pacific. These related to a wide range of activities, including good governance, environmental protection, information and communications technology, poverty, private sector development, investment promotion, fisheries, civil aviation, and statistics. The status of the portfolio as of 30 June 2003 is given in Appendix 3. While there have been delays, implementation of these RETAs has not faced major difficulties.¹⁵

C. Conclusions and Lessons for the Regional Cooperation Strategy and Program

32. External support is one of the many factors that have shaped developments in the Pacific. Some key lessons can be drawn from the regular project reviews, project completion reports, and a recent report on reform programs in the Pacific. ¹⁶ The most critical issue is the sustained commitment of PDMC governments to such reform programs, particularly at the political level. Other valuable lessons include the importance of careful project design, greater focus on implementation, and attention to sustainability issues. ADB operations should be demand driven and owned by the governments. Involvement of key stakeholders is also critical for enhancing the ownership and quality of projects at the entry level. It is also important to keep local culture and limited local capacity in mind while designing specific projects. Further, the design of projects should clearly target skills transfer, which has been one of the weaknesses of ADB's past technical assistance. There should be a clear focus on outcomes and impacts, both at the design and implementation stages. Another recommendation from these studies is to maintain continuity of ADB involvement in a more programmatic way. Recent ADB operations have begun gradually to reflect these lessons, but there is still substantial scope for improvement.

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