Countries and Regions

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

Country Strategy and Program Update 2002-2004: Thailand

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III. Portofolio Management Issues

A. Portfolio Performance Implementation

25. Between 1968 and 2000, ADB made loans to Thailand of $5.3 billion, covering 83 projects. Of these, 68 loans, amounting to $3.6 billion, have been completed and 13 were ongoing as of December 2000. A total of $49 million has been provided for TAs. Historically, ADB has focused its lending operations in Thailand on physical infrastructure development projects. Of the 3 projects in the Thailand portfolio which have been postevaluated, 2 (67 percent) are regarded as having been highly successful. The remaining project (33 percent), in the agriculture and natural resources sectors, has been judged successful. No projects were evaluated as unsuccessful. This compares very favorably with the ADB average as well as with that of other Group C countries. Appendix 3 summarizes the performance of ADB's public sector loans to Thailand.

B. Counterpart Funding

26. During 1998-1999, implementation of most ADB-funded projects in Thailand slowed due to the economic crisis and subsequent shortages and cutbacks of counterpart funds and expenditure programs for executing agencies. Based on the available data on cumulative counterpart funds provision, no ADB-funded project in Thailand has faced serious shortages of counterpart funds during 2000-2001. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is to be commended for having secured sufficient counterpart funds to support the overwhelming majority of ADB loan and TA activities during the crisis period. However, since project budgets are strictly controlled by the Bureau of the Budget, annual requirements for counterpart funds should be carefully examined in advance (e.g., at loan appraisal) to ensure that adequate counterpart funds are available when project activities are initiated.

C. Monitoring and Evaluation

27. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of ADB’s strategy and program performance, which will be articulated in the new CSP, is best undertaken at the time of the annual CSP update. The CSP update will provide an opportunity to assess changes in the broad policy and institutional environment as well as to undertake a more detailed evaluation of ADB’s programs and portfolio. While an assessment cannot proceed on the basis of narrow quantitative indicators alone, performance can still be usefully benchmarked against available data. Selected M&E indicators will cover economic performance and management and crosscutting themes and concerns including social progress, the environment, and governance. The M&E framework will be set in a strategic planning framework that recognizes constraints on actions and changing circumstances.

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