Regions and Countries

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p. 4 of 5 BACK | NEXT I. Country Strategy II. Current Development Trends and Issues III. Implementation of the Country Strategy and Program IV.Portfolio Management Issues V. Country Performance and Lending Levels

Country Strategy and Program Update 2003-2005: Tonga

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IV.Portfolio Management Issues

A. Portfolio Performance

35. As of 31 December 2001, cumulative lending by ADB since Tonga joined ADB in 1972 had totaled 13 loans (excluding the terminated Loan 1497-TON) with a value of US$42.9 million, all from the Asian Development Fund (ADF). Project completion reports have been prepared for all 13 projects, 9 of which have been postevaluated. Of the nine postevaluated projects, eight were rated generally successful and one project in the finance sector was rated partly successful. Since 1972, a total of US$11.4 million in TA grants has been provided for 44 activities (excluding one supplementary TA and one cancelled TA). One project preparatory technical assistance (PPTA), one advisory and operational technical assistance (AOTA), and one small-scale TA are currently active: the PPTA is to assist in the preparation of the loan for the EPSRP, the AOTA was attached to the Fisheries Development Project Loan and for assistance in privatizing the government-owned fisheries company, and the small-scale TA is to help in analyzing and interpreting data collected in the household income and expenditure surveys conducted by the Statistics Department in 1992 and 2000. Discussion is underway to review the scope of this TA to ascertain Tonga’s needs in this area and to facilitate consensus on the process to arrive at a national poverty reduction strategy. Details of the portfolio performance are shown in Appendix 2, Table A2.6.

36. ADB changed its operational emphasis in 1992 when TAs began to focus on the macroeconomic policy environment, the investment climate, and public sector performance. Progress has been slow in implementing any reform activities emanating from these TAs since 1992. Lessons learned from them include the needs for (i) integration of existing disparate reform measures in the various areas related to the EPSRP, from both the Government and aid agencies; (ii) greater emphasis on aid coordination; (iii) greater involvement of the Government in the design of TAs and projects to ensure government ownership; and (iv) less externally driven reform agenda. These lessons have been incorporated in the preparation of this Country Strategy and Program Update. Appendix 2, Table A2.7 shows the details of the project implementation status.

B. Performance Monitoring and Evaluation

37. The EPSRP loan includes a number of measures to monitor timely reporting on the implementation of reform activities. The Government has also committed to continuing such reporting to ADB after the loan closure date, given that the reform program will be implemented over a time frame longer than the loan period.

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