Home 
Regions and Countries Country Partnership Strategy Document
Country Strategy and Program Update 2007-2010: Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of
III. ADB's Development ExperienceA. Impact of Past Assistance60. Since resuming in 1993, ADB’s operations have expanded in volume and size. By the end of 2005, ADB had provided 55 public sector loans ($3.5 billion), 178 TA projects ($120 million), and 7 projects ($337 million) from its private sector operations. ADB also financed several GMS projects involving Viet Nam. Viet Nam is a top recipient of ADF resources, and is envisaged to be an important OCR borrower. Twenty-one of the 55 public sector loan projects have been closed. Project completion reports are available for 14 projects/programs:
61. ADB’s operations initially focused on rehabilitation and support to economic reforms. Since 2002 (under the last CSP), ADB has supported Government efforts to reduce poverty, focusing on:
62. As ADB provided direct support to the Government’s various successful development and reform programs, the development impact of ADB operations in Viet Nam was assessed as substantial. However, the lack of clearly specified results-based indicators in the past CSPs makes it difficult to directly assess the impact of ADB operations. The results-based approach used in this CSP should facilitate a more objective assessment of its development impacts.
B. Portfolio Performance and Status1. Portfolio63. As of end March 2006 there were 34 ongoing projects with a total lending of $2.3 billion in the public sector (Appendix 1, Table A1.6). The sectors with the largest share of ADB lending are:
64. Project implementation delays continue to be a persistent concern42 because of:
66. Since ADB resumed operations in 1993 in Viet Nam, 18 suspected corruption cases have been referred to ADB’s Office of the Auditor-General for investigation. No proof of corruption was found in 17 of these cases and 1 remains under investigation. ADB treats corruption as a serious issue and invites the public to report suspected cases to ADB43. ADB is directly supporting the Government’s efforts to fight corruption through TAs to the Government Inspectorate and the State Bank of Viet Nam for the recently approved anti-money-laundering law. 2. Implementation Progress of the 2006 Assistance Program 67. The Rural Infrastructure for Sustainable Livelihood Improvement Project in the Central Region (with $55 million from ADF and $50 million cofinancing from AFD) programmed for 2006 has missed its processing schedule because of delays in mobilizing project preparatory TA. The ensuing lending project has been rescheduled to 2007 with the loan amount reduced from $55 million to $50 million. The project has since been merged with the Livelihood Improvement for the Central Coastal Provinces Project ($35 million), also programmed for 2007 and renamed Integrated Central Region Rural Development Project, totaling $85 million with an additional $35 million cofinancing from AFD. 68. The Central Region Small and Medium Towns Urban Development Project has been brought forward to replace the above slippage for 2006. Similarly, in the 2006 TA pipeline, three TA projects originally scheduled under the CSP Update for approval in 2006 have been reprioritized because of resource constraints:
3. Adjustments to the 2007–2008 Assistance Programs 69. Following the review of the project preparation and reprioritization by the Government and ADB to more strongly align the projects with the SEDP and the CSP results framework, the schedule and loan size of several projects have been adjusted. Some new projects have also been included at the Government’s request. Their project preparatory TA have also been adjusted accordingly. 70. Secondary Education for the Most Disadvantaged Regions project and Health Care for the Poor in Central Region project. The Secondary Education for the Most Disadvantaged Regions renames the project preparatory TA for Secondary Education and Quality Improvement in 2006 and the proposed lending project in 2007. Ensuing from the sector work carried out in 2005 and preparatory work in 2006, the proposed Health Care for the Poor in Central Region project, is on standby for 2007 and firm for 2008. The loan amount has been increased to $60 million. 71. SME Sector Development Program Loan—Subprogram II and the TA Loan for Preparation of PPP Expressway project. The project preparatory TA for SME Sector Development Program Loan—Subprogram II is being mobilized and the ensuing program loan ($20 million from ADF for the policy component) is considered firm for 2006 approval. There will be $20 million OCR lending for the leasing industry in 2007. Similarly, the processing of TA loan for Preparation of PPP Expressway project ($10 million) for engineering design of the selected expressway or its components has been brought forward to 2007. The ensuing loan will be on standby for 2009 approval. 72. Support for Implementation of the Public Administration Reform Master Program—Subprogram II. Preparation is rescheduled from 2007 to 2008 to suit the Government’s timetable for the second phase of the PAR master program. The project preparatory TA was approved in March 2006, with subprograms II and III to be combined and the ensuing loan for $60 million scheduled for approval in 2008. C. Conclusions and Lessons for the Country Strategy and Program73. Projects need to be designed to meet national and sector constraints and/or the specific needs of targeted project areas. ADB’s sector-specific experiences are discussed in the thematic and sector road maps (Appendix 3). Some of the key generic lessons are highlighted below.74. Effective consultations and broad participation should be ensured during all stages of the project cycle. Projects need to be carefully designed to reflect the varying capacity of the various central and provincial institutions. This implies a need for adequate time and resources to ensure quality project designs at entry. A focused approach will facilitate more consistent and longer-term engagement in policy dialogue, capacity building, and financing of sector development. Collaboration with other partners is becoming more substantive, and approaches are becoming more sector-wide. 75. While linked to Viet Nam’s development strategies, many ADB-financed projects have been slow in implementation.44 In addition to efforts to improve project quality at entry, more concerted efforts to directly align the formulation and implementation of this CSP with SEDP processes and implementation monitoring systems may help reduce delays. Resource allocation will also be more performance-based (i.e., based on the proven capacity of executing agencies) to ensure that project impacts reach intended beneficiaries quickly. The sector approaches and results-based management adopted in this CSP aim to make this happen. 76. Support to promote private sector development—via a combination of policy-based lending and the development of nonbank financial institutions—has helped speed up the growth of the number and registered capital of private companies. Policy and institutional reforms supported by ADB have also been important in stimulating business investment and employment in agriculture and rural industry and services. Employment growth resulting from increased private investment underpinned the national success in reducing poverty. Thus, business-led growth is a major focus of this CSP. 77. Experience in Viet Nam has demonstrated that developing rural infrastructure links to the emerging national and regional infrastructure networks can have a major impact on reducing poverty. For example, the ADB-supported Hanoi–Lang Son highway and related infrastructure have caused a major economic transformation, with rapid increase in foreign and domestic investment in manufacturing along this transport corridor. The resulting jobs have had a major impact on reducing poverty. The CSP aims to build on this experience to support development of rural links with economic corridors connecting to national and regional markets. 78. ADB recognizes that rapid growth is triggering a rural–urban transition that can increase pressures on social stability and urban infrastructure. The CSP includes a proactive response to this challenge by supporting the development of physical and social infrastructure in rural towns and secondary cities to help mitigate potential urban poverty and environmental problems. 79. Capacity-building TA projects have resulted in more sustained and effective outcomes when project designs address institutional reform needs and change people’s behavior. These efforts take time, which is why ADB adopts a sector approach and will work more closely with other development partners. In addition, the primary CSP focus on improving governance and reducing corruption has shifted to initiatives directly linked to ongoing activities rather than stand-alone initiatives. 80. ADB experiences suggest various ways to help the Government reduce poverty. First, ADB’s support to economic growth and governance projects will help reduce poverty directly by helping increase private sector investment and create jobs and by ensuring more efficient use of resources, and indirectly by developing the foundations for increased tax revenue to help reduce poverty and improve public service delivery. Second, ADB could sharpen its focus on developing individual provinces (or municipalities), several adjoining provinces, or main economic corridors. Third, ADB could help the Government implement its targeted poverty reduction programs, going beyond poverty reduction support credits. Fourth, disaster mitigation measures could be incorporated as appropriate into project design to protect the general livelihood of the poor.
|
© 2008 Asian Development Bank Privacy | Terms of Use |
 Top of page |
Back