| Project Name | Advancing Time Release Studies in Southeast Asia | ||||
| Project Number | 50251-001 | ||||
| Country / Economy | Regional |
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| Project Status | Closed | ||||
| Project Type / Modality of Assistance | Technical Assistance |
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| Source of Funding / Amount |
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| Strategic Agendas | Environmentally sustainable growth Inclusive economic growth Regional integration |
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| Drivers of Change | Governance and capacity development Knowledge solutions Partnerships Private sector development |
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| Sector / Subsector | Industry and trade / Trade and services |
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| Gender | No gender elements | ||||
| Description | The technical assistance (TA) aims to support the customs administrations of participating ADB member countries to better implement the various Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) trade facilitation initiatives. The proposed TA will assist participating countries to undertake specific customs reform and modernization steps, using TRS-collected data, that support substantive trade facilitation measures based on the action plan, and to conduct a study of their checkpoints to initiate improvements in dealing with the bottlenecks. | ||||
| Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy | Countries face challenges that include lack of transparency about rules and regulations, redundant and lengthy clearance processes, and complicated document requirements (e.g., with different formats and data elements). It is equally important to focus on trade and regulatory processes conducted at the border to ensure they are optimized and that the time required for trade-related procedures is reduced where appropriate. Activities related to calculating and recording the time needed by customs to release goods can provide pertinent information to guide necessary process improvements and identify desirable regulatory changes to ensure the effective facilitation of trade. The TRS is a tool for collecting and assessing data, and can help highlight areas that need to be addressed to reduce or eliminate bottlenecks, and to assess progress in implementing modernization programs. | ||||
| Impact | Trade facilitation in Southeast Asia enhanced in terms of efficiency of border procedures | ||||
| Project Outcome | |
|---|---|
| Description of Outcome | Trade facilitation regimes in participating ASEAN member countries improved |
| Progress Toward Outcome | - |
| Implementation Progress | |
| Description of Project Outputs | TRS recommendations implemented New TRSs conducted TRS implementation strategy strengthened |
| Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues) | March 2021: CAM - The resource person completed the feasibility study on cargo tracking to identify the best model and shared it with GDCE in March 2021. Due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, he had to finalize his study to make the best use of remote communications with relevant stakeholders in Cambodia. MYA - Due to the unexpected development of political situation in MYA, further assistances under the TA were suspended. PHI - Following ADB's suggestion to improve transparency, PBOC published their 2019 TRS report on their website in October 2020. BIMP-EAGA - ADB attended the Customs, Immigration, Quarantine, and Security (CIQS) Working Group and Trade and Investment Facilitation Cluster virtual meetings in October 2020 to make a presentation about impacts of the COVID-19 on trade facilitation in the subregion.================Sept 2020:CAM- ADB and GDCE co-hosted a virtual TRS Exit Conference which was held on 30 July 2020. The TRS reports both in English and Khmer language were officially published on the GDCE website. On Cargo tracking, an interim feasibility study was prepared and shared with GDCE.MYA: A virtual TRS Exit Conference was considered under the pandemic. The TRS Report is proposed to be published on the MCD website. On Authorized Economic Operator (AEO), a gap analysis between the draft Standard Operational Procedure on AEO of the MCD and the World Customs Organization SAFE Framework of Standards was conducted and presented to MCD. PHI: The TRS Report has been finalized and is proposed to be published on the PBOC website.============March 2020 ADB management approved the extension of the implementation of the TA, from 31 March 2020 to 31 March 2021.The TRS reports for CAM, MYA and PHI are all in progress though finalization may be delayed, and TRS exit conferences may be rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.September 2019TRS workshop held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with GDCE. As a result of this workshop, 4 types of questionnaires, one each for customs clearance, verification, permit and OGA processes for both import and export have been finalized. Data collection, data analyzation and drafting of final report are scheduled within this year. September 2019 TRS Technical workshop held in Manila, Philippines with PBOC. As a result of this technical workshop, the expert under the ADB TA and the expert of the WCO financed by this TA together with PBOC's TRS Working Group have finalized the process maps and created TRS questionnaires for import and export. Data collection, data analysis and drafting of final report are scheduled within this year. |
| Geographical Location | Regional |
| Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects | |
|---|---|
| Environmental Aspects | |
| Involuntary Resettlement | |
| Indigenous Peoples | |
| Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation | |
| During Project Design | |
| During Project Implementation | September 2019The TRS workshop held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia had more than 100 participants with key stakeholders including other government agencies and private sectors. In the margin of TRS workshop, ADB team visited JICA's local office to exchange views about the current implementation status of RETA9312 and possible idea of cargo tracking.September 2019The TRS technical workshop held in Manila, Philippines had more than 40 participants with key stakeholders including other government agencies and private sectors.Prior to the workshop, RETA9312 Project Officer, Mr. Taro Sekiguchi met with the new JICA Expert assigned in PBOC, Mr. Mitsuo Suzuki. Mr. Sekiguchi discussed the focus areas of TA9312 in the Philippines, which are TRS and AEO. Mr. Suzuki shared JICA's focus areas in the Philippines, which are ICT and risk management. |
| Business Opportunities | |
|---|---|
| Consulting Services | A total of 78 person-months of consulting services will be engaged for the TA comprising 28 person-months of international consultants and 48 person-months of national consultants. |
| Procurement | No procurement of goods and works will be conducted under this TA. |
| Responsible ADB Officer | Sekiguchi, Taro |
| Responsible ADB Department | Southeast Asia Department |
| Responsible ADB Division | Public Management, Financial Sector and Trade Division, SERD |
| Executing Agencies |
Asian Development Bank 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550, Philippines |
| Timetable | |
|---|---|
| Concept Clearance | 28 Oct 2016 |
| Fact Finding | - |
| MRM | - |
| Approval | 19 Apr 2017 |
| Last Review Mission | - |
| Last PDS Update | 31 Mar 2021 |
| Milestones | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approval | Signing Date | Effectivity Date | Closing | ||
| Original | Revised | Actual | |||
| 19 Apr 2017 | - | 19 Apr 2017 | 31 Mar 2020 | 31 Mar 2021 | 25 Jun 2021 |
| Financing Plan/TA Utilization | Cumulative Disbursements | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADB | Cofinancing | Counterpart | Total | Date | Amount | |||
| Gov | Beneficiaries | Project Sponsor | Others | |||||
| 0.00 | 1,000,000.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1,000,000.00 | 17 Jun 2022 | 757,007.23 |
| Project Page | https://www.adb.org//projects/50251-001/main |
| Request for Information | http://www.adb.org/forms/request-information-form?subject=50251-001 |
| Date Generated | 05 June 2023 |