Regional : Country Diagnostic Studies in Selected Developing Member Countries (Cluster TA)

Public sector management / Economic affairs management

The proposed cluster TA will comprise 4 sub-projects with each sub project including introduction of diagnostic approaches to development planning and conduct of country diagnostic studies in 3 to 4 DMCs. Selection of the DMCs will be in consultation with the DMC governments and the regional departments, and the studies will, ideally, be timed such that they will inform the formulation and implementation of the selected DMCs' medium-term development plans. The general criteria for selecting DMCs will be as follows: (i) relatively weak analytical and planning capacity, (ii) ability of the study to inform formulation and/or implementation of the DMC's medium-term development plan, (iii) DMC's keen interest in the study, and (iv) likelihood of the study to generate demonstration effect. Through consultations with the regional departments, Bangladesh, Fiji, Myanmar, Pakistan, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and Tajikistan have been identified for inclusion in the first two sub-projects.

Sub-Project 1

First sub-project of the cluster TA will cover 4 DMCs and will comprise two main components, namely, (a) conduct of country diagnostic studies, and (b) capacity building and dissemination.

a. Country Diagnostic Studies

The sub-project will include conduct of 4 country studies to diagnose critical constraints to high and inclusive economic growth and structural transformation in the selected DMCs, and will utilize various diagnostic tools

including (i) growth diagnostic framework, (ii) diagnostic framework for constraints to reducing poverty and inequality, (iii) diagnostic framework for employment and labor markets, (iv) product space analysis, and (v) diagnostic framework for governance, institutions and political economy dimensions of development constraints.

Individual country diagnostic studies will be undertaken over a period of 9 to 12 months. The studies will be conducted in three steps: (i) review of development performance and patterns, (ii) conduct of an overarching diagnosis of constraints to high and inclusive economic growth, and (iii) conduct of in-depth diagnosis in the areas identified by the overarching diagnosis. The studies will follow an interactive process with 2 to 3 workshops to inform and consult with the key stakeholders on study approaches, findings and policy options. Studies will make use of and build on any relevant recent or ongoing studies or capacity building initiatives by the concerned governments, ADB, development partners and any other institutions.

b. Capacity Building and Dissemination

The component will focus on creating awareness of and capacities in diagnostic approaches within the planning agencies, government ministries, research institutions and non-government organizations. The component will include conduct of training and refresher training workshops, and in-country and regional dissemination workshops.

Training workshops will ideally be conducted in the initial stage of an individual study so as to enable the participating agencies and individuals to actively contribute to conduct of the studies. Training workshops spanning two to three days will cover the basics of various diagnostic frameworks, and will include use of lectures, case studies and group work. Refresher training workshops will be undertaken at the completion of overarching diagnosis and will provide training in sector or theme level diagnostics in addition to the refresher in conduct of overarching diagnostics.

In terms of dissemination, each of the diagnostic studies will include activities aimed at disseminating the diagnostic approaches and the study findings at the country level. The activities will include workshops as well as the use of print, broadcast and internet-based media. The workshops will aim to target all the key stakeholders, including representatives of the key government agencies, civil society, private sector, academic and research institutions, and the development partners.

Moreover, the sub-project will also organize a regional conference, which will target DMC officials and the key development partners. The workshop will provide a venue to showcase ADB's experiences with the diagnostic approaches and to learn from the experiences of other development partners.

In addition, the sub-project will also make use of the Country Diagnostics Studies website to help disseminate the information on diagnostic approaches, and findings and recommendations of the completed and ongoing country diagnostic studies. Moreover, the sub-project will also reproduce and disseminate existing publications on diagnostic approaches and completed country diagnostic studies.

Though the subsequent subprojects will also be structured along the lines of the components described above, it is envisaged that these will benefit from the lessons that will be learned through implementation of the first sub-project.

Country diagnostic studies have the potential of enhancing national development plans and strategies by focusing development efforts on the most critical constraints, and the need for thorough diagnostics has also been emphasized in the Asian Development Fund (ADF) XI discussions as the means for improving quality at entry of ADB operations in the DMCs. However, the DMCs typically lack awareness and/or capacities to undertake diagnostics on their own. In particular, capacity for the planning and analytical capacity is weak in the low income DMCs, which arguably need diagnostics the most so as to help allocate their limited resources in addressing the most critical constraints faced by their economies. In light of this, there is a clear need to assist the DMCs in building their capacities and in undertaking country diagnostic studies. Looking ahead, there is a need for up-scaling the country diagnostic studies so as to be able to assist a larger number of DMCs.

Mainstreaming of diagnostic approaches in development planning processes of the developing member countries (DMCs).

DMCs' own medium-term development plans and poverty reduction strategies, and partnership strategies with development partners, addressing critical constraints on inclusive economic growth

Diagnostic studies (country and sector)

Training on diagnostic approaches and techniques

Dissemination of study findings

Inception workshop for the Tajikistan CDS and mini training workshop on diagnostic approaches were conducted in the first semester of 2013. Overarching report is currently under preparation and first consultation workshop is scheduled in Nov/Dec 2013.

Myanmar CDS inception workshop was conducted last 16 July 2013. Consultants that will prepare the chapter reports have been mobilized. Deadline for the first draft of the chapter reports is on 30 September 2013. Review Mission is schedule in December 2013.

The TA will require the services of a number of international and national experts, including development economists, sector specialists, editors, and research assistants. However, the exact requirements for each type of expertise and the length of input will vary among DMCs, to be determined after the initial diagnostic of the DMC economy in question is completed. For costing purposes, experience from completed and ongoing country diagnostic studies, and the requirement to expand diagnostics to cover additional dimensions, have indicated consulting services requirements. Requirements for subproject 1 are estimated at about 48 person-months of international and 24 person-months of national consulting services. In addition, each country diagnostic study in the subproject will require the services of research assistants as needed.

Given the limitations outlined above, intermittent nature of assignments, and anticipated variety of expertise required, the TA will primarily recruit experts individually, in accordance with ADB Guidelines on the Use of Consultants (2010, as amended from time to time).

ADB will procure computers and software in accordance with its Procurement Guidelines (2010, as amended from time to time). Procurement will be coordinated with ADB's Office of Information Systems and Technology and its Office of Administrative Services. Upon TA completion, procured equipment will be disposed of in accordance with the project administration instruction on administering grant-financed TA projects.

Disbursements under the TA will accord with ADB's Technical Assistance Disbursement Handbook (2010, as amended from time to time).