Regional : Southeast Asia Transport Project Preparatory Facility Phase 2

Transport / Air transport - Rail transport (non-urban) - Road transport (non-urban) - Urban public transport

In addition to providing support for the ensuing projects included in the relevant COBPs for the period 2020-2022, the proposed TA Facility will also provide due diligence and capacity building support, as needed, to those ensuing projects included in the COBPs for the period 2019-2021 and other ongoing projects. ADB's prompt and seamless support from project processing to implementation will allow the executing and implementing agencies to ensure high project readiness, help to attract private sectors' participation in the ensuing projects, and develop quality and efficient transport systems and sustainable system operation.

Need for expertise and capacity development. In subsectors such as railways, public transport, and aviation, the executing and implementing agencies usually do not have comprehensive knowledge and experience in the development and implementation of efficient operating, climate-friendly, and disaster-resilient systems. These systems are built on non-motorized transport, an integrated fare system, transit-oriented development, efficient operation and maintenance, and the management of complex interfaces with numerous packages/elements and other transport systems. The lack of knowledge and experience of the executing and implementing agencies may lead to inefficient system designs and implementation delays, and result in unsustainable transport system operation.

To effectively process ensuing projects and prevent implementation delays and poor project performance, it is necessary to improve project readiness by promptly meeting ADB requirements on: (i) recruitment of consultants; (ii) procurement of goods and works contracts; (iii) safeguards implementation, monitoring, and reporting; (iv) other thematic areas, such as climate change, governance, and gender; and (v) contract management and construction supervision.

ADB will engage consultants following the ADB Procurement Policy (2017, as amended from time to time) and its associated project administration instructions and/or staff instructions. The composition of the consultants for each ensuing project is identified based on the project's complexity, necessary areas for due diligence, and support to the executing and implementing agencies for technical and project management capacity strengthening. The consultants will have experience in their respective fields and demonstrate sound technical knowledge of road, rail, bus, and aviation sub-sectors.

Consulting firms will be engaged following the quality- and cost-based selection method, with a quality-cost ratio of 90:10, due to the complexity of the ensuing projects and the requirements for specialized consulting firms. Individual international and national consultants will be mobilized to undertake the remaining tasks for certain ensuing projects that have received due diligence support from the ongoing TA loan and transaction TAs, and the governments' activities.

Under a framework agreement for a pool of consultants, ADB will engage individual international consultants, including a transport economist, a procurement specialist, a financial management specialist, an environment specialist, and a climate change specialist. The individual international consultants engaged will efficiently support the preparation of more than one project and capacity building under the TA Facility. To minimize the contract administrative burden, a TA coordinator will be mobilized in SETC. The coordinator will liaise with the governments and consultants for the activities, and closely work with ADB to achieve effective TA implementation.

The consultant contracts for any package may be expanded to cover other activities and/or projects through contract variations, based on the assessment of the consultant's performance, determined by the executing agency of the ensuing project and ADB.