Financial Institutions
- Asian Development Bank (ADB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Investment Amount (USD)
Not Disclosed
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.
DESCRIPTION
The Technical Assistance (TA) acts as a vehicle for generation, management and dissemination of knowledge aimed at strengthening the implementation of the CAREC Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy 2020 (TTFS2020). The focus areas of the TA are based on TTFS 2020 operational priorities, with an emphasis on those topics on which CAREC countries have limited to no experience, and where policy advisory inputs and knowledge support under the TA will add the most value. These include regional multimodal/intermodal connectivity (including regional logistics hubs and maritime links, Designated Rail Corridor services, coordinated border management, public-private partnerships, safety, asset management, user charges and cost recovery, and green freight and logistics. A key feature of the TA will be that of horizontal partnership and mutual benefit among participating countries, so a win-win situation can emerge as an outcome for all vested parties. There are several examples of successful south-south knowledge cooperation around the world, including in the CAREC context. For example, Kyrgyz Republic had provided guidance to Tajikistan in the World Trade Organization accession. More recently, the CAREC trade facilitation team at ADB is trying out twinning arrangements between countries that have acceded to the Revised Kyoto Convention and those that have not. Based on this, the TA will emphasize knowledge cooperation among CAREC countries and between CAREC countries and other regional cooperation initiatives. In doing so, the TA will provide a myriad of benefits for CAREC countries. It will facilitate learning and consensus-building on regional issues linked to effective TTFS 2020 implementation (e.g., harmonization of standards, designated rail corridor services); improve access to tested and adapted technology and tools without having to reinvent the wheel, and enable exchange of experience with countries that share similar constraints and opportunities. The TA will also allow participating countries to showcase their successes, and increase their visibility as emerging "centers of innovation", and encourage opportunities for inter-country partnerships.
PROJECT RATIONALE AND LINKAGE TO COUNTRY/REGIONAL STRATEGY
A refined CAREC Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy 2020 (hereafter, TTFS 2020) was endorsed during the Twelfth Ministerial Conference on CAREC held in Astana on 23 and _24 October 2013. Compared to the original strategy, TTFS 2020 places a greater emphasis on multimodal corridor network development, trade and border crossing service improvements, and improvements to sustainability and quality of service, for improving trade and competitiveness. Against this backdrop, the TA will address the following issues:
For several CAREC countries, transport sector investments and programming have been focused on linear infrastructure development (especially roads) with inadequate consideration given to modal integration, nodal and non-linear infrastructure improvements, and sustainability issues. There is now growing interest in many CAREC countries to reorient their policy and programs in line with the aforementioned TTFS 2020 operational priorities. However, these CAREC countries are constrained, despite their interest, to effectively deliver on these new areas as they have inadequate know-how and capabilities (policy, regulatory, institutional) to plan and implement appropriate policies and programs in these areas. At the same time, there is a wealth of experience in other countries (including developing ones) in implementing policies and programs in these areas, which CAREC countries can benefit from. Hence, there is a need to step up both policy and advisory support and scale up knowledge transfer to CAREC countries so they can effectively deliver on these TTFS 2020 priorities.
Previously, a number of knowledge services have been provided to CAREC countries on some of the TTFS 2020 priority areas, including seminars, trainings, technical assistance, etc. by ADB and development partners. However, this knowledge service provision has largely been one-off and silo-based, follow-up and operational linkages have been limited, and the organization and management of these knowledge resources poor _ thereby, constraining the effectiveness of these knowledge services. Going forward, there is a need for a knowledge management function to solicit good practices on these new TTFS 2020 priorities, index and catalog both past and new information, ensure dissemination of this knowledge in a form that is of operational use, and serve as an information broker to facilitate knowledge exchange between and among various stakeholders.
IMPACT
Enhanced quality of TTFS 2020 implementation
CONSULTING SERVICES
TA activities require 132 person-months of consultant services, including sector specialists and resource persons (international, 31 person-months; national, 15 person-months), regional cooperation specialists (international, 8 person-months, intermittent), research officers (national, 42 person-months), coordination officers (national, 30 person-months, intermittent), and a GIS specialist (national, 6 person-months, intermittent). Given the diversity of topics, the independent nature of most individual assignments, and their short duration, consultants will be recruited individually in accordance with ADB's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants (2013, as amended from time to time). Other activities to be financed by the TA include study tours, seminars, and workshops.
