Project success marred by delays
06/05/2011 09:23 am
CA - Most projects assisted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Viet Nam had been successfully completed but with substantial delays, said ADB country director for Viet Nam Ayumi Konishi.
If the projects had been completed on time, people could have benefited from them much earlier, he said in an interview with the Viet Nam News Agency ahead of the ADB's 44th annual meeting scheduled in Ha Noi for May 3-6.
"With inflation in Viet Nam, I also believe the projects have faced higher construction costs than originally budgeted for, and as a consequence, they have had to rein in their scope somewhat," he said.
Another source of inefficiency was related to Viet Nam's procurement practices, he said, adding that in order to give business to local firms, project activities were often broken down into small procurement packages, and as a result, there was a substantial waste in project implementation.
"If the procurement packages are grouped and fewer bids are tendered, the projects in Viet Nam can be implemented with lower costs and possibly more quickly," the director said.
"In Viet Nam, most projects experience significant start-up delays, and we see very little disbursement in the first 3 years of project implementation. The average age of a project is 3.2 years and of the US$6 billion of ongoing loan portfolio ADB has in Viet Nam, only $1 billion or so has been disbursed," he said.
Regarding ADB assistance with focus on reform areas such as water, infrastructure, public transport, rural development and agriculture in Viet Nam, he said that the total size of the Vietnamese economy was over $100 billion, and ODA disbursement was only about 4 per cent of that or so. In order for ODA to be most effective, the Government of Viet Nam has been using ODA, including ADB assistance, in areas where the projects can have significant impacts through either catalysing reforms or piloting new initiatives.
Viet Nam is preparing the new Socio-Economic Development Plan 2011-15 and the ADB is also preparing a new Country Partnership Strategy for the same period.
If the projects had been completed on time, people could have benefited from them much earlier, he said in an interview with the Viet Nam News Agency ahead of the ADB's 44th annual meeting scheduled in Ha Noi for May 3-6.
"With inflation in Viet Nam, I also believe the projects have faced higher construction costs than originally budgeted for, and as a consequence, they have had to rein in their scope somewhat," he said.
Another source of inefficiency was related to Viet Nam's procurement practices, he said, adding that in order to give business to local firms, project activities were often broken down into small procurement packages, and as a result, there was a substantial waste in project implementation.
"If the procurement packages are grouped and fewer bids are tendered, the projects in Viet Nam can be implemented with lower costs and possibly more quickly," the director said.
"In Viet Nam, most projects experience significant start-up delays, and we see very little disbursement in the first 3 years of project implementation. The average age of a project is 3.2 years and of the US$6 billion of ongoing loan portfolio ADB has in Viet Nam, only $1 billion or so has been disbursed," he said.
Regarding ADB assistance with focus on reform areas such as water, infrastructure, public transport, rural development and agriculture in Viet Nam, he said that the total size of the Vietnamese economy was over $100 billion, and ODA disbursement was only about 4 per cent of that or so. In order for ODA to be most effective, the Government of Viet Nam has been using ODA, including ADB assistance, in areas where the projects can have significant impacts through either catalysing reforms or piloting new initiatives.
Viet Nam is preparing the new Socio-Economic Development Plan 2011-15 and the ADB is also preparing a new Country Partnership Strategy for the same period.
Source: VNS
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