ADB technical assistance project on Building Lao PDR's Capacity to Develop Special Economic Zones (TA 7188) aims to strengthen local capacities and the country’s overall SEZ regulatory environment. It initially envisaged the building of the Lao PDR’s capacity to develop SEZs by focusing on the Savan-Seno Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) along the Savannakhet portion of the GMS East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC). It intended to promote the Savan-Seno SEZ Authority (SEZA) as a future national SEZ organization and help prepare a national SEZ decree. The end result of these efforts was the approval of national SEZ degree (No. 443/PM), and the establishment of a National Committee for Special Economic Zone (NCSEZ) in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The establishment of a national regulatory and institutional framework for SEZs led to an expansion of the TA’s scope from that of capacity building at the provincial level to that of supporting the country-wide NCSEZ and line ministries involved in regulating SEZs throughout the Lao PDR.
The objective of this report is twofold: First, for TA 7188, (a) it evaluates the outcomes and outputs of TA 7188; (b) it assesses the relevance of those results to the objectives of sustainable economic growth and job creation; and (c) it identifies any shortcomings that still need to be addressed. Secondly, for the Seventh National Social and Economic Development Plan’s (7thNSEDP) goal of achieving an inclusive, private sector led growth, it assesses the effectiveness and relevance of the Government’s SEZ policies, especially that of the Prime Minister’s ‘Decree on Special Economic Zone and Specific Economic Zone in the Lao PDR’.
Trade-related poverty impact assessment of cross-border trade impact on poverty and social issues along East-West Economic Corridor of Greater Mekong Subregion.
WTO impact assessment on Lao PDR's construction and beverage industries following accession in support of Government’s negotiations for accession.
The general objective of the Trade Development Facility (TDF) in Lao PDR is to support the building of trade capacity across a broad spectrum of topics to enable the Government of Lao PDR and the private sectors to acquire the necessary information, knowledge and expertise with which to take advantage of trading opportunities and effectively participate in trade negotiations.
The specific objective and long term policy direction of the program is guided by the Government’s Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) action matrix and, as such, it aims to increase the capacity of public and private sector beneficiaries to analyze, formulate policies and negotiate international agreements that will enhance export competitiveness and address critical linkages between trade and the macro-economy, sector and industries, as well as poverty reduction, the environment and the country’s soci-economic development.
Prepared Azerbaijan's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), Country Poverty Analyses (CPA), and results-oriented country strategy and programming (CSP) report.
Presented quantitative methodologies for tax revenue forecasting to Government of Vietnam's tax department in Ministry of Finance.
Study on structure and distribution of tax and revenue systems in Lao PDR and comparator countries.
Overall, the outcome of USAID/Egypt’s trade-related assistance since 1992 is rated as satisfactory, with specific strengths identified as the consistency of USAID/Egypt’s program with the Government’s development strategy; the sustainability of USAID/Egypt’s overall assistance; USAID/Egypt’s strong support for policy and regulatory reforms; the leading role of USAID in supporting a coherent strategy for the GOE; flexibility and adaptability of its programs; stakeholder ownership of USAID assistance; the recent increase in effectiveness of capacity building efforts; the generally successful coordination of projects with development partners; outcomes generally having been met or exceeded based on USAID/Egypt’s target benchmarks; implementation of second generation reforms and trade facilitation measures; trade policy and customs reform programs and projects being well-integrated into economy-wide development initiatives; and USAID/Egypt’s development assistance output in trade-related activities having scored well during the period under review. Some of the areas were programs and projects could be improved upon relate to the need to more clearly defined their outcomes and impact objectives within USAID/Egypt’s strategic objectives; possibly bolstering its effectiveness in implementing trade policy reforms through the policy-based cash transfer programs; more clearly distinguishing between output and impact benchmarks when reviewing performance and including benchmarks that better reflect changes in trade control measures; improving its support for understanding the impact of WTO and other international commitments by Egypt, before those commitments are made; ensuring continuity of activities between its program sequencing activities; and providing for systematic assessments of trade capacity building effectiveness in its projects. These findings pointed to lessons for future activities that are elaborated upon in the report.
The present CAPE study follows the standard evaluation framework used by the ADB’s Operations Evaluation Department (OED) to assess the performance of country assistance programs, as well as individual projects and technical assistance (TAs) after completion. It uses six well-know evaluation criteria. The first three are used to assess project outcomes in the CAPs and refer to (i) relevance, (ii) efficacy, and (iii) efficiency. The other three assess project impact in terms of (i) socio-economic impact, (ii) institutional development impact, and (iii) sustainability. The performance of the COS can only be assessed in terms of the relevance. From these results, the study derives the key strengths and opportunities, as well as lessons learned from the ADB’s operations in the last 20 years, with a view to drawing implications for the future strategy and programs, including the CSP scheduled for 2005.
Economic analysis of sources of growth from product and expenditure sides; and macro-modeling based on RMSM-X, adapted to a dynamic model using (a) econometric estimates, (b) growth decomposition analysis based on growth-accounting framework, and (c) total factor productivity (TFP) analysis.