Lessons from ADB Transport Projects: Moving Goods, Connecting People, and Disseminating Knowledge

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), the largest multilateral development finance institution in Asia and the Pacific, has been providing project financing to its developing member countries (DMCs) for half a century. In the process, it has accumulated a wealth of knowledge from its operations, including innovations, good practices, lessons, and ways to tackle challenges during project design and implementation. The capture, sharing, and eventually reuse of the knowledge, play an increasingly important role in achieving greater development effectiveness.
Efficient transport system is a key factor in promoting inclusive economic development, reducing poverty, and improving the quality of life. It will improve trade and connect farms to markets. People will gain access to jobs, schools, and healthcare.. For ADB, the transport sector has been one of the most important sectors since its establishment in 1966. As of 31 December 2016, ADB’s ordinary capital resources loans in the transport sector amounted to $36 billion, accounting for 35% of ADB’s total OCR loans. In Strategy 2020, ADB’s Long-Term Strategic Framework, 2008–2020, expanding transport and communication connectivity in the region and other infrastructure investments were recognized as one of the five core areas of ADB’s operational focus.
This book, Lessons from ADB Transport Projects: Moving Goods, Connecting People, and Disseminating Knowledge, endeavors to harvest practical knowledge from ADB’s operations in the transport sector. ADB’s Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department gathered the knowledge for this book in collaboration
with the Transport Sector Group and regional departments, including resident missions. This work was produced under the regional technical assistance (Provision of Knowledge Products and Services to Developing Member Countries through Systematic Knowledge Sharing [TA 8392-REG]), which aims to support—in a systematic manner—the capture and sharing of the knowledge embedded in ADB’s development projects, among other things.
Comprising a sector overview and 20 case stories that covers different subregions and sub sectors, this book captures and shares ADB-wide operations knowledge in the transport sector to promote cross-project learning. We hope the readers, particularly government officials, executing and implementing agencies in the DMCs, and ADB project officers, will find this book informative and useful, and allow it to influence and improve the design and implementation of future transport projects for enhanced development effectiveness.