ADB enters an arrangement with World Bank for co-financed projects

New Delhi: Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday said it has entered into an arrangement with the World Bank to put in place a single framework that will make co-financed projects more efficient.

ADB's first Alternative Procurement Arrangement (APA) with the World Bank will allow procedures on co-financed projects to follow a single procurement framework, it said in a statement.

"The new arrangement allows co-financed projects to be implemented more efficiently by applying a single framework to the whole project. It will reduce transaction costs for ADB's clients," said Risa Zhijia Teng, Director General of ADB's Procurement, Portfolio, and Financial Management Department.

The APA is a step further towards reducing procurement timelines in line with Strategy 2030, she said. Strategy 2030 is ADB's long-term plan to respond effectively to the Asia and Pacific region's changing needs.

ADB said it is negotiating with other multilateral agencies to expand the number of co-financed projects that will use similar arrangements.

This will lessen the burden on executing and implementing agencies that have traditionally used multiple procurement frameworks on a single project and project implementation, it added. In 2017, ADB operations totalled USD 32.2 billion, including USD 11.9 billion in co-financing.