8. Project Selection Process/ Effective Aid Implementation
In providing grant aid to developing countries, it is becoming increasingly important to not simply achieve quantitative growth in aid, by boosting the number and value of projects funded, but to also select the best possible projects for funding.
Selection of Good Projects
Ensuring opportunities for policy dialog, in which a thorough and ongoing exchange of opinions between Japan and the prospective recipient country can be undertaken, is vital in identifying and selecting outstanding projects. To that end, bilateral annual conferences may be conducted with major recipient countries, or as occasion demands, planning meetings to supplement annual conferences may be held.
Since the aid provided by Japan is primarily in response to requests lodged by developing countries, it is essential to confirm whether the proposed project is consistent with the developing country's needs, and whether the developing country's human resource and funding implementation systems are adequate to the task. Hence, developing countries are supported in preparing and adopting the appropriate directions for project formation, by undertaking the project finding and project formulation processes that are needed to ascertain the level of maturity of the proposed project and the state of preparation of human resources and funding.
After a plan has been formulated for each individual project, pre-implementation surveys are carried out to firm up the details of the plan. Estimates are then prepared of the scale of the project, the design, and the required funds, based on local needs and circumstances; that is, whether the particular project will adequately help to improve the standard of living of the country's people. In addition to surveys of the capital or infrastructure aspects of a proposed project, investigations are also carried out into the information and services components: qualitative analysis of the project's impact on overall development in the particular sector, whether the technological standards and the sophistication of the materials and equipment to be supplied are appropriate to the local circumstances, the budget system in the developing country, and the administrative capabilities of the supervisory agency.
Effective Implementation of Aid
Effective and efficient implementation of aid programs presupposes that good projects have been identified and selected, as outlined earlier. Links with technical cooperation programs and coordination through information exchange is vital, in order to avoid duplication and competition with other donor countries or multilateral agencies. Attention must also be paid to boosting the benefits to be derived from aid by pursuing organic alliances (aid collaboration) with other aid agencies.
Expeditious implementation is also essential. In other words, effective implementation of aid demands that facilities, materials, and equipment required by the recipient country be supplied as rapidly as possible, by shortening the time period from the signing of the E/N to disbursement of funds (at completion in the case of construction of a building, or upon delivery in the case of equipment and materials).
In many cases, however, delays in implementation are attributed to the recipient country. It therefore becomes necessary to dispatch experts to the recipient country to conduct surveys, make arrangements, and carry on negotiations to resolve the problems hindering the aid implementation process, and to cooperate with the counterpart government to ensure the appropriate measures are taken.
In this context, a thorough understanding by the recipient country of the fundamental policies and relevant procedures concerned with Japan's grant aid program is essential. Several steps are taken to achieve this end, for example, inviting responsible staffers from developing countries' aid-recipient institutions to Japan for briefing sessions, or preparing slides and other forms of documentation concerned with Japan's grant aid program, and distributing such information to aid-related agencies in developing countries. Boosting the benefits of any aid program demands an effective form of followup. Developing countries will face considerable difficulties if donated machinery and vehicles break down and cannot be repaired or lie idle due to a shortage of spare parts, or if constructed facilities function inadequately as a result of insufficient maintenance funds.
Followup surveys are carried out to address such situations. When ascertaining whether such a move is necessary, judged from the capabilities of, and actual situation, in the developing country, supplementary assistance may be provided in the form of facility upgrades or the supply of spare parts. As such cooperation should be closely tailored to maintain the continuity of previously implemented aid, projects must be cultivated to ensure they are enduring and effective.
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