PDP provided specialist assistance to develop a fine chemicals inward investment promotion and export development strategy and marketing plan for the Armenian Development Agency (ADA). This involved assessing Armenia’s ability to compete for and secure foreign direct investment (including R&D activities) in the fine chemical sector, and benchmarking Armenia’s attributes against its competitors. The consultant also pinpointed intrinsic factors that discourage investment within the target sector and recommended appropriate actions and policy advocacy.

PDP was engaged to undertake an Education Finance and Expenditure Analysis with a focus on improving the effectiveness of teaching and learning in primary schools through higher education, including non-formal education activities, financed by the public budget. Key tasks included:

• examining revenue sources and the effects of changes in revenue amounts on the education system
• reviewing the budget process and effectiveness of expenditure allocation to the education sector
• examining the intergovernmental fiscal relationships and suggesting improvement
• examining the technical and external efficiencies
• building the capacity of MoE in education expenditure analysis techniques to plan, budget and use resources efficiently.

PDP was responsible for developing a medium term program to assist the Government in the preparation of the education budget for the Year 2003, with the aim of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending in the sector.

PDP provided technical assistance to support the poverty monitoring, social services and safety nets components of the Government of Azerbaijan’s Structural Reform Program. The focus was on transformation of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection (MOLSP) and reform of the system of social protection as part of the wider structural and public management reforms of the government.

Services included a comprehensive functional and expenditure review of the MOLSP detailing current administrative structures, the targeting efficiency and overall benefit of the programs and analysing the causes underlying targeting inefficiencies. The review also covered budgeting and budget execution processes and systems and resource allocation mechanism for social assistance programs. A Medium Term Reform Implementation Strategy was prepared to enhance social assistance targeting, and pilot programs designed and established under the reform implementation to encourage municipalities to take a leading role in promotion of local services and concessions for disadvantages in their region. A proposal to strengthen program-administering institutions was also prepared including an action plan for providing necessary training, investment in IT infrastructure and development of new processes and systems.

PDP assisted the Government of Azerbaijan to integrate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) into its development planning and implementation processes. Efforts were focused on strengthening the strategy implementation and impact monitoring mechanisms put in place under the State Programme on Poverty Reduction and Economic Development (SPPRED) 2003-2005, and enhancing the capacity of the SPPRED Secretariat to carry out participatory poverty impact monitoring of projects and policy measures identified in the strategy. Furthermore, PDP led the MDG costing and budgeting exercise to support the development of feasible MDG targets. Assistance was also provided for capacity building and information dissemination.

PDP strengthened the capacity for financial management and planning of the public investment program (PIP) within the Ministry of Finance (MoF) by:

• assisting the organisational adjustment within MoF with clearly defined PIP responsibilities among various departments
• establishing an effective reporting and monitoring system
• improving short and medium term financial forecasting related to the PIP and its budgetary implications.

PDP conducted a functional analysis of the Public Investment Program (PIP) Unit and other departments within MoF related to PIP and submitted recommendations for further streamlining organisational structure, strengthening the PIP Unit and improving information flows. Tasks included analysis and reform recommendations to improve disbursement procedures for PIP so information on the flows of external resources for financing projects would be fully integrated into budget execution through the Treasury reporting system. A system was established that employed internationally acceptable methods to estimate and forecast both investment and recurrent costs of ongoing projects, and maintenance costs of finished or to-be-finished projects. PDP was also accountable for the review and improvement of methodologies being used for evaluating externally and domestically financed projects. Capacity building and systematic training was provided to staff at the MoF and other major line ministries.

PDP provided technical assistance aimed at improving the development impact and overall aid effectiveness in Tajikistan through strengthening capacity of the Government in better aid coordination, harmonisation, and strengthening of portfolio management.

PDP was accountable for strengthening the responsibilities and authorities of the Aid Coordination Unit (ACU), as the main agency for aid coordination, to improve coordination of activities of international organisations, interdepartmental cooperation, mechanism of implementation of PIP and monitoring of the projects, and implementation of joint actions of Government and donors. Tasks in this respect included the drafting of relevant regulatory legal acts, streamlining and strengthening the regulation of the ACU and other ministries in terms of lines of authority and reporting arrangements, and promoting data-sharing mechanisms between all stakeholders of the process of providing and using external aid. The consultant team worked on developing database and management information systems, including the development of computer programs and tools to compile and analyse an aid database and the design of standardised reporting mechanisms for quarterly, semi-annual or annual updates on project and program implementation progress, impacts and achievements. The team also enhanced ACU’s website and demonstrated how its content could be leveraged to meet the needs of different audiences. Further assistance was focused on the harmonisation of donor programs with national strategy and policies, devising simplified systems and procedures applicable to both the Government and donors in various program/project activities.

PDP provided long-term technical assistance to contribute to poverty reduction and private sector development through improved efficiency and governance of the tax administration, and enhanced revenue collection for poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth. Assistance was provided across four key components:

• development of a detailed plan to reengineer the key business processes
• development of an ICT plan, including detailed design of an information system for tax services and associated investment plan
• development of a physical infrastructure development plan
• development of a training and change management program.

The goal of the TA was to contribute to poverty reduction and private sector development through: (i) improved efficiency and governance of the Tax Administration; and (ii) enhanced revenue collection for poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth. The purpose of the TA was to prepare the Tax Administration Modernisation and Infrastructure Development Project, which aimed to reinforce the ongoing tax, legal and institutional reforms, and demonstrate the benefits of these reforms efforts.

The outputs of the TA included: detailed assessments and design for the proposed Tax Administration Modernisation and Infrastructure Development Project and the accompanying TA for capacity building and institutional strengthening; provision of equipment for a training classroom to support the training of trainers program for the dissemination of the revised Tax Code, implementation of functional reorganisation, and improvement of ICT literacy; and organisation of external training to gain knowledge on best practices and lessons learned from tax administration modernisation and seek comments and suggestions on the design and planned investment for the Project.

The PDP team was responsible for the following activities.
· Development of a detailed plan to reengineer the key business processes
· Development of an ICT plan
· Development of a physical infrastructure development plan, and
· Development of a training and change management program.

PDP also organised and led a study tour to the Swedish Tax Authority. The goal of the study tour was to experience the benefits of implementing the changes and initiatives proposed in the outline for the next stage of the ADB project.

PDP provided consulting services to help improve fiscal discipline and strategic resource allocation by developing performance-focussed budgeting and budget execution systems. The work included an assessment of all processes and systems to propose strategies and action programs as part of the detailed preparation of the budgeting and budget execution component. It specifically targeted:

• in year financial planning
• payment systems reform incorporating treasury single accoung
• improved budget monitoring, accounting and financial reporting including recommended changes to chart of accounts and FMIS
• design of institutional changes to establish a new treasury organisation
• focus on performance based program budget presentation and internalisation in the preparation of sector expenditure plans.

The design ensured effective budget execution and oversight by reforming payment authorisation arrangements, budget monitoring and reporting. Improvements in efficiency of expenditure and financial management were designed to help advance financial planning, centralisation of cash balances and line ministries’ reporting. Increased transparency and accountability by strengthening financial controls and the capacity for internal auditing were included. Improvements were also made in accounting and broadening public access to budgetary information and general-purpose public finance reports.