Completion Report Project Number: 42134-022 Grant Number: 0166 September 2018 Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Strengthening Higher Education Project This document is being disclosed to the public in accordance with ADB’s Public Communications Policy 2011. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Cu rrency unit – Ki p (KN ) At Appraisal At Project Completion (29 July 2009 ) (3 1 December 2016 ) KN1.00 = $0.00011736 $0.00012121 $1.00 = KN 8,520.50 KN 8,250 .00 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank DHE – Department of Higher Education EIRR – economic internal rate of return GEGAP – gender and ethnic groups action plan Lao PDR – Lao People’s Democratic Republic LRM – Lao PDR Resident Mission LUMS – Lao University Management System MOES – Ministry of Education and Sports MOF – Ministry of Finance MPI – Ministry of Planning and Investment NUOL – National University of Laos PCU – project coordination unit PIU – project implementation unit QAC – quality assurance center SSHEP – Second Strengthening Higher Education Project NOTE In this report, “$” refers to United States dollars unless otherwise stated. Vice -President Stephen Groff, Operations 2 Director General Ramesh Subramaniam, Southeast Asia Department (SERD) Directors Yasushi Negishi, Lao PDR Resident Mission, SERD Ayako Inagaki, Human and Social Development Division, SERD Team leader Khamtanh Chanthy, Senior Project Officer, SERD Team members Thipphaphone Silaphet, Associate Project Analyst, SERD Khounkham Thammalangsy, Associate Procurement Officer, SERD In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. CONTENTS Page BASIC DATA i I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1 II. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION 1 A. Project Design and Formulation 1 B. Project Outputs 2 C. Project Costs and Financing 7 D. Disbursements 7 E. Project Schedule 7 F. Implementation Arrangements 8 G. Technical Assistance 8 H. Consultant Recruitment and Procurement 8 I. Gender Equity 9 J. Safeguards 9 K. Monitoring and Reporting 9 III. EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE 10 A. Relevance 10 B. Effectiveness 10 C. Efficiency 11 D. Sustainability 11 E. Development Impact 11 F. Performance of the Recipient and the Executing Agency 13 G. Performance of the Asian Development Bank 13 H. Overall Assessment 13 IV. ISSUES, LESSONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 A. Issues and Lessons 14 B. Recommendations 15 APPENDIXES 1. Design and Monitoring Framework 16 2. Project Cost at Appraisal and Actual 21 3. Project Cost by Financier 22 4. Disbursement of ADB Grant Proceeds 24 5. Contract Awards of ADB Grant Proceeds 25 6. Project Implementation Schedule–Planned versus Actual 26 7. Summary of Gender Equality Results and Achievements 30 8. Status of Compliance with Grant Covenants 41 9. Economic Reevaluation 48 BASIC DATA A. Grant Identification 1. Country Lao PDR 2. Grant number and financing source 0166 -LAO ( COL ) 3. Project title Strengthening Higher Education Project 4. Recipient Lao PDR 5. Exe cut ing agency Ministry of Education and Sports 6. Amount of grant $24.8 million 7. Project completion report number 1721 8. Financing modality Project Grant B. Grant Data 1. Appraisal – Date started 23 July 2009 – Date completed 29 July 2009 2. Grant negotiations – Date started 20 August 2009 – Date completed 21 August 2009 3. Date of Board approval 5 October 2009 4. Date of grant agreement 23 October 2009 5. Date of grant effectiveness – In grant agreement 23 January 2010 – Actual 17 December 2009 – Number of extensions 0 6. Project completion date – Appraisal 31 December 2015 – Actual 30 June 2016 7. Grant closing date – In grant agreement 30 June 2016 – Actual 31 December 2016 – Number of extensions 1 8. Financial closing date – Actual 8 August 2017 9. Disbursements a. Dates Initial Disbursement Final Disbursement Time Interval 12 February 2010 13 July 2017 89 months Effective Date Actual Closing Date Time Interval 17 December 2009 8 August 2017 92 months ii b. Amount ($ million) Increased Cancelled Last Original during during Revised Amount Undisbursed Category Allocation Implementation Implementation Allocation Disbursed Balance (1) (2) (3) (4=1+2 –3) (5) (6 = 4–5) Civil works 7.69 1.78 0.00 9.47 9.48 (0.01) Equipment 3.99 1.11 0.00 5.10 5.48 (0.38) Materials 2.25 (2.00) 0.00 0.25 0.24 0.01 Staff Development 2.30 0.26 0.00 2.56 2.61 (0.05) Scholarship 2.00 0.69 0.00 2.69 2.39 0.30 Consulting Services 3.09 1.10 0.00 4.19 4.09 0.10 Studies 0.30 (0.09) 0.00 0.21 0.21 0.00 Operations 0.27 0.03 0.00 0.30 0.26 0.04 Management 0.23 (0.20) 0.00 0.03 0.04 (0.01) Unallocated 2.68 (2.68) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Total 24.80 0.00 0.00 24.80 24.80 0.00 C. Project Data 1. Project cost ($ million) Cost Appraisal Estimate Actual Foreign exchange cost 17.24 17.81 Local Currency cost 11.56 9.78 Total 28.80 27.59 2. Financing plan ($ million) Cost Appraisal Estimate Actual Implementation cost Recipient financed 2.00 2.04 ADB financed 24.80 24.80 Foreign Partner Universities 2.00 0.75 Total implementation cost 28.80 27.59 Interest during construction costs Recipient financed N/A ADB financed N/A Other external financing N/A Total interest during construction cost N/A 3. Cost breakdown by project component ($ million) Component Appraisal Estimate Actual A. Project Components 1. Output 1: Strengthened Management, Financing, and 2.61 2.48 Governance of Higher Education System 2. Output 2: Enhanced Relevance and Capacity for 19.99 20.20 Quality Improvement 3. Output 3: Increase Equity and Access in Higher 2.37 4.00 Education 4. Output 4: Effective Project Management and 0.94 0.91 Implementation Subtotal (A) 25.91 27 .59 B. Contingency 1. Physical Contingency 1.17 0.00 2. Price contingency 1.72 0.00 Subtotal (B) 2.89 0.00 Total 28.80 27.59 iii 4. Project schedule Item Appraisal Estimate Actual Date of contract with consultants 30 June 2010 4 November 2010 Completion of engineering designs 31 December 2010 18 May 2011 Civil works contract: roads Date of award 30 June 2010 19 January 2012 Completion of work 3 December 2011 28 February 2014 Civil works contract: Dormitories Date of award 30 June 2010 4 January 2012 Completion of Work 31 December 2011 31 December 2012 Civil works contract: Main campus Date of award 30 June 2010 6 April 2012 Completion of Work 31 December 2011 28 February 2014 Civil works contract: Water Supply Date of award 30 June 2010 22 December 2011 Completion of Work 31 December 2011 6 June 2012 Installation of Electricity Date of award 30 June 2010 22 December 2011 Completion of Work 3 December 2011 10 June 2012 Equipment and supplies Dates First Procurement 31 December 2010 28 September 2010 Last Procurement 30 June 2013 25 April 2016 Completion of Equipment Installation 30 June 2016 Start of operations 30 June 2015 Completion of tests and commissioning 5 September 2015 Beginning of start-up 10 November 2015 5. Project performance report ratings Ratings Implementation Period Development Objectives Implementation Progress From 17 December 2009 to 31 December 2010 Satisfactory Potential problem From 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011 Satisfactory Actual problem Single Project Rating From 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016 On track iv D. Data on Asian Development Bank Missions No. of No. of Specialization Name of Mission Date Persons Person -Days of Members Project Fact-Finding Mission 11–19 June 2009 3 27 a, b, f Project Appraisal 23–29 July 2009 5 35 a, b, c, f, d, e Project Inception Mission 1–5 January 2010 4 20 a, b, f, h, g Grant Review Mission 1 13–15 December 2010 1 3 b,f,g Grant Review Mission 2 23–27 May 2011 4 20 b, f, h, g Special Project 22–24 August 2011 4 12 a, b, f, h Administration Mission 1 Grant Review Mission 3 16–20 November 2011 2 10 a, f,d,g Special Project 12–16 March 2012 3 15 a, f, h Administration Mission 2 Grant Review Mission 4 20–27 July 2012 3 24 a, f, h Midterm Review Mission 6–7 May 2013 5 10 a, f, h, d, h, c Grant Review Mission 5 26–29 November 2013 2 8 f, h, g Grant Review Mission 6 26–30 May 2014 2 10 f, h, g Grant Review Mission 7 21–27 November 2014 2 14 f, h, g Grant Review Mission 8 28 May–4 June 2015 2 14 f, g Grant Review Mission 9 7–12 December 2015 2 12 f, g Grant Review Mission 10 15–21 June 2016 2 10 f, g Grant Review Mission 11 23–31 January 2017 2 14 f, g Project Completion Mission 19–27 October 2017 2 18 f, g a = principal education specialist; b = senior education specialist; c = safeguard specialist; d = gender specialist; e = counsel; f = project officer; g = project analyst; h = gender officer. I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1. The Strengthening Higher Education Project was designed to support the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES) of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to produce university graduates with skills to match labor market demands. 1 The project envisaged improving the country’s higher education system and making it more equitable, targeting three public universities: Champasak University in Pakse; National University of Laos (NUOL) in Vientiane; and Souphanouvong University in Luang Prabang.