MANILA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank on Thursday launched two Pacific islands projects under a first-of-its-kind cofinancing model that aims to streamline processes and speed up delivery.
The Full Mutual Reliance Framework, approved earlier this year, allows one institution to act as lead lender, cutting duplication and freeing up resources for implementation.
The first project is a $236.5 million initiative to modernise Fiji’s primary healthcare system and build a regional hospital to combat soaring rates of non-communicable diseases.
Diabetes is the leading cause of death in Fiji, where an amputation occurs every 8.5 hours.
"This project will improve quality of care, reduce NCD prevalence, enable early detection, and deliver better health outcomes," Fiji's Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel said in a video message during the launch.
The second project will upgrade transport, urban and water infrastructure in Tonga, with ADB and the World Bank providing $120 million in grants, the country's largest ever project funded by development partners.
It will make improvements to transport and drainage systems around the capital Nuku’alofa, including a 720 m (0.45 mile) bridge across a lagoon to ease congestion and provide secure evacuation routes during disasters like tsunamis.
Countries with limited capacity were spending too much time coordinating with lenders instead of implementing projects, World Bank President Ajay Banga told a joint press conference with ADB President Masato Kanda.
"The idea is to tackle that problem directly, reduce duplication, streamline how we work together, free up time, money, and talent to focus on execution of development," Banga said of the cofinancing framework.
Banga said about 20 more cofinanced projects were in the pipeline, spanning infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, healthcare and social protection.
"This framework is a proof of concept for how multilateral development banks can operate as a more coherent system," Banga said, noting talks were underway with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank and the African Development Bank on similar approaches.
(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Martin Petty)
