ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has proposed a regional technical assistance (TA) programme to strengthen public financial management and procurement systems across Asia and the Pacific, with Pakistan among more than 40 developing member countries set to benefit from governance reforms aimed at improving transparency, accountability and the implementation of development projects.
The initiative, titled “Conducting Fiduciary Assessments and Strengthening Country Systems in Asia and the Pacific,” will support comprehensive fiduciary assessments, institutional reforms and capacity building in participating countries between 2026 and 2028 with USD 500,000. For Pakistan, the programme is expected to help identify weaknesses in public financial management and procurement systems while developing practical reform roadmaps to improve budget execution, financial reporting, internal controls, auditing and procurement practices.
The multi-region TA will support ADB’s governance agenda by strengthening DMC public financial management (PFM) and procurement systems through (i) fiduciary diagnostics aligned with CPS preparation cycles initiating in 2026 to 2028, (ii) practical fiduciary systems strengthening pathways and implementation support for prioritised actions at country, sector and executing/ implementing agency (EA/ IA) levels, (iii) targeted capacity development with an emphasis on applied learning linked to the diagnostics and strengthening pathways and action plans, (iv) knowledge products and peer learning to scale good practices and solutions across DMCs, and (v) enhancing public procurement assessment tools and frameworks used for DMCs country and agency system assessments through supporting internationally recognised best practices such as the Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems (MAPS).
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Across DMCs, persistent weaknesses in PFM and procurement systems - often compounded by capacity constraints at Country, Sector and EA/IA level - reduce implementation effectiveness, increase transaction costs, and constrain the scope for reliance on country and agency systems for use in ADB-financed operations. These weaknesses limit the quality and operational usefulness of CPS governance diagnostics when fiduciary analysis is fragmented or not translated into feasible strengthening pathways.
Procurement systems diagnostics depend on the OECD-MAPS methodology and benchmarking tools. ADB supported MAPS initiative through technical and financial contributions to the assessments and participation in the quality assurance process through Assessment Technical Advisory Group (ATAG). To enhance ADB’s impact on the initiative, reflect ADB DMC needs/ lessons learnt and advance more coordinated procurement diagnostics for operational priorities, ADB will join the MAPS Steering Committee under this TA to support MAPS Secretariat financing for the 20272029 cycle.
Building on lessons from previous TAs, namely TA 6582 demonstrated that (i) jointly conducting PFM and procurement (fiduciary) diagnostics reduces duplication and enables coherent and more effective strengthening action plans; (ii) demand for fiduciary diagnostics and implementation support is substantial and increasing in ADB DMCs; and (iii) applied learning linked to robust and coordinated fiduciary diagnostics improves uptake.
TA6582 also highlighted implementation risks that will need to be addressed upfront in this TA design, including the need for improved prioritisation of the support, stronger quality assurance arrangements and careful consultant performance management (including fallback options if deliverables are delayed or inadequate). This follow-on TA will therefore prioritise: (a) ‘diagnostics-to-action pathways; (b) a joint peer review/ Quality Assurance (QA) mechanism; (c) tighter scoping and sequencing; and (d) a delivery model that pairs diagnostics with focused capacity development initiatives in more structured and systematic way2.
The TA is aligned with Strategy 2030 Midterm Review and supports ADB’s governance priorities under ADB’s Governance policy and instructions, including strengthened fiduciary systems through CPSs and operations. It responds to DMC priorities to improve budget execution, internal control, financial reporting, audit and procurement performance, and to modernize systems - particularly through digital solutions that strengthen transparency, accountability, and resilience.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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