DA sets up oversight office for World Bank projects

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has created a joint project management office (PMO) to consolidate oversight on two World Bank funded projects, which provide budget support for agriculture projects and technical assistance.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. ordered the creation of the office to supervise the execution of the two projects funded under the World Bank’s official development assistance under Department Order 13.

These projects are the Philippines Sustainable Agriculture Transformation Program, which provides a policy-based loan, linking funding releases to performance indicators. It also includes the Technical Assistance for Sustainable Agricultural Transformation (Project aiming to provide technical assistance to push institutional reforms.

The DA said these projects tie project financing with the agency’s ability to meet governance and delivery benchmarks.

“The creation of a unified PMO is critical to ensure that these programs are implemented efficiently, transparently, and in full alignment with our reform agenda,” Tiu Laurel said in a statement.

He added that the office would allow the DA to accelerate delivery of pipelined projects and “ensure development assistance translates into tangible gains”