World Bank and Ulaanbaatar City Partner to Improve Municipal Capital Investment Planning and Public Transport Financing | WPN World People News

World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia James Anderson and Ulaanbaatar city Vice Mayor Bayarkhuu today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly strengthen the capital investment planning process of Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar and the financial sustainability of the city’s public transport sector.

“Capital investment planning is a critical part of municipal management. Ulaanbaatar hopes that improved capital investment planning will enable city officials to better identify, and plan investment projects based on long-term needs, budget availability, and development priorities,” – said Vice Mayor Bayarkhuu.

The municipality also hopes that the partnership with the World Bank will help the city reduce expenditures and, through increased public engagement, improve transparency. The city’s various agencies agreed during a recent workshop to incorporate best practices on capital investment planning into the budget planning process and to take further steps to make the project prioritization more transparent in 2018.

To improve financial strategy for the public transport sector, Ulaanbaatar city will carry out a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of the public transport sector and develop a medium term strategy for financial sustainability, based on analysis of alternative public transport plans. The assessment will improve the quality of public transport services, increase cost-efficiency, and reduce subsidies for public transport, currently increasing rapidly.

“A more transparent and harmonized process for capital investment planning can help cities improve coordination among implementing agencies so they get the most out of their projects. Similarly, the city needs to develop a strategy to provide public transport service in a financially sustainable way. Given the current fiscal constraints, both of these challenges are becoming increasingly important” - said James Anderson, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia.

The partnership will be carried out under a technical assistance program funded by the World Bank’s Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), and continues previous efforts by the World Bank to enhance public service delivery in the city. The World Bank’s Global Practice team for Transport & ICT has been working closely with the city government to lay the groundwork for improvement of the public transport sector, including through building the city’s capacity for planning and management.

Source: World Bank