Improving Transport Project Appraisals
In the Islamic Countries
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Figure 1.4: Timing when is CBA is prepared
Source: CSIL processing OECD survey data
As a good practice the appraisal shall be conducted at a sufficiently early phase of the project
preparation, when project alternatives are still to be selected and the option analysis can thus be
performed to identify alternatives which are not only technically, but also strategically different
from each other. When carried out at later stages, the appraisal faces the trade-off of either being
purely compliance-driven (if according obligations exist) becoming a justification for choices
which have already been taken rather than instrumental for policy learning and future planning.
A best practice is however to have project appraisal going along the entire project design and
preparation cycle it can better inform and assist the entire decision-making process. This is
explicitly recognised by the UK Green Book 2003 which states: “Appraisals are often iterated a
number of times before their proposals are implemented in full. (…) In particular, as options are
developed, it will usually be important to review more than once the impact of risks,
uncertainties and inherent biases. This helps to avoid spurious accuracy, and to provide a
reasonable understanding of whether, in the light of changing circumstances, the proposal is
likely to remain good value for money. As the stages of an assessment progress, data must be
refined to become more specific and accurate.”
1.2.2 Governance of project appraisal
Institutional arrangements for the coordination andmanagement of project appraisal is a crucial
variable in the identification of systems. While the administrative structure and tradition of a
country or international organisation depend on a multitude of historic factors, three elements
come to the forefront for the purposes of the present study and can be singled out to structure
the analysis: a) Distinction of roles; b) Quality review; and c) Publicity.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
In the pre-feasibility stage when
several project alternatives should be
assessed
In the feasibility phase, when the
preferred project alternative is already
chosen
It is prepared at an earlier stage and
then updated during the whole project
preparation phase