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National Consultant Cluster Development and Private Sector Support .

Vacancy Number: Pr21/02207

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	19 Apr 2021, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	26 Apr 2021, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	25 May 2021
Reference to the project:	EU4Moldova: Focal regions
Expected Duration of Assignment:	May 2021 – December 2021 (estimated workload: up to 55 working days)
Submission Instructions: Description of the assignment:  National Consultant on Cluster Development and Private Sector Support   Project name: EU4Moldova: Focal Regions Programme (EU-funded)   Period of assignment/services: May 2021 – December 2021 (estimated workload: up to 55 working days)   Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than 19 April 2021. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: victoria.josan@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Termeni de referinta Terms of Reference Anunț de procurare de consultanță individuală Individual Consultant Procurement Notice OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR (IC) ASSIGNMENT Scrisoarea ofertantului catre PNUD confirmind interesul si disponibilitatea UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Ms. Victoria Josan.

Background

Pentru detalii în limba română, regăsiți Termenii de referință și Anunțul de procurare de consultanță individuală anexate la prezentul anunț (la capitolul "Supporting Documents" mai sus).

În cazul unor divergențe între versiuni lingvistice, prevalează textul în limba engleză. 

Pentru clarificări nu ezitați să ne scrieți la următoarea adresă electronică: victoria.josan@undp.org

The EU4Moldova: Focal regions Programme (further on referred as Programme) is based on the European Commission Implementing Decision on the Annual Action Programme 2018 in favour of the Republic of Moldova and is funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Children's Fund.

The overall objective of the five-year Programme is to strengthen the economic, territorial and social cohesion in the Republic of Moldova through smart, green, inclusive, sustainable and integrated local socio-economic growth as well as by improving the standards of living of the citizens in the focal regions of Cahul and Ungheni.

To this end, this Programme will address also the urban-rural divide as well as regional disparities, stimulate economic growth and job creation, refurbish and upgrade some social and technical infrastructure in selected areas (smaller towns and villages) while taking into account climate change and a gender perspective in the activities of the Programme.

Specific objectives:

1. To strengthen transparency, accountability of local public authorities and citizen participation in local governance processes in the focal regions.
2. To improve citizens' access to quality public services and utilities in the focal regions.
3. To create employment opportunities for men and women in the focal-regions and improve the attractiveness of the focal regions for investors and entrepreneurs.
4. To promote the smart specialization of the economy of the focal regions through the development of the clustering and value chain approach in key economic sectors.

The Programme objectives will be achieved through measures targeted at: (i) capacity building to support the implementation and monitoring of local economic development plans; (ii) civil society engagement in local planning, governance processes and basic social service delivery; (iii) provision of investment funding in support of the creation and/or development of social and technical infrastructure which, combined with the outcomes from interventions (i) and (ii) above, will have an immediate, visible and tangible impact on employment creation, the standard of living of the population in the focal regions.

Specific context

Focal regions of Cahul and Ungheni will receive support to become more attractive for investment, job creation and entrepreneurship. Each focal region will be supported to rise above their current status of ‘declining economic periphery’ and implement a consistent package of ‘economic turnaround’ measures, aiming to improve their domestic and international image as ‘emerging regional growth poles’ with conducive business environment and amplified investment and entrepreneurship activities.

The business development components of the programme will focus on attracting new business to appear and exiting companies to flourish. The activities of the programme will aim to support and improve business and a number of start-ups created and stabilized, as well as existing companies stimulated for expansion and growing, as well as new entrants to look the regions investment. Also, a special attention will be drawn to social entrepreneurs’ pilots to address social needs and improve local economic environment.

This activity will complement and corelate with cluster creation and consists of providing support in the implementation of ‘Cluster Development Plans’ directed towards supporting the key sectors of local economies to grow, expand and succeed.

Along the above, each focal region will be supported to improve the competitiveness of its territorial economy thorough restructuring and strengthening its major economic sectors into strong and dynamic territorial clusters, oriented towards exporting to EU market and integrated into stable and high-margin value chains. 

Scope of work

The overall objective of the consultancy is to support EU4MOLDOVA: Focal regions Programme in its efforts to provide private sector development assistance by adapting to the value chains approach and build capacities of private sector to develop associations/clusters based on mutual advantage and common agenda, provide quick wins assistance solutions.

To ensure adequate achievement of the specific objectives and implementation of all planned activities, the Programme is seeking a qualified and experienced Cluster Development and Private Sector Support consultant to perform the assignment in Cahul and Ungheni focal regions.

Requirements for experience

The following qualification criteria shall be applied for the selection of the consultant:

Education:

• University degree in economics, business administration, financial management or other relevant related area

Experience:

• At least 7 years of consultancy experience participating in business/economic development and/or project/programmes design;
• Availability of specialized certificate/s in Finance, Bookkeeping, Auditing would constitute an advantage. Membership in professional associations will have an advantage;
• Experience in making economic-financial analysis of enterprises and/or risk/SWOT analysis elated to business development aspects of an enterprise (based on provided evidence: reports, outputs, proving such experience must be presented together with the application package);
• Experience in evaluating and monitoring deliverables/outputs/results of the project implementation (based on provided evidence: reports/outputs of previous monitoring activities must be presented together with the application package);
• Experience in writing Terms of References for services in the fields of economic development (based on provided evidence: ToRs proving such experience must be presented together with the application package);
• Experience of collaborating with Business Associations (evidence: list of business associations including the topic and year must be presented together with the application package).
• Experience of working with UN agencies and/or international organizations, and/or European/donor funded development projects/programs will be considered an asset.

Competences:

• Computer proficiency, including knowledge of MS Office products (Word, Excel, Power Point);
• High level of responsibility and organization capacities, creative approach to solving issues;
• Excellent communication and reporting skills;
• Ability to meet deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks;
• Ability to maintain the confidentiality of information obtained on a business basis and to protect the interests of the employer (in this case UNDP).

Language requirements:

• Excellent command of written and spoken Romanian and Russian are required. Knowledge of English is an asset.

The United Nations Development Programme in Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women and men, persons with different types of disabilities, LGBT, Roma and other ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non‐citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Proposal explaining how applicant responds to each of the qualification requirements and why he/she is the most suitable for the work.
2. CV including records on past experience in similar projects/assignments and concrete outputs obtained.
3. Referring to experience requirement indicated in point 6 of IC Procurement Notice document, the following evidence must be presented together with the application package: 

• Reports/outputs, proving experience in making economic-financial analysis of enterprises and/or risk/SWOT analysis elated to business development aspects of an enterprise; 
• Reports/outputs of previous experience in evaluating and monitoring deliverables/ outputs/ results of the project implementation; 
• ToRs proving experience in writing Terms of References for services in the fields of economic development; 
• List of business associations including the topic and year which the candidate collaborated with.

4. Financial proposal - in USD, specifying a total lump sum amount and the number of anticipated working days, incorporated in the Offeror’s Letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount. The payment for services will be made post factum on a lump-sum deliverables basis, as per contract, after the work has been accepted by the Programme Manager. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of offers, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including fee per day, mobile phone costs, number of anticipated working days, etc.).

Travel

This is a home-based assignment with limited visits to Cahul and Ungheni municipalities. On-line/remote communication is preferred. Up to 5 visits per region (10 in total) can be included in the consolidated financial offer, stipulating transport costs. The detailed topics, agenda and action plan of the visits shall be coordinated prior with the Program.

Individual contractor who is over 62 years of age will be required, prior to contract signature, to undergo full medical examination and obtain medical clearance from an UN-approved doctor or his/her own preferred physician. The medical examination shall be issued and submitted to UNDP Moldova upon request.