AdTrade_IC Lead consultant to provide support on business development and export.
Vacancy Number: Qu23/02702
Contacts:
Mr. Dmitrii Parfentiev.
dmitrii.parfentiev@undp.org
Ms. Elena Veselovscaia.
elena.veselovscaia@undp.org
Background
The “frozen conflict” situation in Transnistria, a region that accounts for one third of the country’s total industrial production and almost the entire energy production, has led to a decrease in living standard and its economy has not being able to fully benefit from the opportunities provided by the assistance offered to Moldova. For instance, the development opportunities offered by the Association Agreement, signed by Moldova with the EU, as well as the DCFTA arrangements, are significantly out of reach for the region’s economy. The Transnistria’s SME community, be it in traditional agricultural sector or in other emerging industries (IT, tourism, crafts), has the potential to grow, launch new products and services and export once they are ready. For the moment, most small and medium enterprises on the left bank are not ready to trade and so their share in the external regional trade is negligible.
The Project will facilitate cross-river cooperation and integration of exporters, will expand access of Transnistria enterprises (particularly SMEs), to export promotion mechanisms on the right bank, as well as provide tailored support and build necessary skills, taking into account specific needs of current and future exporters from the region.
The focus of the proposed initiative will be given to the SMEs as the development in the region is inseparably linked to this sector. As such it requires targeted investments in human capital development, lower costs for capital in the entire region, market intelligence aid and a support in marketing and promotion activities.
The project is financed by Government of Sweden and UK and implemented by UNDP Moldova.
Specific project objectives (outputs):
- Output 1. Improved cross-river exchange of information, knowledge and experience on the export promotion mechanisms on the right bank, and awareness-raising on the opportunities provided by external trade agreements
- Output 2. Enhanced competitiveness and joint exports of business communities from both riverbanks through improved companies’ exporting capacities and cluster and value chain development
- Output 3. Enhanced capacities for policy formulation leading to a conducive business environment on both banks and reduction of barriers to trade and economic cooperation
- Output 4. Expand the MSME sector in the Transnistrian region and security zone via support to new or emerging businesses, in particular women-led and with impact on the most vulnerable (migrants, young people including minorities representatives, elderly people etc.).
The project plans to draw on the experience achieved by the business community from the right bank in making use of the DCFTA and SPTCA instruments and transfer it to the left bank, connecting these business communities. As a result of the improved capacity and competitiveness of MSMEs from the Transnistria region, they are expected to intensify their export activity and penetrate new markets or expand on the existing ones. As the small business sector, being the backbone of every sound economy, is underrepresented in the Transnistrian region, the project will seek to expand the MSME sector in the region by supporting several start-ups and young companies with a particular focus on benefitting women and vulnerable groups.
Scope of work
The overall objective of this assignment is to provide tailored made consultancy in the following areas:
- Output 1 Development of new information tools for MSMEs on opportunities offered by DCFTA and SPTCA
- Output 2 To monitor supply chain development, members identification and creation of cross-river clusters
- Output 3 Provide foreign trade policy related revied support including recommendations on new policy development.
The work will include both analytical work as well as TOR creation for third parties and evaluation of deliverables of third parties.
- Conduct a desk review of existing information resources regarding the opportunities offered by DCFTA and SPTCA;
- Touchbase with relevant institutions to identify options regarding the feasibility, sustainability and content of an informational portal for the business community on both riverbanks ;
- Develop the concept of an informational portal for MSMEs regarding the DCFTA and SPTCA opportunities ;
- Draft the ToR for contracting an IT company for development of the informational portal ;
- Monitor and evaluate the quality of services provided by the Contractor;
- Provide assistance to the Project team in drafting tender related documentation for clusters support activities,capacity building and infrastructure support;
- Provide support to AdTrade project team in the monitoring of the services provided by the Service Provider responsible for conceptualization and development of cluster and value chains;
- Conduct a desk review of the current export promotion policies and procedures on both banks, including a mapping of existing assessments/analysis at the national level;
- Prepare a draft roadmap for UNDP Moldova for the formulation of the new national export promotion policies Organize and participate in consultation sessions with stakeholders including in the format of at least one policy dialogue exercise;
- Provide expert opinion for the data collection instruments for a survey on private sector enterprises from both banks which are already exporting or with export potential in order to have a common view and
comprehensive update of the private sector needs;
- Elaborate ToR for an assessment of the export potential on both riverbanks in order to identify sectors/subsectors and markets that have high potential and gaps in the provision of trade support services, identification of most promising 3 sectors/sub-sectors and markets, and their development plans;
- Provide support to AdTrade project team in the monitoring and evaluation of the quality of services provided by Contractors conducting the assessment;
- Contribute to the formulation of new national export promotion policies;
- Other tasks related to export promotion policies;
Requirements for experience
Academic Qualification:
- University Degree in Economics, Business Administration, Public Administration, Financial Management, Law, or other relevant related area.
Experience:
- At least 7 years of practical experience in the fields related to business development, private sector support (working with public and private actors)
- Proven experience in public policy development, conducting researches and drafting analytical reports.
- Experience of working with UN agencies and/or international organizations, and/or donor funded development projects/programmes will be considered a strong asset.
Competences:
- Computer proficiency, including knowledge of MS Office products (Word, Power Point) as well as e-mails literacy;
- High level of responsibility and organization capacities, creative approach to solving issues, teamwork;
- 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 English are required. Knowledge of Russian 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:
- Offeror’s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the individual contractor (IC) assignment, incorporating Financial proposal in Annex 2.
Upload the signed version of the filled in Offeror’s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the individual contractor (IC) assignment. Annex 2 to the Offeror's letter, incorporating the Financial Proposal, shall be filled in mandatorily and includes the detailed breakdown of costs supporting the all inclusive financial proposal.
The Financial Proposal shall be additionally submitted directly in the system. Please ensure there are no mathematical errors and that amounts from Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability match with your offer in the system;
- Offeror’s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the individual contractor (IC) assignment, incorporating Financial proposal in Annex 2.Upload the signed version of the filled in Offeror’s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the individual contractor (IC) assignment. Annex 2 to the Offeror's letter, incorporating the Financial Proposal, shall be filled in mandatorily and includes the detailed
breakdown of costs supporting the all inclusive financial proposal. The Financial Proposal shall be additionally submitted directly in the system. Please ensure there are no mathematical errors and that amounts from Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability match with your offer in the system;
- Proposal (Motivation Letter): explaining why they are the most suitable for the work including previous experience in similar Projects (please provide brief information on each of the above qualifications, item by item, including information, links/copies of documents for similar comprehensive studies);
- CV and at least 3 references;
Important notice: The applicants who have the statute of Government Official / Public Servant prior to appointment will be asked to submit the following documentation:
- a no-objection letter in respect of the applicant received from the Government, and;
- the applicant is certified in writing by the Government to be on official leave without pay for the entire duration of the Individual Contract.
Financial proposal
Payments will be made post factum on a lump-sum basis (periodicity will be agreed with the selected Consultants), upon submission and approval of the deliverables as described above, taking into the account the proposed timeframe and certification by the Cluster Lead that the services have been satisfactorily performed.
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