Background
The “EU Innovative Action for Private Sector Competitiveness in Georgia” is a joint initiative of the European Union and four UN Agencies – United Nation Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
This project responds to the objectives set out in the Annual Action Programme 2017 “for Economic and Business Development in Georgia”. In particular, the project will support Component 3: Enhancing Greater Business Sophistication.
Main goal of the project is to enhance entrepreneurship and business sophistication by strengthening the capacities of government and local entities to develop and operate clusters and supporting companies directly with strategic investments while also demonstrating the effectiveness of these strategies to businesses.
The objective of the project will be achieved through support to a range of entities in developing specific clusters in packaging sectors for the benefit of enhancing geographically constrained value chains for improving cluster coordination, marketing, innovation, public private dialogue and more. It will also be done through strategic investments in companies that are deemed necessary to facilitate improvements in the cluster. This will also be enhanced by a sustained effort to consolidate evidence-base, clustering-related policy and implementation capacities and connect local businesses to diaspora communities, for the purpose of knowledge and technology transfer and financing.
Georgia’s economic competitiveness has changed dramatically in the last 15 years under both governments. Starting in 2004 corruption has reduced substantively; opening a business and paying taxes were made simpler, cheaper and quicker and access to local markets and international markets has improved.
Perhaps most importantly, through signing the Association Agreement with the EU, Georgia has made EU-alignment the most important trajectory of public policy reform, and this has brought with it a strong westernization agenda to every facet of market reform.
These reforms have created dramatic improvements in rankings like World Bank Doing Business Indicator, the Fraser Indicator of Economic Freedom, the Corruption Perception Index and the Global Competitiveness Index.
Nonetheless, the economic and social development of Georgia is hampered by a stubbornly low performance in innovation and sophistication. The Global Competitiveness Report (GCI) clearly shows Georgia’s weak performance in business sophistication (ranked 99 out of 137) and innovation (ranked 118). Correspondingly, Georgia has an Economic Complexity Indicator of - 0.25, which is about at par with Dominican Republic and Jamaica. This has translated into Georgia failing in business sophistication, value-added activity and technology transfer and absorption.
This low level of sophistication is particularly problematic given that Georgia aims to expand its exports to the EU under the DCFTA, and the EU is a highly sophisticated market requiring complex, consistent and high-quality products. The need for improvement of quality management systems was revealed by the “South Caucasus Trade Study”.
Georgian weakness in this area results from a range of factors at an individual company and sector level. At an individual level, given the ease of starting a business, the business start-up rate in Georgia is a disappointing 8.6%. This is compounded because, facing a small local market and limited experience exporting, local companies have historically lacked the incentives or the experience to innovate and grow.
At the same time Georgia ranks particularly poorly in inter-firm cooperation. ‘Clusters’ of businesses in developed countries, often coordinate their activities, to share risk, enhance technological uptake and reduce cost. Lack of cluster development in Georgia has limited provision of inputs and skills, downstream service development, product certification and quality control, export facilitation, transport and logistics, international branding and marketing.
This project will therefore use cluster development to help enhance inter-firm cooperation, to overcome coordination externalities, improve technological uptake and new market penetration. It will also use strategic investments to support individual companies and overcome cluster bottlenecks in technology upgrade and innovation, increased design input, certification, environmental standard uptake (particularly Extended Producer Responsibility and recycling), foreign market understanding and access and much more.
This will therefore align with the EUs goal to support Greater Business Sophistication and will align with government goals of entrepreneurship and cluster support. In particular, the Georgian Government have already committed to the development of a Cluster Development Strategy. The project also aligns with the UN commitment to support Private Sector Development and innovation in the United Nations Partnership for Sustainable Development: Georgia (2016-2020) as well as with the numerous activities of UN agencies in this area.
The packaging sector was identified as a priority sector on the basis of its size, opportunities for growth and its broader significance for the Georgian economy through its impact on other sectors and on recycling. From the point of view of size, there seems opportunity for growth, particularly through import substitution and growth of the domestic market as a whole as a result of shifts in production and buying patterns. There may also be opportunities for niche exports. The sector also brings potential benefits for the wider economy, since absence of quality packaging provided in a flexible manner, is a bottleneck for some sectors, particularly food. In addition, improvements in local packaging may be necessary for the fulfilment of EU phytosanitary standards, and improvements in the packaging sector would be useful for environmental reforms, particularly recycling.
Duties and Responsibilities
The primary objective of the consultancy is to perform study on waste management in tourism sector to reveal existing practices of waste management, options for solutions of identified bottlenecks for further policy consultations. The study should be performed in consultations with business associations, tourism companies, government agencies (MoESD and GNTA, MEPA and its units and local authorities). The study should encompass dominantly companies in Kakheti, Imereti, Ajara regions and Tbilisi. The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Project Manager in close collaboration with UNDP Economic Development Team Leader.
Major tasks of the consultant include, but not limited to:
- Design study instruments: questionnaire for survey of at least 30 companies, list of interviewees from government agencies and business associations.
- Desk study of good international practices of waste management per EU policies and sustainable tourism, private sector led initiatives, PPPs and other formats in western and eastern Europe.
- Implementing survey: interviews of at least 30 tourist companies
- Identify expected regulatory changes related to waste management in tourism sector in Georgia.
- Identify good practice cases in Georgia related to waste management in tourism sector.
- Study “Waste Management in Tourism Sector in Georgia” with findings reflecting but not limiting to plastic pollution and food waste. The study should outline the major findings of the survey, desk study, interviews, case studies, have visualizations, charts and tables wherever is needed. The study should outline awareness of the management and personnel of tourist companies in good practices and harm related to waste management.
- Presentation with the findings of the study
- Facilitation of 3 consultations of UNDP with relevant stakeholders.
Deliverables
Deliverable 1: Design study instruments: questionnaire for survey of at least 30 companies, list of interviewees from government agencies and business associations; and Desk study of good international practices of waste management per EU policies and sustainable tourism, private sector led initiatives, PPPs and other formats in western and eastern Europe - Expected date of submission: end of August 2021
Deliverable 2: Paper outlining expected regulatory changes and good practice cases in Georgia related to waste management in tourism sector - Expected date of submission: end of September 2021
Deliverable 3: Study and presentation on “Waste Management in Tourism Sector in Georgia” with findings reflecting but not limiting to plastic pollution and food waste; and 3 consultation meetings with stakeholders are facilitated - Expected date of submission: end of November 2021
The Consultant will be requested to provide Mission Reports on the tasks accomplished and deliverables elaborated. She/he will also be requested to elaborate inputs to the Project Progress Reports.
Payment modality:
The payments will be produced upon the confirmation by UNDP of high-quality performance. A total assignment will be up to 50 days during the period of July-November 2021 with 12 days of travel to target regions.
Payments will be subject to satisfactory quality of deliverables:
• 1st Report in English, on the tasks accomplished and deliverable 1 (by the end of August 2021) – 30%
• 2nd Report in English, on the tasks accomplished and deliverable 2 (by the end of September 2021) – 30%
• 3rd Report in English, on the tasks accomplished and deliverable 3 (by the end of November 2021) – 40%
The consultant will report to the Project Manager of the “EU Innovative Action for Private Sector Competitiveness in Georgia” Project in consultation with the UNDP Economic Development Team Leader. The payments will be produced upon the confirmation by UNDP of high-quality performance.
Competencies
- Outstanding writing skills, for a range of different audiences.
- Ability and willingness to work as part of a team to meet tight deadlines and produce high quality workDemonstrated commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values.
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
- Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.
- Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN's values and ethical standards.
- Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
- Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
- Shares knowledge and experience.
- Ability to undertake analytical work and prepare narrative parts of working papers, reports and studies.
- Strong communication skills.
- Advanced computer skills including Microsoft Office and web-based applications.
- Proven ability to deliver quality output working under tight deadlines.
- Excellent communication and facilitation skills.
- Strong and proven research and analytical skills.
- Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback.
- Leads teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills.
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
- Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills.
- Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors.
- Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure.
- Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
Required Skills and Experience
Qualification Requirements
Education:
- Master’s degree or equivalent in business, tourism management, public policy, policy analysis, economics or other related discipline (minimum requirement -8 points) .
Experience:
- Minimum 3 years’ experience, with a particular focus on tourism business development (minimum requirement - 10 points; More than 3 years – additional 6 points ).
- Minimum 3 years’ experience in analysis and or research in sustainable tourism or waste management practices (minimum requirement - 10 points; More than 3 years – additional 6 points).
- Experience of research and or consulting public, private and/or international organizations (will be an asset).
Language requirements:
Fluency in English and Georgian.
Evaluation
Offerors will be evaluated against a combination of technical and financial criteria provided in the below table. Technical criteria consist of a desk review and an interview. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 points (70%) and for financial criteria 30 (30%). Technical criteria compose of desk review (40 points) and interview (30 points). Offerors not meeting any of minimum technical qualification requirements will be automatically excluded from the list of candidates for further technical evaluation.Offerors obtaining minimum 28 points as a result of the desk review (criteria 1, 2 and 3) will be short listed and invited for an interview. Offerors obtaining minimum of 21 points as a result of the interview (i.e. minimum of 49 points in the technical criteria) will be considered qualified and requested to provide financial proposal for the assignment.
Financial Proposal
The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum. Payments are based upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. In order, to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount.