Background

The project of Strengthening Arab Economic Integration for Sustainable Development (AEISD), by UNDP, has an objective to provide technical assistance to the League of Arab States (LAS), specifically the Economic Sector and relevant organs, and member states of Pan Arab Free Trade Area (PAFTA) in working towards a deepened integration, including preparations for the Arab Customs Union.

Being conscious that trade has significant potential to fight poverty in Arab countries through generating more income and access to markets. Its second important component relates to strengthening the Arab connectivity among economies in the region. Expectedly, these efforts would be translated into contribution of economic integration for better livelihoods, more employment opportunities and participation by the private sector.

To support improvement of Arab connectivity among countries, project activities, priority is exercised in activities aimed at facilitation of trade, transport, investment and trade-related areas (i.e. trade/transport corridors, promotion of quality infrastructure, competition). Among these, an important initiative related to the promotion of application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and digitalization to facilitate trade, investment and economic development for various countries. UNDP cooperates with Governments of Arab countries and regional/sub-regional organizations such as Agadir Technical Unit to promote activation of trade facilitation measures such as the dematerialization and the digitalized information processing platforms such as National Single Windows, specified by Article 10:4 of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.

Its third component focuses on the promotion of inclusiveness and transparency as part of the development agenda, particularly on the economic empowerment of women for regional economic integration.

Built on the progress achieved in supporting the implementation of the Executive Program of the agreement on Facilitating and Developing Trade among Arab Countries (PAFTA), the current project focuses on specific aspects of making trade an engine of inclusive and sustainable growth guided by the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.  In continuation, the project will also focus on helping countries and the main sub-regional and regional integration entities to accelerate the pace of trade reforms and regional economic integration to strengthen    the employment effects of those reforms, with a particular focus on women and youth, and to mobilize additional resources for this purpose.

The project also aims to address specific challenges and complexities that Arab countries and League of Arab States face to enhance regional economic integration, more specifically in the transition from an FTA- based framework towards making the customs union a reality. The following present major areas of focus:

1. Provide a structured and targeted technical support to LAS Secretariat and Arab negotiators on trade policy formulation and reform under PAFTA;
2. Provide assistance to the LAS Secretariat with a view of strengthening its organizational capacity in the pursuit of further facilitation of the regional economic integration agenda as well as promotion of trade liberalization;
3. Assist target Arab countries in collaborating with national policy makers in trade and economic fields in efforts to modernize and reform trade policy by taking into consideration new developments;
4. Facilitation of transport and trade activities which constitutes one of the key areas to support national programs of enhancement, national competitiveness, better market access, and more integration of the value chain;
5. Promoting gender equality and women empowerment as well as generating business and job opportunities for youth is also a key target under the project activities. Moreover, good governance constitution which is a pre-requisite in deepening Arab economic integration to a higher level of commitment with inclusiveness and sustainability; and
6. Promoting contribution of trade to be one of the pillars to achieve the SDGs at national and regional level.

These priority dimensions form the basis of the work program of the project. Specifically, the project targets  the following result-oriented activities:

1. Development of the technical framework and required instruments for the PAFTA Upgrading - an upgrade from the existing PAFTA, and for the Arab Customs Union (ACU) preparations, to deepen Arab economic integration;
2. Reinforcement of mechanisms of policy design, measures of implementation and of systems of documenting the progress of implementation to secure smooth acceleration of realization of regional commitments
3. Building the technical capability and capacity of policy makers of Arab countries to support accelerated implementation of the PAFTA Upgrading and preparations for the ACU;
4. Introduction of institutional arrangements that are necessary for the LAS to respond to  the requirements of implementation of the PAFTA Upgrading, and consequently of designing and establishing the ACU;
5. Delivery of awareness raising activities and provision of technical guidance on good governance and integrity approaches; and
6. Promotion   of   regulatory   transparency, open   dialogues   and   consultations   with   related stakeholders, targeting all social groups but particularly women, for more active participation to cross border operations and related economic activities, among others.

The project team also cooperates with several national authorities and regional organizations in the implementation of defined activities in taking into account requirements and priorities of national socio- economic development plans and strategies of Arab economic integration. The execution is carried out under rules and regulations by the UN applicable for Delegated Direct Implementation and fully aligned to UNDP Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP).

In 2020, attention has turned into development of digitalized trade facilitation platforms such as a national single window and development of customs techniques such as Authorized Economic Operators, Risk Management and provision of support to regional working groups and/or Task Force or similar working bodies of PAFTA member countries. Indeed, Governmental agencies in charge of regulatory controls of international trade are required to work to facilitate legitimate cross border trade and investment and to protect the society.

Based on increasing interests of customs administrations and border control agencies of member countries of Pan Arab Free Trade Area  to strengthen cooperation for Arab connectivity, and being a part of the UN Framework – Shared Responsibility – Global Solidarity: Responding to Socio-Economic impacts of Covid-19, UNDP will provide technical assistance to member countries of the Pan Arab Free Trade Area (PAFTA) through supply of technical advice, preparation of technical analysis, preparation of regulatory texts and organization of activities of capacity building. That includes promotion of application of legal commitments and international conventions of the multilateral trading system such as the legal text of the Uruguay Round of the WTO, the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, the Revised Kyoto Convention, among others.

To address the disruption of the international supply chain and in the pursuit to revitalize Arab economies and to accelerate, the role of regional cooperation and promotion of the regional/sub-regional economic integration is essential within the localized context of national responses to negative impacts of the Corona crisis. Furthermore, the process is considered important to mainstream Pan Arab Trade to the poverty alleviation and employment creation. The UN Framework specifies “… Similarly, other regions should also leverage further existing and new commitments under regional trade agreements and mechanisms.”

For that purpose, alleviating negative barriers such as non-tariff barriers and phasing down unnecessary formalities are important stimulus measures to facilitate movement of medicines, medical supplies, personal protective equipment, food stuffs and household items. Certain techniques and facilitative programmes such as Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs) and digitalization are useful tool and can contribute significantly to re-energize the Arab Supply Chain.

To that end, in 2020, UNDP seek the provision of services by an expert in the facilitation of cross-border trade in the region and development of specialized customs techniques to support reforming initiatives, activated by Arab countries. These will constitute foundations towards the Arab Customs Union and the Arab common market. The expert discharges her/his duties under the supervision and guidance of the Chief Technical Advisor of the project and would be supported by the team of domain experts. His responsibility would be defined by the work scope and defined activities as below.

Duties and Responsibilities

The expert is expected to deliver on the seven identified tasks, defined in the works scope hereafter, in taking account of contemporaneous best practices in Customs, modernization of trade practices to promote more transparency. Important legal instruments such as the WTO Trade Facilitation, Revised Kyoto Convention, among others.

In the delivery of identified tasks, the expert is required to take into consideration international standards and empirical experiences of international customs administrations as well as those of border control agencies, with focus on the protection of the market and streamlining formalities processing and completion of procedures. More importantly, these international best practices should be customized for the applicable operational environment of PAFTA members in order to optimize impacts.

The expert might assist Arab countries with adoption of newly developed practices and corresponding measures to support Arab economic integration through considering and adoption of measures of mobilization of resources to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this regard, countries in the region tends to capitalize on the potential of the supply chain to explore new market opportunities toward better economic competitiveness. Adoption of trade facilitating techniques such as the Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs) and furthering more administrative simplification and streamlining are essential to economic partnership and recovery after the corona crisis. The assignment aims to equip Arab countries with technical tools and advice to execute the implementation of the newly developed framework of the being upgraded PAFTA. The selected expert is expected to develop more elaborate suggestion of technical and policy recommendations in order to put regional commitments into operations in order to bring about concrete benefits to the public and trading community. For that purpose, more initiatives of partnership with economic operators, enterprises, micro, small and medium enterprises could be also explored.

The expert worked under the guidance of the Chief Technical Advisor and would contribute to facilitate exchange of views, consultation on trade-related, customs policies.

Expected Outputs:

1. Undertake a review of key regulation of the legal framework and existent organizational structure to Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs) for the development of a regional guideline in the topic. The task includes a series of technical debriefing to PAFTA countries either at the regional or country level;
2. Support LAS and member countries in the development and adoption of common practices, unified documentation, and principles of data sharing in the transportation and trade sectors based on international practices to support putting into practices the newly developed legal framework of the upgraded PAFTA;
3. Undertake a review of pertinent practices and international practices to facilitate customs digitalization and provision of technical supplies to PAFTA countries, with particular attention to assist customs administrations of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), possibly in two Arab countries;
4.  Analyse and coordinate the aactivation of the Nuweibae-Aqaba Pilot, including the facilitation of policy consultations with border management authorities in Egypt and Jordan;
5. Promote more reform of customs practices through ssimplification and standardization of trade- and customs-related procedures based on international standards toward more integrated supply chain. That might also include undertaking a review of customs and trade practices to support the recovery and promote regional economic integration to address development challenges, brought about by the corona crisis;
6. Design the model for mutual recognition and acceptance based on experiences from the Jordan Licensing Hub or other relevant applications in the region; and
7. Undertake tasks of coordination and thematic support within the scope of AEISD under the guidance of the Chief Technical Advisor of AEISD.

In completing activities of the assignment, the expert is expected to make use and adopt international best practices, agreements and international instruments promoted by the World Customs Organization, World Trade Organization, relevant international organizations. These could be tailored and customized to operational circumstances of PAFTA countries with a view to gradually enhanced Arab economic integration.

Competencies

Corporate

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;

Functional

• Time management and organizational skills, with the ability to undertake multiple tasks and deliver under pressure;
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills;
• Ability to work independently and achieve quality results with limited supervision and within tight schedules;
• Experience in reports production;
• Ability to write in a clear and concise manner;
• Good teamwork and interpersonal skills;
• Flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks and work under pressure;
• Excellent computer skills especially Word, Excel and Power Point

Leadership

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and to provide credible leadership;
• Demonstrated flexibility in leadership by performing and/or overseeing the analysis/resolution of complex issues;
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of development experience.

Managing Relationships

• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain strategic partnerships;
• Demonstrated well developed people management and organizational management skills;
• Excellent negotiating and networking skills with strong partnerships in academia, technical organizations and as a recognized expert in the practice area.

Managing Complexity

• Ability to address global development issues;
• Demonstrated substantive leadership and ability to integrate knowledge with broader strategic, policy and operational objectives.

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Ability to strongly promote and build knowledge products;
• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information and best practices from within and outside of UNDP;
• Demonstrates a strong capacity for innovation and creativity in providing strategic policy advice and direction.

Judgment/Decision-Making

• Mature judgment and initiative;
• Proven ability to provide strategic direction to the project implementation process;
• Independent judgment and discretion in advising on handling major policy issues and challenges, uses diplomacy and tact to achieve result.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in international trade, development economics, computer sciences or related fields.

Work experience:

• At least 5 years of practical professional experience with works related to the trade facilitation, reform of border control, customs,administration and control of cross border operations and international trade and transport transactions;
• At least 5 years of experience on customs practices and operations with main focus on trade facilitation, promotion and application of integrated regional supply chain and the regulatory control of cross border operations;
• At least 4 years of experience on key customs techniques (i.e. tariff, valuation, rules of origin) and application of Information and Communication Technology into the international supply chain;
• At least 4 years of experience on the conduct of customs reform and modernization, practical experiences in the analysis of streamlining of formalities and procedures within the international supply chain;
• At least 2 years of experience in international and regional trade agreements for trade facilitation and secured trade;
• At least 4 years of experience on the secured and safe framework by international organization. Detail understanding of the Arab trade facilitation activities, such as Trusted Traders is an advantage;
• At least 5 years of experience on good practices and standards in streamlining and modernization of formalities and procedures of an international supply chain is required as being addressed in international trade agreements and customs agreements and conventions; 
• At least 5 years of experience on the policy making process in dealing with operational matters of trade/transport corridors in Arab countries as relate to the control by a border control agency;
• Demonstrated experience in having performed similar assignments in trade facilitation in the Arab region is an asset;
• Knowledge on the application of a National Single Window is desirable;
• Proven experience working within the Arab region is desirable;
• Previous working experience with the United Nations (UN) is an advantage;

Language Requirements

• Language proficiency in both written and oral English is required. Knowledge of any other UN language, particularly Arabic, is an asset.

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT

• The individual is required to exhibit his or her full-time commitment with UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS);
• S/He shall perform tasks under the general guidance of the Regional Programme Coordinator and the direct supervision of the Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) of the Strengthening Arab Economic Integration for Sustainable Development (AEISD) regional project;
• The supervision will include approvals/acceptance of the outputs and deliverables as identified in the previous section;
• The individual is expected to liaise and collaborate in the course of performing the work with other consultants, suppliers and UN colleagues;
• The individual is required to provide periodical progress reports on regular and needed basis throughout the assignment to monitor progress;
• The individual is required to maintain close communication with UNDP-RBAS on regular and needed basis at any period throughout the assignment in order to monitor progress. In the event of any delay, S/he will inform UNDP promptly so that decisions and remedial action may be taken accordingly; and
• Should UNDP deem it necessary, it reserves the right to commission additional inputs, reviews or revisions, as needed to ensure the quality and relevance of the work.

DURATION OF THE WORK

The expected duration of the assignment is expected to be up to (155) working days over a period of (01) calendar year from contract signature date.

DUTY STATION

Home Based Assignment.

TRAVEL PLAN (OPTIONAL)

If any unforeseen travel outside the consultant home based city is requested by UNDP and not required by the Terms of References (ToR), such travel shall be covered by UNDP in line with applicable rules and regulations and upon prior written agreement. In such cases, the consultant shall receive living allowances not exceeding  the United Nations (UN) Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rate for such other location(s).

SCOPE OF PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

Interested candidates should provide lump sum fees for requested services with detailed breakdown. This amount must be “all-inclusive”. Please note that the terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal. Also, please note that the contract price will be Deliverables/Outputs based - not fixed - subject to change in the cost components.

The contractor will be paid an all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based lump sum amounts over the assignment period, subject to the submission of Certification of Payment (CoP) duly certified or an invoice and confirmation of satisfactory performance of achieved work (deliverables/outputs) in line with the schedule of payments table mentioned in Procurement Notice. 

RECOMMENDED PRESENTATION OF OFFER

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Candidates that fail to submit the required information will not be considered.

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
3. Brief Description of why you consider yourself as the most suitable candidate for this assignment;
4. One sample of work to demonstrate the individual’s competencies to undertake this assignment;;
5. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. The terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

All necessary information including: Complete Procurement Notice, the Selection Criteria, and Annexes are found on the following link under Procurement http://procurement-notices.undp.org/

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications to Job advertisement website (https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm) and should submit their proposal by e-mail to the following address: proc.contract.rscjo@undp.org not later than 20 June 2020. Candidates that fail to submit the required information on or before the set deadline (15 June 2020) will not be considered.

Please do not submit financial proposal in this stage. Financial proposal shall be requested from Candidates who are considered technically responsive. 

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Step I: Screening and desk review:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

Applications will be first screened and only candidates meeting the following minimum requirements will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

• Criteria A: Bachelor’s Degree in international trade, development economics, computer sciences or related fields.
• Criteria B: At least 5 years of practical professional experience with works related to the trade facilitation, reform of border control, administration and control of cross border operations and international trade and transport transactions;
• Criteria O: Language proficiency in both written and oral English.

Step II : Technical Review

Shortlisted candidates will undergo a technical evaluation and a submission of a proposal to tackle the assignment.

Technical evaluation Criteria max 100 points (Weighted 70):

• Criteria C: At least 5 years of experience on customs practices and operations with main focus on trade facilitation, promotion and application of integrated regional supply chain and the regulatory control of cross border operations (20 points);
• Criteria D: At least 4 years of experience on key customs techniques (i.e. tariff, valuation, rules of origin) and application of Information and Communication Technology into the international supply chain (10 points);
• Criteria E: At least 4 years of experience on the conduct of customs reform and modernization, practical experiences in the analysis of streamlining of formalities and procedures within the international supply chain (10 points);
• Criteria F: At least 2 years of experience in international and regional trade agreements for trade facilitation and secured trade (10 points);
• Criteria G: At least 4 years of experience on the secured and safe framework by international organization. Detail understanding of the Arab trade facilitation activities, such as Trusted Traders is an advantage (10 points);
• Criteria H: At least 5 years of experience on good practices and standards in streamlining and modernization of formalities and procedures of an international supply chain is required as being addressed in international trade agreements and customs agreements and conventions (05 points);
• Criteria I: At least 5 years of experience on the policy making process in dealing with operational matters of trade/transport corridors in Arab countries as relate to the control by a border control agency (05 points);
• Criteria J: Demonstrated experience in having performed similar assignments in trade facilitation in the Arab region is an asset (05 points);
• Criteria K: Demonstrated experience in having performed similar assignments in trade facilitation in the Arab region is an asset (05 points);
• Criteria L: Knowledge on the application of a National Single Window (05 points);
• Criteria M: Proven experience working within the Arab region (05 points);
• Criteria N: Previous working experience with the United Nations (05 points);
• Criteria O: Sample of Work (05 points)

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

For those offers considered in the financial evaluation, the lowest price offer will receive 30 points. The other offers will receive points in relation to the lowest offer, based on the following formula: (PI / Pn) * 30 where Pn is the financial offer being evaluated and Pl is the lowest financial offer received.

Step II: Final evaluation

The final evaluation will combine the scores of the desk review and the financial proposal with the following weights assigned to each:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis methodology (weighted scoring method), where the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight: [70%]
Financial Criteria weight: [30%]

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the Technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.