Background

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

According to the Cambodia National Strategic Development Plan 2019-2023, Science, Technology and Innovation Ecosystem startups and businesses are the future of Cambodia.  Cambodia aims to be an upper-middle income country by 2030. In the past decades, the country has experienced healthy growth rates (8.4% in 1994 - 2006, 9% between 1999-2006, and averaging 7 % from 2006 to 2019).

In line to keep Cambodia as one of the region’s fastest growing economies, some priority actions are stipulated in its National Strategic Development Plan. These include creating more jobs for the people of Cambodia especially the young people.  This will be accomplished through skills training, making market information more accessible and promotion of business and investment in the country and outside the country. Furthermore, other actions includes promoting entrepreneurship including small to medium enterprises for Cambodians by providing incentives, capital and technical consulting. The specific action plans include implementing mechanisms to facilitate new business start-ups.

The Ministry of Science, Technology and ICT (MSIT) of the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) have collaborated in implementing two Phases of ROK-UNOOSC Facility to promote education, science, technology and innovation since 2011. Under Phase 2 of the collaboration (2016-2021), the Facility has been implemented in Cambodia and Indonesia. The General Secretariat of the National Science and Technology Council (GS-NSTC) under the Ministry of Planning requested assistance under the Facility to set up a Technology Business Incubator.  In October 2018, a draft Development Plan for the Technology Business Incubator (TBI) was compiled under the Facility.

The mission statement of the TBI is to provide a supportive system for STI-ecosystem start-ups in Cambodia and help to connect start-ups with resources and link them for knowledge sharing with similar minded communities in public institutions, private sector, non-governmental organisations in Cambodia and beyond. In summary, the objective of the TBI is to “connect, collaborate, partner and mobilize possible and available resources to benefit start-ups and start-up communities in Cambodia”.

Purpose of the Assignment

South-South cooperation supports sharing of knowledge and resources across countries.  A number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region have in-depth experience in promoting Business Incubators for start-ups.  Through its South-South Entrepreneurship Academy, UNOSSC has collaborated with some of the incubators in the region.  UNOSSC, therefore perceives that there is an opportunity to support the TBI in Cambodia and document lessons learnt for sharing with other developing countries. The lessons learnt will be shared through the South-South Galaxy and other information sharing platforms.  Therefore, in order to facilitate the General Secretariat of  the National Science and Technology Council (GS-NSTC), UNOSSC will enlist the services of an international consultant to build the capacity of national staff in Cambodia to implement the TBI Development Plan.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK:

Under the overall guidance of GS-NSTC and on the advice of UNOSSC, the international consultant will undertake the following:

1. Review the National Strategic Development Plan and priority actions for 2019-2023;
2. Review the Technology Business Incubator Development Plan;
3. Develop an operating plan for TBI centre for capacity building to include;

• Determining the needs of the TBI to be functional;
• Assisting GS-NSTC to establish a three-year work plan;
• Designing staff recruitment framework and tools (TORs, interview questions) for TBI administration and management;
• Developing systems for identifying and selecting clients and partners;
• Developing operational details including conditions, duration and payments required to TBI;
• Assessing costs to TBI and financing mechanisms, whether through government grants or cost recovery;
• Providing capacity building for staff to operate TBI centre;
• Developing curricula for clients including legal, commercial and taxation support;
• Developing a start-up community support system in Cambodia; and
• Documenting best case studies based on TBI operation capacity building activities.
• Prepare an exit strategy for the effective running of the TBI after the consultancy.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES::

*** This is the estimated working days in each deliverable

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS:

The consultant will be working under the overall guidance of the Secretary-General of GS-NSTC of Cambodia under the technical supervision of Regional Coordinator of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation. The parties will, at the earliest possible opportunity, brief and collaborate with the United Nations System in Cambodia. The deliverables of the consultant will be submitted to both the General Secretary and the Regional Coordinator of UNOSSC for review and approval. Timing of specific activities will be agreed in the inception plan. The consultant will receive payments following approval of the deliverables as per the inception plan to be agreed between the Regional Coordinator and the consultant.

Duration: 15 January – 30 June 2021  ( with a maximum of 119 working days )

                 All deliverables are expected to be completed by 30 June 2021.

Duty Station

• Duty Station: Home-based with travel to Phnom Penh as required.
• Expected Travel: Three round trips to Phnom Penh (two-week mission) from place of recruitment in February, April and June. The travel cost will be supported by UNDP/UNOSSC.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNOSSC and Government of Cambodia;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Technical Competencies:

• Proven analytical skills in the development context;
• Knowledge and experience of working in Cambodia;
• Experience working with the United Nations and international organizations is an asset;

Communication:

• Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner.

Professionalism:

• Capable of working in a high-pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Teamwork:

• Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
• Focuses on results for the client;
• Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications:

• Minimum Masters’ Degree in international development/relations, social sciences or related areas.

Experience:

• At least ten (10) years of professional experience in related areas of establishing Technology Business Incubators especially in other developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
• In-depth knowledge and relevant expertise in business management, entrepreneurship centres and innovation labs
• Experience in research, design and institutional capacity development and trainings in developing countries especially in South East Asia
• Knowledge and experience on international good practice solutions and South-South Cooperation, development work, social development processes and methodologies;
• Ability to develop innovative solutions to address challenging situations;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English. Knowledge in Khmer is an advantage

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the consultant in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be disbursed upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed at actual documented cost. Travel costs shall be reimbursed at actual but not exceeding the quotation from UNDP approved travel agent.  The provided living allowance will not be exceeding UNDP DSA rates.

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

The following criteria will serve as basis for evaluating offers;

• Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated.
• The technical criteria (education, experience, language) will be worth a maximum 100 points.
• Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 100 points; 70%)

1. Criteria 1:   Relevance of Education – Max 15 points;
2. Criteria 2:   Minimum of 10 years’ experience in related areas of establishing Technology Business Incubators especially in other developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region – Max 20 points; 
3. Criteria 3:   Experience in business management, entrepreneurship centres and innovation labs– Max 20 points;
4. Criteria 4:   Experience in research, design and institutional capacity development and trainings in developing countries especially in South East Asia – Max 25 points;
5. Criteria 5:   Fluency in English language with excellent written skills required and/or Knowledge of Khmer – Max 20 points; 

For those passing technical evaluation above, offers will be evaluated per the Combined Scoring method.

1. Technical (70%)
2. Financial Evaluation (30%)

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation. Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP's General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

Documentation required:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability in English using the template provided in Annex III.
• 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.
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price supported by a breakdown of costs. 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. The financial proposal should exclude the travel fee.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered. The shortlisted candidates may be contacted and the successful candidate will be notified.

Annexes:

Annex I - TOR Technology Business Incubator Expert
Annex II - General_Terms_and_Conditions_for_Contracts_Individual_Consultants
Annex III - Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and financial proposal
Annex IV - P11 Form_for_ICs_optional

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to procurement.th@undp.org under subject: JobAds 95971- Coordination Technology Business Incubator Expert, Capacity Building for Implementation of the Technology Business Incubator (TBI) Development Plan in Cambodia.