UNDP Jobs - 98302- International Consultant to propose improvement of

International Consultant to propose improvement of scientific-research and innovation activities in trade

Location :

Home-based, TURKMENISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

10-May-2021

Application Deadline :

26-Apr-21 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

May 2021 - June 2021

Languages Required :

English Russian

Expected Duration of Assignment :

20 working days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan (Ministry) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are implementing a project entitled “Strengthening the Trade Capacity of Turkmenistan”. The project is focused on supporting the Government of Turkmenistan in building trade capacity of the country with a view to support the realization of Turkmenistan’s objectives aimed at increasing competitiveness of national economy, reducing imports dependence and diversifying exports, including by increasing the share of higher value-added products in export composition.

Due to the increasingly intensifying international competition for markets, it is necessary to address the objective of export diversification with implementation of range of measures focused on the creation of effective system to promote domestically produced goods in export markets throughout the whole value chain: producer – ultimate buyer. Among range of issues, there is a need to address strengthening Research and Development (R&D) capacity of national trade organizations in the areas of access to the international scientific, analytical and statistical information, including databases and specialized periodicals.

In the business community the prevailing view is that enabling access to the external markets shall be addressed through provision of targeted benefits for the products of Turkmenistan, including in the framework of General System of Preferences (GSP). However, there is no legal basis to do so. Preferences under the GSP are not granted to the countries classified by the World Bank as upper-middle income and high-income economies. In 2012 Turkmenistan was classified as an upper-middle income country. Therefore, Turkmenistan products should compete with products of other countries on a common basis. In a highly competitive market environment the successful implementation of export diversification objective, including access to new markets for Turkmenistan, will require a targeted and systematic work in this area.

One of the objectives of the current project is to enhance the level of competitiveness of national economy by strengthening qualification of professional staff of trade related institutions of Turkmenistan through building capacity to formulate and implement trade-related policy measures. Strengthening qualification of national professionals will be directed towards training of specialists demanded by modern economy, conducting market analysis through applied scientific research, establishment of contacts with foreign and international organizations that would support national professionals to develop domestic and international trade policy.

In this regard, UNDP is planning to engage international consultant with the hands-on experience to prepare proposals on strengthening R&D and innovation component in the activities of Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan through implementation of public-private partnership mechanism engaging specialists of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations and Turkmen State Institute of Economics and Management of Turkmenistan.

Duties and Responsibilities

In accordance with the above-mentioned objective of the assignment and under the supervision of the Project Manager, the International Consultant (IC) will have the objective of transferring knowledge and expertise to the national partners through review and preparation of proposals on strengthening R&D and innovation capacity of the Ministry. To achieve the objective, he or she will perform the following tasks:

ACTION 1: Carry out desk review by reading relevant sections of the project document, general overview of trade and economic sectors of the country and analytical report of national consultant on current trade related R&D activities of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan;
ACTION 2: Conduct consultations with representatives of R&D Department of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations to exchange ideas on how to improve its R&D and innovation activities based on information build up through desk review exercises;
ACTION 3: Conduct one-day online seminar on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mechanisms and existing best practices on implementation of R&D and innovation activities in trade with integrated PPP mechanisms;
ACTION 4: Develop proposals for development and implementation of Public-Private Partnership mechanisms and strengthening of R&D and innovation component in the activities of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan. Proposals for strengthening R&D and innovation component of the Ministry will offer ideas of providing access to international scientific, analytical, statistical information and specialized periodical publications, which in return ensure access to regularly updated databases or in other words, the new knowledge;
ACTION 5: Conduct online seminar to present proposals, findings, and recommendations to national partners. Submit Final Consultancy Report;

Deliverables and timeframe:

Deliverables:

Desk review on current trade and economic sectors of Turkmenistan and R&D activities of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan was carried out;
National consultant’s report was analyzed and consultations with national partners were conducted for exchange of opinions;
One-day online seminar on implementation of PPP mechanisms and existing best practices on implementation of R&D and innovation activities in trade with integrated PPP mechanisms was delivered;

Duration and timeframe:

5 working days for desk work and analysis understanding trade R&D activities of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan;
5 working days to prepare and conduct consultations with government partners and organize one-day online seminar;

Deliverables:

Proposals in implementation of Public-Private Partnership mechanisms and strengthening of R&D and innovation component in the activities of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan were developed;
Online seminar to present proposals was conducted and Final Consultancy Report was submitted;

Duration and timeframe:

10 working days for developing proposals, conduct online seminar and submit consultancy report.

Payment conditions:

This is an installment-based contract that should cover the costs of consultancy required to produce the above deliverables. The final schedule of payments will be agreed upon in the beginning of consultancy. Payment will be released in two installments: 1st installment: 40% (for deliverable 1) and 2nd installment: 60% (for deliverable 2) – upon timely submission of respective deliverables and their acceptance by UNDP Turkmenistan.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

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;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment;

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge of and extensive experience working with UN international trade development mechanisms;
Excellent analytical, communication and proposal writing skills;
Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines;
Good understanding and practice of capacity development;
Cultural sensitivity;
Diplomatic skills;

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (at least master’s degree) in economics, international trade, business administration or related field with a particular focus on R&D practices in trade;

Experience:

At least 7 years of working experience in providing R&D analysis, trade data and statistics management, market intelligence or provision of education in such areas;
Experience in capacity building to formulate and implement foreign and domestic trade policy measures with focus on R&D practices implementing PPP mechanisms;
Knowledge and experience of work in the CIS or Central Asia is an advantage;
Good knowledge of the UN, WTO mandate in the area of international trade policy development is an asset;

Language requirements:

Excellent written and spoken Russian; fluent English is an asset.

Submission of applications:

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

All experts applying for this position are required to provide:

Brief (1-2 pages) description of the methodology for the assignment. However, the specific design and methods for the workshop will be determined from consultations among UNDP Country Office in Turkmenistan, the national consultant, and the national partner (Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan) about what is appropriate and feasible to meet the goals of the technical seminar;
Financial Proposal with the references to (1) the daily rate for the assignment and within the timing scale indicated in the present TOR, and (2) any other expenses (including transportation costs, accommodation costs, the possibility of vaccination and etc.). Template of the form can be found at: http://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/procurement.html. The UNDP will enter into an Individual Contract based on a lump sum amounts. The financial proposal shall represent a detailed, justified and “all inclusive” amount. In order to assist UNDP in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount, including: a daily fee for the tasks and an estimated duration as specified in this announcement, travel (to and from the missions), per diems, any other possible costs (including vaccinations, dwelling, communication etc.);
Cover letter explaining why they are the most suitable candidate for the assignment;
Resume /CV.

Evaluation of proposals:

Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on the combined scoring methodology. When using this method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/Compliant and
Having received the highest score – out of 100

Out of the maximum score, the score for technical criteria equals 70% - maximum 100 points, and for financial criteria 30%.

The technical evaluation will take into account the following as per the scoring provided:

Education in the area of economics, international trade, business administration orrelated field with a particular focus on R&D practices in trade – 20 pts;
Experience in capacity building to formulate and implement foreign and domestic trade policy measures with focus on R&D practices implementing PPP mechanisms – 30 pts;
Methodology – 20 pt;
Good knowledge of the UN and WTO mandate in the area of trade – 5 pts;
Knowledge and experience of work in the CIS or Central Asia – 10 pts;
Fluency in Russian – 10 pts;
Fluency in English – 5 pts.

Financial proposal – 30% of total evaluation.

Additional requirements for recommended contractor:

Recommended contractors aged 65 and older, and if the travel is required, shall undergo a full medical examination including x-ray, and obtain medical clearance from the UN-approved doctor prior to taking up their assignment. The medical examination is to be cleared by the UN physicians, and shall be paid by the consultant.