Tender Advertisement #924260

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

CONSULTANCY ON BLENDING AND INVESTMENT

Background

The Forum Secretariat is looking to contract a suitably qualified and experienced consultant to prepare an Action Document for Priority Area 4.1 Blending and Investment Facility of the PRIP. The final document must be acceptable to all members of the Regional Steering Committee, represented by the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and the European Union. An indicative sum of 46 million euros has been allocated for this purpose.

The Contracting Authority is the Regional Authorising Officer (RAO) entrusted to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Suva, Fiji. However, proposal development must also be done in close consultation with the European Union Delegation in Suva. The Senior Technical Adviser (EU) based in the RAO’s office will represent the Contracting Authority. All decisions on implementation of the assignment will be taken in close consultation with the above personnel.

Scope of Works

The scope of works will involve, but not be limited to:
(i) Appraisal of Documents
The consultant should review the existing documents relating to the programs IFP, ICPP and Intra ACP programs, relevant PIFS and PRIF documents/reports.
Appraisal of documents will include the EU Blending guidelines, IFP ex-ante evaluation, pipeline template for EU blending facilities and the Action Document (AD) template and instructions for completion that need to use/fill for his assignment.

(ii) Stakeholder consultations report
Undertake a comprehensive stakeholder consultation for the identification of priority projects for the Investment Facility for the Pacific (IFP), the Investment Co-financing Programme for the Pacific (ICPP) and the intra ACP / thematic cooperation facilities.
This would be conducted through a combination of meetings with development partners and desk research consultations.
The consultant will organise meeting consultations with development partners in Suva and Sydney meeting the relevant representatives of (at least) the EU Delegation, PIFS, WB, ADB, EIB and the PRIF coordination office.
The consultant, in coordination with PIFS, will organise desk research consultations or electronic meetings with all leader and co-leaders of PRIP Working Groups for priority areas 1 and 2 that are led as follows: 1.1 and 1.2 are led by PIFS and SPC; 2.1 led by SPC/FFA; 2.2 led by SPREP.
The consultant, in coordination with the PRIF coordination office, will also organise desk research consultations or meetings with DFAT, JICA, NZMFAT (PRIF members).
Consultations will include the identification of needs, including those identified by the PRIP working groups for priorities 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, Also the identification of potential implementation partners and priority projects for each of the facilities IFP, ICPP and intra-ACP/blending. Analysis of potential implementation partners will include all PRIF members.
Ownership of the assignment will be ensured through the involvement of the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat, the DMRO for the Pacific that is working closely with the National Authorizing Officers (NAOs) and with the EU Delegations in the Pacific to programme, manage, implement and coordinate the PRIP.
The consultant will provide a report reflecting main findings of the stakeholders’ consultations regarding identification of needs, identification of potential implementation partners and priority projects.

(iii) Identification of Pipeline Projects report
Following the stakeholder consultation for identification of priority projects for each of the facilities: IFP, ICPP and intra-ACP/thematic , the consultant will compile the following pipelines for projects in the Pacific Region: (i)indicative list of projects identified as a priority for the Investment Facility for the Pacific (IFP);(ii)indicative list of projects identified as a priority for the Investment Co-financing Programme for the Pacific (ICPP);(iii) indicative list of projects identified as a priority for the intra ACP/thematic cooperation facilities.

For IFP and Intra ACP blending facilities the consultant will use the Template Pipeline for blending facilities and will fill all available information regarding the (potential) project proposals from the leading FIs, EIB, ADB and WB. Each project of the pipeline will include a short description of the project and main objectives, value added of the EU grant and compliance with the PRIP strategic objectives.
For the ICPP the consultant will produce a tentative list of projects proposed to be co-financed under this facility. For each project the consultant will produce a description of the project and main objectives, value added of the EU grant and compliance with the strategic objectives. From the tentative list of projects the consultant will select the more relevant projects to be included in the AD.

The consultant will provide the pipelines as well as the rationale followed for the selection of the priority projects.
(iv) Development of Action Document
Following the identification of priority projects for the ICPP the consultant will produce an AD at the level of identification including several components, one for each selected project, in a single AD to be sent for appraisal and agreement by both the PIFS and the European Union Delegation (EUD).

The consultant will organize visits to at least three countries chosen among Samoa, Salomon Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, and Federal States of Micronesia, Marshal Islands or other Pacific countries eligible for the ICPP. The consultant will justify the list of countries proposed. Countries to be visited will have to be approved by the PIFS and the EU Delegation.

The consultant will conduct stakeholder consultations and/or design workshops in the approved countries in order to draft the AD at the level of identification.

The consultant will also hold discussions on implementation modalities with the EUD. He or She will integrate the comments/suggestions made by PIFS and the EUD in the identification AD.

(v) Final report
After stakeholder consultations, completion of the pipelines of projects for IFP, ICCP and Intra-ACP facilities and completion of the Action Document for ICPP, the consultant will draft a final report.

The report will contain an executive summary, the main finding of the stakeholder consultations; the rationale followed for the selection of priority projects; Indicative list of projects identified as a priority for the Investment Facility for the Pacific (IFP); Indicative list of projects identified as a priority for the Investment Co-financing Programme for the Pacific (ICPP); Indicative list of projects identified as a priority for the intra ACP/ thematic blending and conclusion and recommendations for further work.
The final report will contain Annexes with 2 pages project description for each project contained in the pipelines. The Annexes will include the most accurate and updated information provided by the leading financial institutions and/or development partners regarding the projects.

The final report including recommendations will be discussed with the PIFS and the EUD. The consultant will integrate in the final report comments made by PIFS and the EUD

Academic qualifications:
The successful consultant should have an advanced degree (Masters Level) in economics or finance. He or she should have prior experience of working with blending or similar financial leverage arrangements. Also a minimum of 5 years practical experience of working in the Pacific region is required.

Knowledge, skills and experience:
(i) Should have an advanced degree (Masters Level) in Economics and/or Finance or similar;
(ii) Should have at least 5 years of practical experience working in the field of Blending or similar leverage operations;
(iii) Should have at least 5 year of practical experience of working in the Pacific region;
(iv) Prior experience of working with International Financial Institutions (IFI’s) in the Pacific Region and key development partners;
(v) Prior Experience working with EU Development Programs, particularly drafting Action Document proposals would be an asset;
(vi) Should be an excellent communicator and proposal writer;
(vii) Completely fluent in both written and spoken English.
Evaluation Criteria:
Item Percentage (%)
Qualifications of the Expert (s) 10%
Relevant Experience of the Expert 40%
Methodology 30%
Financial 20%

The Proposal should be a maximum of 2 pages, together with Annexes (Cv’s et al) and include a Financial Offer.

How to apply:

Submissions should be entitled:

Expression of Interest - CONSULTANCY ON BLENDING AND INVESTMENT

Method of Submissions:

Submissions must be forwarded in PDF format following the instructions at: www.tenders.net/forumsec.

*All interested bidders will need to register at www.tenders.net/forumsec.

Deadline for Submissions:

Submissions need to reach the Secretariat by 5pm (Fiji time) on Tuesday, 24 January 2017.

Late or incomplete tenders will not be considered.

All queries or request for information must be submitted via the Question and Answer Forum on www.tenders.net/forumsec before 5pm on Monday 16 January 2017.

All queries will be responded to via the Question and Answer Forum on www.tenders.net/forumsec before 5pm on Wednesday 18 January 2017.

Note: The Secretariat will not be responsible for non-receipt/non-delivery of the Bid documents due to any reason whatsoever.

Any complaints regarding the Secretariat’s tender must be directed to the following email: Tender.Complaints@forumsec.org. This email address will forward your complaint to a person that is independent and removed from the tender process. Complaints must be well founded and should not be used as a mechanism for notifying displeasure with the outcome of a tender award. Further information on making a complaint can be found on the Policies & Information page at http://tenders.forumsec.org.

In the event that further information is required by the Secretariat in relation to the Request for tender, the Secretariat reserves the right to seek the required information without the need for calling for resubmission of proposals.