Expert in Services and Investment and Scheduling Commitments By Negative List
| Job stage: | Immediate Opportunity | Wage: | Commensurate with Experience |
| Position Type: | Consultant, Short Term, Full-Time | ||
| Closing On: | 05/15/2020 | ||
| Posted: | 03/31/2020 | ||
| Country: | Home based |
Technical Expert - Terms of Reference
Project Name: Drafting Services and Investment Schedules
Deadline to Apply: May 15, 2020 NEW APPLICATION DEADLINE DATE
BACKGROUND
Funded by the Government of Canada and implemented on behalf of Global Affairs Canada by Cowater International and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC), the Expert Deployment Mechanism for Trade and Development (EDM) provides trade technical assistance to Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligible countries to maximize the development impact of their trade and investment agreements with Canada. Over seven years (2018-2025), EDM will invest CAD $16.5 million to support Canada’s developing country trading partners to negotiate, implement, adapt to and benefit from trade and investment agreements with Canada.
EDM is a demand-driven project that will benefit potential partners – including governments, local private sector group and civil society organizations – through capacity building and technical advisory support on policy reform issues that have a high potential to reduce poverty and gender inequalities, and support progress in trade and investment agreement negotiations.
Paraguay has been identified by Global Affairs Canada as a priority country for trade technical assistance under the EDM, in the context of the ongoing Canada-MERCOSUR FTA negotiations. Assistance provided under the EDM is expected to strengthen Paraguay’s capacity to participate in the negotiations, to implement the resulting agreement and to benefit from the opportunities created.
Paraguay has achieved impressive economic growth in recent years, expanding at an average rate of around 5% of GDP per year and graduating to upper-middle income country status in 2015 (UN classification system) with a per capita income of $12,800 US in 2017. This growth has also been reasonably widely shared, with a reduction in poverty of 49% - and a reduction of extreme poverty of 65% - over the past decade.
Despite these achievements, 22.2% of the population remained below the poverty line in 2015, poverty reduction has slowed, much of the economy remains informal, the regulatory environment is uncertain (principally gaps in the regulatory regime), which negatively affects the investment climate (World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking of 113), as does corruption (Transparency International ranking of 132).
Paraguay is also highly vulnerable to global economic shocks. Exports are comprised of a narrow range of products, classified in only 7 of the 99 chapters of the WCO Harmonized System. Of these products, 63% are agricultural – mostly soy and beef – making export performance highly dependent on weather events and fluctuations in global commodity prices. Paraguay’s central trade challenge is to diversify its production, by strengthening both the manufacturing and services sectors. At the same time, efforts are needed to move agricultural production higher up the value chain. Infrastructure for trade needs to be improved, including to strengthen border controls to increase tariff revenue and reduce re-exports.
EDM is funded under the development mandate of Global Affairs Canada and, in additional to meeting the legal requirements of the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act, must strive to achieve the objectives of the Feminist International Assistance Policy in all of it activities. Much has been done to establish the legal and institutional basis to advance equality in Paraguayan society, but women remain underrepresented in the senior ranks of government and business and face all the classic barriers to participation in the economy. Experts engaged to deliver trade technical assistance to Paraguay will work with the EDM expert on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion and the recipient organizations in Paraguay to develop concrete measures to ensure that women and other underrepresented/disadvantaged groups both participate in and benefit from all projects.
An EDM mission to Paraguay, conducted in October 2019, identified technical assistance needs in trade policy capacity-building, including support to revise Paraguay’s schedules of commitments in trade and investment agreements. In its existing trade and investment agreements, Paraguay has scheduled commitment by positive list and seeks expert assistance to reframe its commitments in the form of a negative list.
This assistance is consistent with the approved EDM Country Needs Assessment Plan for Paraguay, Mandate 1, Trade Policy Capacity Building, and the EDM Performance Measurement Framework, Immediate Outcome 1210, enhancing the ability of partner country governments to strengthen, implement and measure legislation, regulations, policies and/or standards that support inclusive trade and investment agreements with Canada.
The direct beneficiaries of this assistance are the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and other officials responsible for the drafting of negotiating text in the area of trade in services and investment. The indirect beneficiaries include services exporters and businesses seeking foreign investment.
DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT
Technical assistance has been requested by the Directorate General of Services Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, to revise the schedules of commitments for trade in services and investment.
The consultant(s) will:
- Conduct one or more missions to Asuncion, Paraguay, to provide expert gender-sensitive guidance to officials in the drafting of schedules of commitments by negative list in 5 key service industry sectors – distribution, communications, construction, transportation and financial services.
- Integrate gender equality and social inclusion considerations into all aspects of the technical assistance, researching and drawing upon emerging good practices in the areas of gender equality, social inclusion and trade, specifically as they relate to drafting schedules of commitments for trade in services and investment.
TECHNICAL EXPERT PROFILE/EXPERTISE REQUIRED
Applicants for this assignment must have :
- Extensive experience in services and investment trade policy.
- A comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the obligations in the Services and Investment chapters of international trade agreements.
- Extensive experience in drafting schedules of commitments for trade in services and investment
- Experience in providing technical assistance to developing countries.
- The EDM includes a core focus on gender and social inclusion as well as on environmental issues associated with trade activities. The approach to TA related to both topics is included in guidance documents that are available to both TA applicants and Technical Experts. Successful applicants are required to research and integrate specific good and emerging practices in these areas-partnering with other expert consultants if necessary- which form a core part of the mandate of the TA provider. Any prior experience in the provision of TA on gender equality and social inclusion and environment will be viewed as a strong asset.
Anticipated duration of activities: May 2020 – December 2020
REPORTING AND DELIVERABLES
Deliverables:
- Mission plans, including a detailed costing and proposed work schedule.
- Final activity report as per EDM report guidelines as outlined below.
NOTE: This technical assistance involves advice and direct participation in the preparation of negotiating text and tactics. The expert consultant may, therefore, have access to confidential information and must demonstrate, in their response to this request for proposals, how such information will be protected.
Reporting:
On conclusion of the activities, the consultant will prepare a final report as per EDM report guidelines, including:
- General context and broad objective(s) of the activity
- A summary of the approach and specific activities
- Expected and unanticipated challenges in the delivery of the activities
- Outlines results, including the immediate outcomes and the anticipated longer-term benefits
- Sustainability of results
- Contribution to gender equality, social inclusion and sustainable development
- Recommended performance management framework and specific performance measures
- Recommended next steps in the implementation of the CPTPP in Vietnam, including future EDM deployments.
- Lessons learned for future EDM interventions.
APPLICATION PROCESS
For your application to be considered, please name your documents in the following format: Candidate Last Name, First Name, and the Position you are applying for.
Your proposal should consist of the following:
- Cover letter:
- Describe your specific approach to implementing this TA. Provide as much detail as possible.
- Describe your project management and monitoring strategy for the implementation of the activities.
- Indicate all personnel who are being proposed to implement this project and their roles and responsibilities.
- Include all CVs of proposed personnel/experts.
- Provide estimated level of effort (in days) and consulting rates (in CAD$) for each proposed personnel and/or expert who will be implementing the project. Submit your budget estimate as a separate file.
Proposals can be submitted by a single consultant or a consortium of consultants.
Please submit your application through the Cowater Career Page, including cover letter and application documents outlined above by April 14, 2020.
If you have any questions regarding the position or requirements, inquiries and questions can be sent to info@edm-mde.ca .
Please note, applications will not be accepted via email and must be sent through the Cowater International Career Page.
ABOUT US
With more than 34 years’ experience, Cowater International is Canada’s global leader in management consulting services specializing in international development and has managed the implementation of over 800 projects in more than 80 countries around the globe. We work with governments, partner organizations, communities and civil society to design and implement sustainable solutions that generate lasting social, financial and environmental impacts. Our adaptive approach to management has led to our award-winning work and recognition as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies in 2017 and 2018. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Cowater International also has corporate offices in Montreal, Quebec, Paris, France, Pretoria, South Africa, and London, United Kingdom, Nairobi, Kenya in addition to project offices in a wide variety of other locations across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
We thank you for your interest in building a better tomorrow with Cowater International.
Visit the Cowater website for additional informaiton: https://www.cowater.com/en/career/career-opportunities/