1 BACKGROUND
TFO Canada confronts the challenge of global poverty by promoting sustainable economic development through export information, advice and contact. TFO Canada facilitates access to the Canadian marketplace and shares Canadian trade expertise for the benefit of smaller exporters in developing countries. Founded in 1980, TFO Canada is a non-governmental, non-profit organization. The Trading Partners Responsive Facility (TPRF) is a component of the Canadian Market Access and Capacity Building Services Project (CMA-CBS) funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and implemented by TFO Canada between 2014 and 2018. This fund aims at assisting developing countries, and in particular their SMEs, take advantage of new export opportunities created by free trade agreements with Canada. The Facility is intended to respond to priorities identified by the countries themselves, through their exchanges with Canadian Government officials, particularly in the context of trade negotiations or subsequent trade agreement implementation activities. The TPRF places a particular emphasis on initiatives that will help ensure that free trade access to Canada will ultimately contribute to job growth and poverty reduction in developing countries, and those which also address gender inequality or environmental concerns in doing so. In tune with a TPRF initiatives currently planned in the agro food sector export to Canada with ProEcuador, this complementary research focusing on the agro food sector will seek to take a snapshot of the overall business and investment climate and opportunities between Canada and Ecuador. The research has 2 main sub-objectives: 1) Highlight key features of Canada-Ecuador FIPA 1997 and results/trends to date; 2) Make key recommendations for future investment engagement in the agro food sector and potential export generation; The proposed consultancy will be undertaken in the context of the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Ecuador for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (E101522 - CTS 1997 No. 2)
2 OBJECTIVE, PURPOSE & EXPECTED RESULTS
2.1 Overall Objective This research will aim at identifying direct investment opportunities in the agro food sector. The review will look at measures which are needed to enhance the investment climate, and promote investment between both countries to increase their investment flows.
2.2 Purpose The specific purpose of this initiative is to highlight opportunities for direct investment to Ecuador in the agro food sector under the FIPA 1997 framework. This snapshot should inform GAC in relation to the state of the Canadian direct investment to Ecuador. It will intend to identify further sectorial opportunities and suggest key directions for the further cooperation between both countries. Any recommendations developed should consider the impact on economic and social development, preserving the environment, promoting corporate social responsibility as well as the generation of qualified and sustainable jobs, in accordance with the labor regulations in both countries.
2.3 Results to be achieved by the Consultant The consultant is expected to deliver the following results: - Review the Canada-Ecuador FDI progress-achievements to date by key sectors; - Present a snapshot of the agro food sector and subsectors in Ecuador; - Identify strategic agro business subsectors or niches for investment; - Propose directions for potential promotion strategies; - Recommend strategies that can be used to generate positive perceptions of investors on investing in Ecuador ; - Provide a database of the top Canadian agro food investors that Ecuador could target for investment promotion; - Provide a list of potential agro food events that Ecuador should participate and take advantage of the investment attractiveness identified in the scope of this research.
3 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
TFO Canada will be considering applications from registered consultants. All applications (max. 10 pages) should include: (a) an inception report detailing your methodology, deliverables and schedule; (b) a budget; (c) team bios and samples of prior track records; (d) 3 relevant referees. TFO Canada estimates that this assignment will require 15-20 days to complete. Your report would need to be finalized and submitted by end of October 2016
If interested to apply, please could you send your application under the subject title FIPA TPRF Ecuador to the following email address: tfohr@tfocanada.ca by Friday 02 September 2016.