Business Development Consultant – St. Lucia

GOVERNMENT OF SAINT LUCIA

ENHANCING SAINT LUCIA’S TRADING ENVIRONMENT AND EXPORT CAPABILITIES

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

1. BACKGROUND

1.01     The Government of Saint Lucia (GOSL) has received financing by way of a grant from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) pursuant to the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Standby Facility for Capacity Building under the 10^th European Development Fund (EDF) in an amount not exceeding the equivalent of United States Dollars, two hundred and thirty-six thousand, two hundred and seventy-one, (USD 236,271.00) towards the cost of the Enhancing Saint Lucia’s Trading Environment and Export Capabilities Project. The Ministry of External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation (MEAITCA), the Implementing Agency for the Project, intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this financing to eligible payments under a contract for which this invitation is issued, pursuant to the Financing Agreement between CDB and GOSL.

1.02     Payments by CDB will be made only at the request of GOSL and upon approval by CDB, and will be subject in all respects to the terms and conditions of the Financing Agreement. The Financing Agreement prohibits withdrawal from the financing account for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or import, to the knowledge of CDB, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. No party other than GOSL shall derive any rights from the Financing Agreement or have any claim to the proceeds of the financing.

2. SCOPE OF CONSULTANCY AND ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

2.01     The MEAITCA now intends to procure consultancy services for a Business Development Consultant.

2.02     The objective of the consultancy is to assist the Saint Lucia Manufacturers’ Association (SMA) with collecting and analysing information on Saint Lucia’s priority manufacturing industries; developing a 3-year Strategic Action Plan which will guide the SMA’s efforts at creating a more enabling environment for all enterprises within the manufacturing sector (including youth-led, women-led, men-led enterprises, micro enterprises, and rural –based enterprises); and contributing to the implementation of the country’s agenda for economic growth. The estimated level of effort to complete this assignment is over eight (8) calendar months.

2.03     The MEAITCA now invites eligible individual consultants to submit Expressions of Interest indicating qualifications and experience required to provide these consultancy services.

2.04     The Consultant shall be eligible to participate if:

(a) he or she is a citizen or a bona fide resident of an eligible country; and

(b) in all cases, the consultant:

(i)        has no arrangement and undertakes not to make any arrangements whereby any substantial part of the net profits or other tangible benefits of the contract will accrue or be paid to a person not a citizen or bona fide resident of an eligible country;

(ii)       is not bankrupt or insolvent or in the process of either, or having their affairs administered by the Courts, has not entered into an arrangement with creditors, or is in any analogous situation arising from similar procedures provided for in their national legislation or regulations;

(iii)      has not been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment which has the force of res judicata;

(iv)      has not been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the EU’s financial interest;

(v)       is not guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required as a condition of the participation in the procedure or if they fail to supply this information; and

(vi)      does not expose a conflict of interest.

2.05     Consultants from Saint Lucia and other member countries of CDB, as well as EU Member Countries, which are not CDB Member Countries, and other countries which are eligible under EU procurement provisions,[1] will be eligible to participate in these procurement opportunities.

3. SELECTION CRITERIA

3.01     The Consultant should possess the following:

(a) Post-graduate degree in Economics, International Trade, International Development, Business Administration or a related field;

(b) At least ten (10) years’ experience in the fields of private sector development and export development;

(c) Significant and direct experience for leading the preparation of results-focused strategic plans, programmes and/or projects;

(d) Sound working knowledge of the policies and strategies employed by countries with developed manufacturing sectors;

(e) Sound understanding of the opportunities for and challenges to growth of the manufacturing sector in the Caribbean, particularly within the context of the EPA and CSME;

(f) Sound gender analysis skills as evidenced by prior experience with integrating gender in trade policies, strategies and/or projects; and

(g) Experience in the CARICOM/CARIFORUM and EU regions.

4. SUBMISSION OF EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

4.01     Expressions of Interest must be submitted in English and electronically by email to lisa.philip@govt.lc in pdf format no later than 16:30 hours, Saint Lucia time on Friday, 30 October 2015. The email subject line should state “Expression of Interest – Business Development Consultant” and the email body must state the name and address of the applicant. The Expression of Interest will be deemed to have been received at the time that it is received by the EPA Coordinator at the Ministry of External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation. The burden of proving receipt of the e-mail will be on the applicant and will not be met solely by a read receipt or sent items report generated by the bidder’s computer. In addition, three (3) hard copies of the Expressions of Interest must be received at the first address below and one (1) hard copy must be sent simultaneously to CDB at the second below. The sealed envelope containing each submission should include the name and address of the applicant and shall be clearly marked “Expression of Interest – Business Development Consultant.” GOSL reserves the right to accept or reject late applications or to cancel the present invitation partially or in its entirety. It will not be bound to assign any reason for not selecting any applicant and will not defray any costs incurred by any applicant in the preparation and submission of Expressions of Interest.

5. SELECTION METHOD

5.01     Following the assessment of submissions, the most technically capable and appropriately experienced applicant will be invited to negotiate a contract to provide the consultancy services.

6. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

6.01     All information or request for information must be submitted in English. Further information may be obtained from the first address below between 8:30 – 16:30 hours Monday to Friday.

[1] External action financial instruments and European Development Fund, Rules on participation in procurement procedures and grants, a2a_ecprogrammes_eligibility2014_2020_en.doc, page 7 of 11.

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