Business Development (Agro-processing) Consultant – Antigua and Barbuda

GOVERNMENT OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

STRENGTHENING THE PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN THE CARICOM SINGLE MARKET AND ECONOMY

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (AGRO-PROCESSING) CONSULTANT

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

1. BACKGROUND

1.01      The Government of Antigua and Barbuda (GOAB) has received financing by way of a grant from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) pursuant to the CARIFORUM-EU CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) Standby Facility for Capacity Building under the 10^th European Development Fund (EDF) in an amount not exceeding the equivalent of two hundred and seventy-five thousand, six hundred and two United States dollars (USD275,602) towards the cost of the Strengthening the Private Sector Participation in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy Project. The Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Industry, Sports and National Festivals (MTCI), the Implementing Agency of 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 GOAB.

1.02      Payments by CDB will be made only at the request of GOAB 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 GOAB 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 MTCI now intends to procure consultancy services for a Business Development (Agro-processing) Consultant.

2.02      The objective of the consultancy is to deliver business development services to agro-processing sector stakeholders that is aimed at improving the competitiveness and export-readiness of the agro-processors; and level of sales to the local tourism sector and targeted regional markets.The duration of the assignment is expected to be over a period of 12 calendar months.

2.03      The MTCI 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 Antigua and Barbuda 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      In the assessment of submissions, consideration will be given to:

(a) qualifications and experience, including:

(i) a Postgraduate Degree in Food Science and Technology, Industrial Engineering, Quality Assurance or a related field;

(ii) at least 10 years’ experience and a sound track record in providing business development support/consulting services to the agro-processing or specialty food industry including conduct of sector analysis; market research, analysing the training and development needs of agro-processors; and provision of training and technical advice on food safety, quality assurance, GMP, product development, marketing, plant layout and production processes;

(iii) sound working knowledge of the global food/specialty food industry and markets; and “best practices” for improving the competitiveness of agro-processors/specialty food enterprises;

(iv) sound working knowledge of the global food/specialty food industry and markets; and “best practices” for improving the competitiveness of agro-processors/specialty food enterprises;

(v)sound understanding of the opportunities for and challenges to growth of the agro-processing/specialty food sector in the Caribbean; and

(vi) sound gender analysis skills as evidenced by prior experience with integrating gender in trade policies, strategies and/or projects.

4. SUBMISSION OF EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

4.01      Expressions of Interest must be submitted in English and electronically by email to Michelle.Joseph@ab.gov.ag in pdf format no later than 15:00 hours Antigua and Barbuda time on Friday, October 30, 2015. The email subject line should state “Expression of Interest – Business Development (Agro-processing) Consultancy” 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 Senior Trade Policy Analyst. 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 address 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 (Agro-processing) Consultancy”. GOAB 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 08:00 and 16:30 hours Monday to Thursday and 08:00 and 15:00 hours on Fridays.

[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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