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International Consultant - Senior Economic Advisor
Procurement Process :IC - Individual contractor
Office :Saudi Arabia - SAUDI ARABIA
Deadline :27-Jan-23
Posted on :14-Jan-23
Development Area :CONSULTANTS  CONSULTANTS
Reference Number :97440
Link to Atlas Project :
00137889 - Umbrella Programme for Socio-Economic Development
Documents :
TORs
IC GT&C
IC Offerors Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability
P11
Overview :

 

 

Terms of Reference

 

Post Title:

Senior Economic Advisor

Starting Date

ASAP

Duration:

12 months

Location

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Project:

00137889 - Umbrella Programme for Socio-Economic Development

National or International consultancy

International Consultant

 

  1. Project Title

00137889 - Umbrella Programme for Socio-Economic Development

 

  1. Project Description 

For the last four decades, Saudi Arabia has realized and sustained remarkable progress along the socioeconomic development path. As a result of this, the Kingdom has been able to move to a high-income country. The GDP, for instance, increased from SR156 billion in 1969 to SR 2,631 billion in 2018, putting the Economy among the top 20 global economies in terms of size. Based on the annual ranking of the Human Development Index (HDI) of the Human Development Report, Saudi Arabia has steadily moved from the medium human development category in the 1990s to the very high human development category in 2018 at 0.857 value of HDI.

The Saudi Vision 2030 represents an ambitious resolve with long-term goals and expectations founded on the strengths and capabilities of the Kingdom. It covers the three themes of a vibrant society, a thriving economy, and an ambitious nation. A thorough review of the three themes and their underlying issues of national concern would reveal a holistic approach to development that encompasses the three dimensions of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): the social, the economic and the environmental.

 

The Umbrella Program for Socio-Economic Development is a partnership between the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) and UNDP aims at mainstreaming social and economic development the national policies, sectoral and regional plans. It focuses on mobilizing technical assistance and capacity development to MEP to facilitate economic and social transformation, including economic diversification, inclusive and accelerated economic growth. Specifically, the program framework covers the following main areas:

  • SDGs monitoring and reporting.
  • Policymaking, policy analysis and regional development planning.
  • Producing the National Human Development Report

Within this context, the project seeks to recruit a Senior Territorial Development Expert to support the "Sectoral and Regional Development Affairs" Deputyship at the Ministry of Economy and Planning (Regional Development Affairs Department) at MEP to improve and maintain the Territorial development toolkit of the Department. The Expert will also focus on capacity building and transfer of knowledge to the Regional Development Affairs Department.

 

 

  1. Scope of Work

Consultants typically work for consulting firms or as self-employed individuals to help clients succeed in a specialized area. They use their background within one or more industries to offer professional guidance to corporations and individuals. Their job is to evaluate information about their clients to establish growth plans and identify potential errors that affect their client’s success.

They may also be responsible for overseeing the completion of training initiatives, marketing events or other strategic components to ensure success.

 

 

  1. Duties and responsibilities

 

The consultant will:

 

  • Develop Economic diversification strategies
  • Design policies, regulations, and ecosystems
  • Develop a National Industrial Strategy
  • Produce comprehensive recommendations and studies
  •  Conduct interviews, surveys, technical working groups, and focus groups
  •  Apply sophisticated methodologies and systemic analysis for solving challenges

 

 

 

  1. Deliverables:
  •  

Expected number of working days

Payment Schedule & Amounts

Deliverable 1 -. Activation of the retail sector

1.1.      Development of framework, concept and methodology for retail sector activation

1.2.      Identifying key stakeholders

1.3.      Mapping the retail value chain

1.4.      Mapping the segmentation of the Kingdoms retail

1.5.      Mapping the physical location of major retailers across the Kingdom

1.6.      Mapping the ecosystem of the retail sector – cluster mapping with private and public players

1.7.      Develop and design a framework with private sector stakeholders in retail, and other related and supporting players across the value chain

1.8.      Identifying key challenges and potential solutions

1.9.      Design road map for activation of the retail sector – moving up the regional and global value chain

1.10.  Align the retail sector activation with the Vision 2030 goals

1.11.  Align with the Vision 2030 Goals and the MEP Deputyship Mandate

1.12.  Identify the current status of laws, regulations and policies for promoting and facilitating the family business in the Kingdom

1.13.  Benchmark with GCC/UAE and globally to identify best practices

1.14.  Develop and design a framework for private sector stakeholder collaboration on family business

1.15.  Align with the Vision 2030 Goals and the MEP Deputyship Mandate

 

60

Chief Technical Advisor of the project

 

 

 

 

Deliverable 2 Develop a concept and a framework for the promotion of faster trade across the Kingdom

2.1. Establish the core ecosystem map of the traded cluster/sector of the Kingdom – private and public stakeholders

2.2. Establish the core value chain of the Kingdom's Trade industry

2.3. Establish a map of physical infrastructure connectivity and connectedness

2.4. Align with the Kingdom's Transportation and Logistics Strategy

2.5. Develop a concept and a road map for turning the Kingdom into a global Multimodal Transportation and Logistics Hub

60

Deliverable 3 Creation of Cleantech Cluster in the Kingdom

3.1 Design and Develop concept, framework and methodology for the creation of Cleantech" Cluster in the Kingdom

3.2. Map the key stakeholders for the Cleantech cluster creation – local and global stakeholders

3.3. Align with the Vision 2030 Goals and the MEP Deputyship Mandate

30

Deliverable 4 The State of Construction Cluster of Saudi Arabia

4.1. Establish Kingdom's Construction Value Chain

4.2. Establish Kingdom's Construction Cluster Map with Private and Public players, related and supporting clusters and industries

4.3. Create and launch Construction stakeholder collaboration platform

4.4. Assess and analyze the business environment of the construction sector

4.5. Establish the challenges and solutions in the construction sector/cluster

4.6. Road map for enhancing the competitiveness of the Construction Cluster

4.7. KPIs for the execution of policies, projects and initiatives

4.8. Align with the Vision 2030 Goals and the MEP Deputyship Mandate

30

Deliverable 5 Enhancing the Competitiveness of Kingdom's Building Materials Sector

30

Deliverable 6 Design and Develop a Framework for collaboration with Kingdom's Economic and Industrial zones on cluster developments

30

Deliverable 7  Creation of interactive cluster map of Saudi Arabia

7.1. Based on the Regional Development Competitive Advantage study, design and develop an interactive map locating major clusters' locations in the Kingdom.

7.2. Analyze the connectivity and inputs within the clusters across the country

7.3. Align with the Vision 2030 Goals and Deliverables – zoom in to the strategic clusters for the Vision 2030

7.4. Align with the Vision 2030 Goals and the MEP Deputyship Mandate

120

Deliverable 8 Project on developing Economic Complexity Index for the Kingdom

90

Deliverable 9 Project on Private Sector Participation

90

Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP

ongoing

Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees

ongoing

 

  1. Institutional Arrangement
  • The expert will be reporting to the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Planning and UNDP focal person. A detailed work plan for the expert’s duties and responsibilities will be formulated by the MEP.
  • Reporting and follow-up Mechanism: The Expert will report monthly to his/her supervisor and to the Senior Programme Associate Advisor. The Specialist will submit monthly reports to his/her supervisor, including activities, outputs, performance indicators, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations

 

  1. The Duration of the Assignment
  • The expected duration of work is 12 Months, with the possibility of an extension.
  • The anticipated starting date of the assignment is 1st of March 2023. And the expected date of full completion of all tasks under this assignment is 29th of February of 2024.

 

  1. The Duty Station
  • The assignment will be in-country (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). He/ She will be embedded within The Advisor and will be based at the Ministry of Economy and Planning. 
  • If unforeseen travel outside the consultant's home-based city is requested by UNDP and not required by the Terms of References (ToR), such travel shall be covered by UNDP in line with applicable rules and regulations and upon prior written agreement. In such cases, the consultant shall receive living allowances not exceeding the United Nations (UN) Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rate for such other location(s).

 

  • Note: A written approval from UNDP and relevant authorities will be required to facilitate the consultant's travel to any locations than stated on this TOR on official missions where necessary.

 

 

 

Working Arrangements:

 

  • All mission travels must be approved in advance and in writing by the supervisor.
  • United Nations Development of Safe and Security – BSAFE course must be successfully completed prior to the commencement of travel.
  • The Consultant is responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director.
  • The consultant is also required to comply with the UN security directives.
  • The consultant is responsible for obtaining any visas needed in connection with travel with the necessary support from UNDP.
  • The consultant will be responsible for submitting his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies.
  • The consultant is responsible for required health and life insurance related to work or travel.
  • The consultant is expected to have his/her own Laptop/Computer.

 

  1. Required Skills and Experience
    1.  Education:
  • Master's degree in economics, international Economy, Business Administration, Public Policy, or a related field is required.
    1. Experience:
  • At least 20 years of progressively responsible relevant experience involving the application of economic principles and policies at the national and international levels.
  • At least 15 years of experience in the construction of tools, composite indexes, and model-based analyses (Geographic Information Systems)
  • Proven experience in the provision of economic development policy advice to the government
  • Proven experience in Preparing reports and economic studies.
  • Knowledge of GCC and KSA development situation and challenges
  • Extensive experience and understanding of the existing studies and tools related to the economic analysis
  • Experience in n drafting policy documents and analytical reports.
    1. Language: 
  •  Excellent command of English (both written and spoken) is Mandatory.
  • Knowledge Arabic Language is an asset but is not mandatory  
    1. Competencies
  • Conceptualizes and analyzes problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate
  • Excellent track record of creating high-performing and effective teams
  • Ability to identify beneficiaries’ needs, and to match them with appropriate solutions
  • Shares knowledge and experience and provides helpful feedback and advice
  • Excellent communication and interview skills (with groups and individuals)
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to negotiate with diplomacy and tact
  • Focuses on results for the client and responds positively to feedback
  • Ability to handle a large volume of work possibly under time constraints
  • Strong time management and deadline-sensitive abilities
  • Remains calm, in control and works well under pressure
  • Excellent report writing skills.

 

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, and nationality sensitivity and adaptability

Functional Competencies:

  • Ability to handle effectively multiple tasks without compromising quality, team spirit, and positive, working relationships
  • Highly savvy in program design and implementation with strong knowledge- base in the Urban field or National transformation processes.
  • Demonstrated ability to conceptualize, develop and oversee complex program implementation.

Management and leadership

  • Excellent communication, organizational and management skills
  • Focuses on the impact and results of the client
  • Demonstrate conflict resolution skills
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and positive-constructive attitude
  • Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors
  • Effectively manages teams and creates an enabling work environment
  • Effective coacher and mediator

 

 

  1. Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments:

 

All proposals must be expressed in a lump sum amount. This amount must be "all-inclusive". Please note that the terms "all-inclusive" implies that all costs (professional fees, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal.

Payments shall be made to the individual contractor upon successful completion and certification by UNDP that services have been satisfactorily performed, based upon the actual number of working days and accomplishments of each deliverable.

Payment shall be made as a deliverables-based lump upon the receipt of the deliverables and certification of satisfactory performance by UNDP.

 

The Expert will share a Certificate of Payment (CoP) where he/he needs to indicate achieved outputs. Then the certificate of payment must be verified by the UNDP Team and certified by UNDP top management. The Expert is advised to keep a detailed timesheet of the days worked and tasks performed throughout the consultancy assignment. A bi-weekly update of the timesheet will be requested, and such documentation will support the payment process as deemed needful.

 

 

 

Payment

Phases

Anticipated completion date

Payment Percentage

1st payment 

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 1, 2, 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 1 -. Activation of the retail sector. Completion rate of 50%
  • Deliverable 2 Develop a concept and a framework for the promotion of faster trade across the Kingdom Completion rate of 50%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of March 2023

8%

2nd Payment

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 1, 2, 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 1 -. Activation of the retail sector. Completion rate of 50%
  • Deliverable 2 Develop a concept and a framework for the promotion of faster trade across the Kingdom Completion rate of 50%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of April 2023

8%

3rd Payment

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 3, 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 3 Creation of Cleantech Cluster in the Kingdom. Completion rate of 100%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of May 2023

9%

4th Payment

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 4, 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 4 The State of Construction Cluster of Saudi Arabia Completion rate of 100%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of June 2023

8%

5th Payment

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 5, 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 5 Enhancing the Competitiveness of Kingdom's Building Materials Sector Completion rate of 100%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of July 2023

8%

6th Payment

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 6, 7 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 6 Design and Develop a Framework for collaboration with the Kingdom's Economic and Industrial zones on cluster developments. Completion rate of 100%
  • Deliverable 7  Creation of interactive cluster map of Saudi Arabia Completion rate of 25%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of August 2023

9%

7th Payment

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 7, 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 7  Creation of interactive cluster map of Saudi Arabia Completion rate of 25%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of September 2023

8%

8th Payment

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 7, 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 7  Creation of interactive cluster map of Saudi Arabia Completion rate of 25%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of October 2023

8%

9th Payment

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 7, 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 7  Creation of interactive cluster map of Saudi Arabia Completion rate of 25%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of November 2023

9%

10th Payment

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 8, 9, 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 8 Project on developing Economic Complexity Index for the Kingdom Completion rate of 30%
  • Deliverable 9 Project on Private Sector Participation Completion rate of 30%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of January 2024

8%

11th Payment

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 8, 9, 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 8 Project on developing Economic Complexity Index for the Kingdom Completion rate of 30%
  • Deliverable 9 Project on Private Sector Participation Completion rate of 30%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of February 2024

8%

Last Payment

Upon submission and acceptance of the percentage of Deliverables 8, 9, 10 and 12:

  • Deliverable 8 Project on developing Economic Complexity Index for the Kingdom Completion rate of 30%
  • Deliverable 9 Project on Private Sector Participation Completion rate of 30%
  • Deliverable 10 Ad hoc issues as directed by the Deputy Minister of MEP.   Completion rate of 8.3%
  • Deliverable 12 review documents received by MEP from different gov entities and committees Completion rate of 8.3%

End of March  2024

9%

 

 

  1. Recommended Presentation of Offer

For purposes of generating Offers whose contents are uniformly presented and to facilitate their comparative analysis, it is best to recommend the preferred contents and presentation of the offer to be submitted, as well as the format/sequencing of their presentation. The following documents may be requested:

 

  1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
  2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
  3. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per the template provided. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 

 

 

  1. Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Applicants are shortlisted based on the Required Skills and Experience stated in the TOR.

 

The selection of the best offer from the shortlisted candidates will be based on a Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70% and combined with the price offer, which will be weighted a max of 30%.

 

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

 

Step I: Screening and Desk Review

 

Technical Criteria (CV review and Desk Review/Interview optional) – maximum 70 points. Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the CV desk review (who will score at least 49 points) will be considered for the next evaluation stage, i.e., financial evaluation.

Applications will be first screened, and only candidates meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

 

 

Technical Evaluation (70 Points, 70% weight)

 

Requirements

Criteria

Max Points

Education