International Economy Advisor

International Economy Advisor

Location :
Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA

Application Deadline :
‎10-Jan-‎23 (Midnight New York, USA)

Time left :
11d 8h 53m

Type of Contract :
Individual Contract

Post Level :
International Consultant

Languages Required :
Arabic English

Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start)
‎15-Jan-‎2023

Duration of Initial Contract :
‎12 months

Expected Duration of Assignment :
‎12 months

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender,
nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups
and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All
applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of
harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected
candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background
checks.

Background

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.

A Consultant, or Analyst, is responsible for providing industry expertise to
corporations and individuals. Their duties include researching their client
and their client's position within an industry, meeting with company
executives or professionals to make suggestions and develop improvement plans
based on their needs and maintaining a professional relationship with their
clients over time.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Undersecretary for International Economics
Affairs Deputyship , and in close coordination with the Chief Technical
Advisor of the project , the Advisor will provide technical advisory
services on policies and strategies relating to the International Economy as
well as support the implementation of these policies.

Duties and responsibilities

Precisely, the Advisor will deliver duties and responsibilities, including the
following:
* Participate in the development and update of the knowledge base, including new or emerging international economic issues of concern to the Kingdom, and support the design and formulation of programmes and policies to address them.
* Conduct analysis on the implications of international economic policies and strategies on the Saudi Economy; identify national development opportunities and highlight potential areas of concern for policy-makers.
* Support the preparation of reports on issues relating to the contemporary Economy, international trade and regional integration.
* Support the harmonization of Saudi policies and strategies (such as trade, investment etc.) to the international policies and regional integration programmes. Support the development of sustainable strategic partnerships.
* Develop research guidelines and standards and provide substantive support to the assessment of policies and strategies.
* Identify capacity needs to support the advancement of MOEP's work on international Economy emerging trends; Design and implement the training to address the identified technical capacity gaps.
* Perform any other relevant substantive tasks that might be requested by the supervisor.
Deliverables:
* Deliverable

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 Regional Development Competitive Advantage study, design and
develop an interactive map locating major clusters' location 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

Institutional Arrangement
* Senior Programme Associate and Programme Advisor/Officer who will directly supervise the Contractor, and to whom he/she will be directly responsible to, reporting to, seeking approval/acceptance of output from.
* 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

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 15th of January ‎2023. And the expected date of full completion of all tasks under this assignment is 31st of December of ‎2023.

The Duty Station**
* The duty station for the Advisor is Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
* The assignment will be in-country (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). He/ She will be embedded within The Advisor 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.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:
* Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards.
* Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.
* Display cultural, gender, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional competencies:
* Strong strategic thinking and analytical skills.
* Ability to organize and manage teams, and work under pressure to achieve the assignment objectives.
* Excellent interpersonal skills, including ability to establish strong cooperative relationships with senior government officials and a diverse set of partners.
* Excellent communication and presentation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

• Education:


• Master's degree in economics, international Economy, Business Administration, Public Policy, or a related field is required.
  Experience:


• At least ‎15 years of progressively responsible relevant experience involving the application of economic principles and policies at the national and international levels. Experience in regional integration, international trade and other areas related to international economics.


• Extensive experience and understanding of strategy development process for the government/ public sector.


• Experience in n drafting policy documents and analytical reports.
  
  Language:


• Excellent command of English and Arabic (both written and spoken) is required.


• 
  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

1st payment

‎1- Participation in the monthly economic report (‎12 monthly reports per
year)

2nd payment

‎2- Participation in the quarterly economic report (‎4 quarterly reports per
year)
‎25% every quarter

3rd payment

‎3- Participation in the Annual Economic Report (‎1 Annual Report per year)

4th payment

‎4- Preparation and realization of the bi-monthly internal Workshop (‎15
Workshops)

5th payment

‎5- Preparation of the Internal Working Paper (‎15 Technical Working Papers)

6th payment

‎6- Daily work of economic consulting on files for the Ministry.

Last Payment

‎7- Availability to young colleagues for the Knowledge Transfer.

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:
*
Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability
using the template provided by UNDP;
* 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.
* 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.

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
*
Master's degree in economics, international Economy, Business Administration,
Public Policy, or a related field is required.

‎15

Relevant professional experience
*
At least ‎15 years of progressively responsible relevant experience involving
the application of economic principles and policies at the national and
international levels.
* Proven experience in regional integration, international trade and other areas related to international economics.

‎30

Work experience in similar contexts
*
Proven experience and understanding of strategy development process for the
government/ public sector.
* Experience in drafting policy documents and analytical reports.

‎25

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of ‎49 points (‎70% of the total technical
points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Weight Per Technical Competence

‎5 (outstanding): ‎96% - ‎100%

The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated an OUTSTANDING capacity
for the analyzed competence.

‎4 (Very good): ‎86% - ‎95%

The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a VERY GOOD capacity for
the analyzed competence.

‎3 (Good): ‎76% - ‎85%

The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a GOOD capacity for the
analyzed competence.

‎2 (Satisfactory): ‎70% - ‎75%

The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a SATISFACTORY capacity
for the analyzed competence.

‎1 (Weak): Below ‎70%

The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a WEAK capacity for the
analyzed competence.

Step II: Financial Assessment:
Financial Proposal - Maximum ‎30 points
* Duly accomplished Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II)

PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

The contractor shall submit a price proposal as below:
The total professional fee shall be converted into a lump-sum contract and
payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance of
deliverables under the contract in accordance with the schedule of payment
linked with deliverables. The financial Proposal should include all relevant
costs (consultancy fees, all envisaged travel costs, living allowances, etc.).

UNDP applies the " Best value for money approach" - the final selection
will be based on the combination of the applicants' qualifications and
financial proposal.

Financial evaluation - Total ‎30% (‎30 points)
The following formula will be used to evaluate the financial proposal:
p = y ( µ/z), where
p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
µ = price of the lowest-priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Instructions for on-line submissions
* Step ‎1: Please prepare all required documents electronically.
Step ‎2: Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF
however, Word format can also be accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs links
Step ‎3: After that, you will receive an auto-reply from the UNDP jobs if your
offer is received successfully.

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and
ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described.
Given the volume of applications that UNDP receives, only shortlisted
offerors will be notified.
UNDP reserves the right to reject any incomplete applications.
Please be informed that we don't accept applications submitted via email.
Interested Offerors are required to submit an application via UNDP Jobsite
system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP
Jobsite system. Please note that UNDP Jobsite system allows only one uploading
of application documents, so please make sure that you merge all your
documents into a single file. Your online application submission will be
acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive
an email acknowledgement within ‎24 hours of submission, your application may
not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application if
necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (‎1) single PDF document
as the system only allows you to upload a maximum of one document.
Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement
notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email
[email protected] with a copy to [email protected] the Procurement
Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests
receiving at least ‎3 working days prior to the submission deadline will be
entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as
a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including
an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry)
will be posted on the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as
provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the
page regularly to make obtain updates related to this Individual Consultant
(IC) Procurement Notice.
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender,
nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups
and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All
applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of
harassment, including sexual harassment and discrimination. All selected
candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background
checks.

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and
ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described.

The interested offeror must read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement
Notice, which can be viewed at https://procurement-
notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=‎97390 for more detailed information
about terms of references, instructions for the offeror, and to download the
documents to be submitted in the offer online.
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender,
nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups
and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All
applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of
harassment, including sexual harassment and discrimination. All selected
candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background
checks.