Trade Policy Consultant for Trade in Services: Distribution Services Related to Wholesale... Tender

Procurement Summary

Country : USA

Summary : Trade Policy Consultant for Trade in Services: Distribution Services Related to Wholesale and Retails

Deadline : 25 Aug 2019

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 35653881

Document Ref. No. :

Competition : ICB

Financier : United Nations Secretariat

Purchaser Ownership : -

Tender Value : Refer Document

Purchaser's Detail

Purchaser : UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (UNDP)
One United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017
USA
URL :https://www.undp.org

Tender Details

Tenders are invited for Trade Policy Consultant for Trade in Services: Distribution Services Related to Wholesale and Retails


Background

The project of Strengthening Arab Economic Integration for Sustainable Development (AEISD), by UNDP, sets as objective, provision of technical assistance to the League of Arab States (LAS), specifically Economic Sector and relevant organs, and member states of Pan Arab Free Trade Area (PAFTA) in working towards a deepened integration, including preparations for the Arab Customs Union. Its second important component relates to strengthening the Arab connectivity among economies in the region with the expectation, these efforts would be translated into more contribution of economic integration for better livelihood of people, more employment opportunity and participation by the private sector. Trade has significant potential to fight poverty in Arab countries through generation of more income and access to markets. Its third component focuses on the promotion of inclusiveness and transparency as part of the development agenda, particularly on the economic empowerment of women, for regional economic integration.

Built on the progress achieved in the previous program of support to implementation of the Executive Program of the agreement on Facilitating and Developing Trade among Arab Countries (PAFTA), the current project focuses on specific aspects of making trade an engine of inclusive and sustainable growth guided by the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. In continuation, the Project will also focus on helping countries and the main sub-regional and regional integration entities to accelerate the pace of trade reforms and regional economic integration, to strengthen the employment effects of those reforms, with a focus on women and youth, and to mobilize additional resources for this purpose.

The project also aims to address specific challenges and complexities that Arab countries (and League of Arab States) face to enhance regional economic integration, more specifically in the transition from an FTA- based framework towards making the customs union a reality. The following presents major areas of focus:

Provide a structured and targeted technical support to LAS Secretariat and Arab negotiators on trade policy formulation and reform under PAFTA.
Provide assistance to the LAS Secretariat with a view of strengthening its organizational capacity in the pursuit of further facilitation of the regional economic integration agenda as well as promotion of trade liberalization.
Assist target Arab countries with collaboration with national policy makers in trade and economic fields in efforts of modernization and reform of trade policy in taking into consideration new developments.
Facilitation of transport and trade activities constitutes one of key areas to support national programs of enhancement of national competitiveness and better market access and more integration of the value chain.
Promotion of gender equality and women empowerment as well as generation of business and job opportunity for youth is also a key target of project activities. Moreover, good governance constitutes a pre-requisite in deepening Arab economic integration to a higher level of commitment with inclusiveness and sustainability.
Promotion of the contribution of trade, as one of the pillars to achievement of SDGs at national and regional level.
According to UNCTAD recent studies, services- contribution to income generation, employment creation and foreign exchange earnings has increased significantly over the last two decades. Over the last 20 years, in developed countries, the importance of services has grown continuously with services now accounting for over 70 per cent of both GDP and total employment. Growth of services has also occurred in developing countries, however, the share of services in GDP and employment remains at 50 per cent and 35 per cent respectively. On average, services in developing countries grows at the rate of eight percent on annual basis in the last decade.

These figures suggest a large untapped potential for developing countries to advance the development of the services sectors. Principal approaches towards this goal include the creation of an enabling environment through improved regulatory and institutional frameworks for the services economy and more liberalized services trade to enhance market access and investment opportunities.

Given the multifaceted nature of the services economy, with its successful development strongly affected by diverse resource requirements, inter-sectoral linkages and critical roles played by carefully designed national regulatory and incentive-based policies, many developing countries require technical assistance to identify and construct effective institutional frameworks and policy reform packages needed to ensure development gains from services and services trade liberalization.

UNCTAD-s Services Policy Reviews (SPRs)[1] are designed to meet this need. The ultimate SPR goal is to strengthen the capacity of developing country policy makers, regulators and trade negotiators to capture new market opportunities and address national challenges in key and sometimes sensitive services sectors. To this effect, each SPR guides requesting countries through a systematic review of the economic, regulatory, institutional and trade policy environments characterizing their services sectors with the aim of assisting them to improve regulatory and institutional frameworks and to identify trade policy options that advance national sectoral development objectives.

Trade in services has gained importance in most Arab countries - a consistent pattern for developing countries that embark on the economic diversification. According to statistics by the Arab Monetary Fund (2017) on trade by Arab economies, contribution of extractive industries (i.e. mining, oils, gas) to GDP continue to be on the downward trend, while manufacturing, agriculture and services are rising.

For the Moroccan economy, the pattern of importance of services to the GDP is consistent during the period from 2012 to 2017 in which, trade in services accounts for around 27 percent of the GDP in 2017 (against the average ratio of 21 percent of GDP of all Arab economies) with average growth rate of 4 percent on annual basis.

To assist Morocco-s efforts towards Arab economic integration, particularly in the area of trade in services, UNCTAD and UNDP were requested by the Moroccan authorities for support in June 2018. UNDP held consultations with the Government of Morocco, represented by the Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy (MIITDE) and agreed on a technical assistance programme on trade in services in December 2018.

Based on the request for technical assistance by the Government of Morocco to UNDP in conjunction with UNCTAD, and after consultations with Moroccan trade policy makers during a joint UNDP/UNCTAD scoping mission conducted in May 7 to 9 2019, the Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy (MIITDE), decided that the SPR would include the review and analysis of three specific services sectors, on a priority basis, namely: (i) Logistics Services in relation to the transportation and distribution of pharmaceutical products, (ii) Distribution services, comprised of wholesale services trade and retailing, and (iii) Professional Services Sector, limited to the sub-sector on Legal Services.

Building on UNCTAD-s Services Policy Review (SPR) work and experience in many developing countries, the SPR analysis would cover the broad economic and associated social dynamics of the national services sector as a whole and examine the potential of new markets as well in particular in Arab and African countries. The three aforementioned services sectors will be therefore the subject of the SPR to be undertaken by UNCTAD and UNDP for Morocco in 2019 - 2020.

Consultancy work, to be undertaken by the expert, under the supervision of and with guidance from UNCTAD in collaboration with UNDP, would contribute to the comprehensive review report on the three identified sectors as indicated in the earlier paragraph to be submitted to the Government of Morocco and concerned stakeholders. The expert will be part of the working team with experts from UNCTAD and UNDP, and it is expected that his work be integrated within the consolidated SPR final report. For that purpose, specific Terms of Refence (ToR) for the review of the three mentioned service sectors are developed. The execution of this consultancy work is carried out under UN rules and regulations applicable for Delegated Direct Implementation and fully aligned to UNDP Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP).






Duties and Responsibilities

Around the world, suppliers of distribution services provide the necessary link between millions of producers of goods and billions of consumers, within and across borders. As such, distribution services are key to the proper functioning of a market economy. Sales of the retail sector account for about one third of total consumer spending globally. The way the distribution sector interacts with producers and consumers has significant economic consequences in terms of timeliness, convenience and costs. The efficiency of the sector is crucial to ensuring consumer welfare, i.e., providing access to a wide variety of goods at competitive prices and with adequate quality. Inefficient distribution services limit the extent to which gains from the liberalization of trade in goods benefit consumers in terms of lower prices and greater choice. Exposure to competition stimulates local suppliers to improve their production methods and standards, the organization of their supply chains, and their use of technology. Failure of the distribution sector to perform its role well can lead to a significant misallocation of resources and economic costs. Distributors` margins represent a significant portion of the final price of products[1].

As average incomes expand along with the rising of the middle class in Morocco, the retail sector is exposed to number of opportunities for development, which can turn into concrete business opportunities. Although large-scale outlets have become a norm in several of the kingdom-s major cities, less-formal commerce still accounts for a large proportion of sales. In effect, the movement towards modern retail is underpinned by stable economic fundamentals that are expected to continue over the long term[2].

The retail sector represents 12% of the country`s GDP[3] and the Moroccan government has shown commitment to improving its contribution through its Rawaj Vision 2020. It has been introduced in 2017 by the Ministry of Industry and aimed to modernize distribution and supply chains and boost the sector-s contribution to GDP from 11% to 15%. To achieve this, the plan called for the development of 600 supermarkets and hypermarkets, as well as 15 malls and 15 outlet stores. Importance of the retail sector in the domestic economy is rising in recent years. The Moroccan Investment Development and Export Agency (Agence Marocaine de Développement des Investissements et des Exportations, AMDIE) estimates, it now accounts for 11% of GDP and provides around 12.8% of total employment, with as many as 1.2m people working in the sector. In addition, the Casablanca-Rabat corridor accounts for about 50% of all modern retailers (Wholesale and Retail of Food in Morocco 2018 report, private sector involved).

According to the 2017 Global Retail Development Index, published by US consulting firm AT Kearney, ranked Morocco seventh out of 30 countries in the category of attractiveness for retail development, seven places up from 14th in the 2016 index[4]. Due to the significant potential of the services sectors in improving welfare for the citizens toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Morocco prioritized the review of Distribution services (Wholesale trade services and Retailing services) with the view of making the operating environment more viable and consider policy measures to capitalize on the exporting potential in new markets for services. The aim is to improve the regulatory, institutional and trade policy related to the Distribution services sector.

Ultimately the SPR would assist the government to, design and implement a strategic action plan for Distribution services at the country level, and to identify trade policy options to advance national sectoral development objectives, as well as to enhance the competitiveness of the sector in foreign markets at the regional level as a priority, as well as integration in the global services market. The national expert (NE) will be responsible for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the current status of distribution services, with focus on wholesale and retail services in the country. The methodology of the trade policy review is based on the Service Policy Review (SPR) methodology, designed by UNCTAD, with due account for corresponding adjustments to conditions and operational environment of Morocco. Accordingly, the final report of the review of this sector should cover, inter alia, the following:

Economic review of the Distribution (wholesale and retailing);
Role and performance of the two sub- sectors;
Regulation, institution, and policy measures impacting the said sub-sectors;
Trade liberalization commitments affecting these sub-sectors at bilateral, regional and multilateral level;
Analysis of Strength-Weakness-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) of the sub- sectors.
Expectedly, from the findings of the review, Morocco will identify the corresponding institutional and policy measures to further develop the supply side capacity in the distribution services sector, design adequate sequencing of reforms, elaborate a coherent and comprehensive strategic framework for the distribution services sector, focusing on wholesale and retail sub-sectors, and identify trade policy options that advance national sectoral development objectives and improve the services exports to potential foreign markets. The main focus of this assignment is to undertake a review and analysis of wholesale and retail distribution services sectors from a trade in services perspective. As per the SPR aim SPR, the Moroccan government will be equipped with the following:

A set of reform (or reform measures) to enhance performance and competitiveness of the distribution wholesale and retail services sectors;
A set of development objectives that reforms are expected to achieve
A set of indicators against which the effects of proposed reforms could be assessed;
An action plan designating national entity responsible for leading the implementation of each recommendation, as well as an approximate timeframe and sequence for the implementation of each recommendation.
For the purpose of this assignment, the national expert will focus on the collection of trade statistics, quantitative and qualitative analysis of the Moroccan distribution services, with a particular focus on the sub-sector of wholesale and retail sectors services. The review should prioritize the analysis of factors, productive and supply capacity of the distribution sector in the pursuit of more efficient performance. At the same time, outputs of the policy review would contribute to long-term objective of enhancing Moroccan distribution providers to access foreign markets.


Application Deadline: 25-Aug-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Type of Contract: Individual Contract

Languages Required: Arabic French

Starting Date: (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)
17-Sep-2019

Duration of Initial Contract :
66 working days over a period of 9 months

Duration of Initial Contract: 66 working days over a period of 9 months

Documents

 Tender Notice