Economic Advisor; PFM Advisor

The intended start date is 15/03/2023 and the period of implementation of the contract will be maximum 55 months from this date and will finish in any case by 30/06/2027.

1. Project description

EU and the government of Viet Nam have signed the Financing Agreement for the implementation of the Enhancing Economic Governance Programme (EEGP). The EEGP has two projects, providing technical assistance respectively to MPI and MOF. The total budget of the programme is EUR 20 million of which up to EUR 18 million is contributed by the EU and up to EUR 2 million is contributed by the German Government.

The technical cooperation project with MPI (hereinafter referred as ‘the project’) is fully funded by the EU grant, with a maximum budget of EUR 5.5 million, aiming to achieve the objectives and expected results as specified in Section 2 of this document. The successful candidate will be awarded the service contract for the implementation of this project.

The other project of EEGP provides technical assistance to the Ministry of Finance in the following areas (i) Budget management, (ii) Public Debt Management, (iii) Tax Management. This project is co-funded by the EU and the German Government with a maximum budget of EUR 14 million, and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The two projects are complementary and aim to provide the government with technical inputs to address a broad spectrum of issues relevant for economic governance and the dualism of the public financial management system. Therefore, in implementing technical cooperation with MPI, the contractor is required to maintain effective communication and collaboration with the other project to ensure the coherence of the programme and achievement of intended results.

The project will provide advisory services and relevant support to MPI to deliver expected outputs and achieve 4 specific objectives. The list of indicative activities contributing to each expected outputs have been identified, however these would need to be reviewed and updated together with the MPI following the conclusion of the service contract under this tender, based on the actual situation and need at the time the project is implemented.

2. Specific work

The contractor will provide advisory services, research and analyses, studies and surveys, technical tools, deliver training and other capacity building activities to support MPI to exercise their mandates and implement necessary actions to improve economic governance in Viet Nam, particularly in the 4 areas supported by the project.

The contractor shall consult and collaborate with MPI, the EU Delegation and relevant stakeholders to develop an overall (multi-annual) work plan and annual work plan for the consideration and approval of the Project Steering Committee. The overall (multi-annual) work plan and annual work plan for the first year shall be developed during the inception phase, which will start right after the signature of this service contract and take no longer than 3 months. The work plans should be closely aligned with government strategies and action plans to ensure government ownership and achievement of expected results. An indicative list of indicative activities contributing to each outputs is provided in Section 4.1.1. They would need to be updated to account for changes in the context and priorities, however must remain consistent with the expected results. The contractor is responsible for implementing activities based on the agreed work plan and shall maintain effective communication and collaboration with the MPI, the EU Delegation and other relevant stakeholders.

The tasks expected include the following but are not limited to:

• Provision of timely, high quality advice and technical inputs as required by the government to support the development of relevant strategies, policies, action plans, guidance and reports;
• Provide technical inputs and necessary support to the government to conduct relevant studies and surveys to inform policies and actions;
• Provide technical expertise to support government by developing the relevant and necessary technical tools for economic governance;
• Organize trainings, meetings, workshops, seminars, conferences, study visits as necessary for achievement of expected results;
• Provide translation services as necessary for effective communication and implementation of activities
• Ensure effective internal and external communication on the project:
• Develop and implement the communication and visibility plan to promote the project.

3. REQUIREMENTS

3.1. Personnel

Note that civil servants and other staff of the public administration, of the partner country or of international/regional organisations based in the country, shall only be approved to work as experts if well justified. The justification should be submitted with the tender and shall include information on the added value the expert will bring as well as proof that the expert is seconded or on personal leave.

3.2. Key experts

Key experts have a crucial role in implementing the contract. These terms of reference contain the required key experts’ profiles. The tenderer shall submit CVs and statements of exclusivity and availability for the following key experts:

Key expert 2: Economic advisor - senior expert with strong expertise on planning management and/or doing-business environment (1000 working days)

Key expert 2 (KE2) will assist the Team Leader in the management and implementation of the project. KE2 will specifically provide technical inputs and contribute to the implementation of activities to achieve expected results 1 and 2.

Qualifications and skills

• A Master’s Degree in economics, trade, finance, public policy, public administration or equivalent; or in absence of a Master’s Degree should have proven 12 years of professional experience in economic advisory services;
• Proven communication skills in English and Vietnamese (reading / speaking / writing);
• Proven analytical and reporting skills.

General professional experience

• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in providing economic advisory services;
• Proven knowledge of the local context and institutional framework relevant for economic governance in Viet Nam.

Specific professional experience

• At least 6 years of relevant experience in at least one of the following areas (i) National planning management (ii) Doing-business environment and enterprises development;
• Proven experience working with regulatory bodies on policies and implementation of reforms in any of the two areas mentioned above;
• Proven knowledge of the public administration system in Viet Nam and related economic governance issues;
• Proven ability to work with and coordinate actions of multiple stakeholders;
• Proven experience in implementing technical cooperation programme/project, experience with EU DCI/NDICI funded project would be an advantage.

Key expert 3: PFM Advisor - senior expert with strong expertise on public investment and/or public procurement (1000 working days)

Key expert 3 (KE3) will assist the Team Leader in the management and implementation of the project. KE3 will specifically provide technical inputs and contribute to the implementation of activities to achieve expected results 3 and 4.

Qualifications and skills

• A Master’s Degree in economics, trade, finance, public investment management, procurement management, public policy, public administration or equivalent; or in absence of a Master’s Degree should have proven 12 years of professional experience economic advisory service;
• Strong communication skills in English and Vietnamese (reading / speaking / writing);
• Strong analytical and reporting skills.

General professional experience

• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in providing economic advisory services;
• Proven knowledge of the local context and institutional framework relevant for economic governance in Viet Nam.

Specific professional experience

• At least 6 years of relevant experience in at least one of the following areas (i) public investment management (ii) public procurement;
• Proven experience in working with regulatory bodies on policies and implementation of reforms in at least one the two areas mentioned above;
• Proven ability to work with and coordinate actions of multiple stakeholders;
• Proven knowledge of good international practices and standards relevant for public investment and/or public procurement management;
• Proven experience in implementing technical cooperation programme/project, experience with EU funded project would be an advantage.
• All experts must be independent and free from conflicts of interest in the responsibilities they take on.

Key experts must spend at least 95% of their working time in Viet Nam. A maximum 5% of total working time can be spent outside Viet Nam, subjected to prior approval by the Contracting Authority.

Applications should be sent to [email protected]

Deadline for application: 5/12/2022