Project Country Lead – BANGLADESH

1. Background

The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (the Alliance) is a public-private partnership for trade led growth jointly hosted by the World Economic Forum, the International Chamber of Commerce and the Center for International Private Enterprise in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

The Alliance’s work is designed to help governments in developing and least developed countries implement the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). It brings together governments and businesses as equal partners to identify trade facilitation issues such as customs delays and unnecessary red-tape at borders, and design and implement targeted reforms that deliver commercially quantifiable results.

The Alliance is supported by the governments of Canada, the European Union, Germany, and Sweden and works with private sector partners from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the world’s largest multinationals.

2. Scope of Services

The Alliance is seeking a consultant to fill the role of Country Lead to support the development and implementation of a trade facilitation project In Bangladesh focused on the export of Ready-Made-Garments.

The Country Lead will work closely with the Alliance team, including the Alliance Director, relevant programme managers and the Alliance’s Monitoring and Evaluation, Measurement and Benchmarking, Communications and other support teams. The Country Lead will also engage with government institutions, private-sector stakeholders, donors, local consultants, Alliance Technical Partners and other relevant partners.

The Country Lead will:

• Engage with customs authorities, relevant ministries, regulators, private-sector companies and business associations.
• Facilitate public-private dialogue and stakeholder consultations.
• Complete the validation and documentation of current processes, data sources and information flows.
• Identify process bottlenecks and potential improvements / information blind spots and potential solutions.
• Liaise with stakeholders to agree on a final scope of work.
• Support the development of a practical project design for approval by Alliance Management.
• Support the transition of approved project design into implementation and pilot use.
• Coordinate local consultants and project stakeholders.
• Support Alliance missions, workshops, consultations, trainings and other project activities.
• Contribute to project monitoring, reporting, measurement and knowledge management.
• Identify and escalate risks, delays, dependencies and implementation challenges.

The Country Lead will support the Alliance across the following stages:

Stage 1 – Project Validation

The Country Lead will ensure that all Validation work is completed. This includes:

• Detailed mapping of the current processes, stakeholders, and information flows
• Identification of bottlenecks and visibility blind spots
• Development of potential solutions
• Presentation of findings to stakeholders

Stage 2 – Project Design

The Country Lead will make use of the outputs of Stage 1 to inform the design of a project including

• Process improvements and digitalisation
• Information visibility improvements
• Stakeholder involvement and governance arrangements

This project design will be presented to Alliance Management for approval prior to the move into implementation.

Stage 3 – Project Implementation and Coordination

Following approval of the project, the Country Lead will support implementation through stakeholder coordination, work planning, consultant management, progress monitoring, risk management and engagement with government and private-sector partners.

Stage 4 – Reporting, Measurement and Learning

The Country Lead will provide timely inputs to Alliance reporting, monitoring and measurement processes and support the documentation of project progress, results, lessons learned and good practices.

3. Core Activities

The Country Lead will provide in-country support to ensure the timely development and implementation of Alliance activities in Bangladesh. The expected deliverables are as follows:

Activity 1: Project Validation and Design

• Support process analysis, the identification of operational bottlenecks,
• Support the mapping of information flows, data sources and the identification of visibility gaps
• Validate problems and proposed solutions with relevant stakeholders.
• Develop the project design aligned with the Alliance methodology and templates
• Define proposed activities, outputs, outcomes and expected results.
• Identify institutional ownership, stakeholder roles and implementation requirements.
• Support the development of budgets, workplans and implementation timelines.

Activity 2: Stakeholder Engagement and Public-Private Dialogue

• Build and maintain relationships with relevant government institutions and private-sector actors.
• Facilitate consultations and structured public-private dialogue.
• Support stakeholder meetings, workshops and other engagement activities.
• Document stakeholder feedback, decisions, commitments and follow-up actions.
• Support communication and coordination between local stakeholders and the Alliance team.

Activity 3: Implementation and Project Coordination

• Support the transition of approved project design into implementation.
• Develop and maintain practical implementation plans and schedules.
• Coordinate local stakeholders and consultants.
• Support the preparation and delivery of missions, workshops, trainings and other activities.
• Track progress against agreed milestones and deliverables.
• Identify and escalate risks, delays, dependencies and bottlenecks.
• Support the resolution of implementation issues and ensure timely follow-up on agreed actions.

Activity 4: Reporting, Measurement and Knowledge Management

• Provide timely inputs to Alliance programme and donor reporting.
• Coordinate with the Alliance M&E and Measurement and Benchmarking teams on relevant indicators and results.
• Support the collection and verification of project data and supporting evidence.
• Document project results, implementation experience, lessons learned and good practices.
• Contribute to relevant Alliance knowledge-management products including the project completion report.
• Submit a monthly timesheet and activity report covering:

• • activities undertaken;
  • progress against agreed priorities;
  • key stakeholder engagements;
  • risks, delays and dependencies;
  • decisions or support required;
  • lessons learned; and
  • priorities for the following month.

4. Required Qualifications and Experience

• A proven track record in trade facilitation, customs, border management, logistics, supply chains or related development programmes.
• Experience working with government institutions and private-sector stakeholders in Bangladesh.
• Experience identifying operational challenges and translating them into practical project concepts or reform initiatives.
• Experience supporting project design, implementation or coordination.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and public-private dialogue skills.
• Experience managing or coordinating consultants, technical experts or local project teams.
• Strong organisational and documentation skills.
• The ability to work independently and coordinate effectively with an international team.
• Familiarity with cloud-based business and collaboration software.
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English.
• Knowledge of the Bangladesh trade and border-management environment.

5. Duration and Location

• The duration of the contract will be approximately 12 months from the effective date with the possibility of renewal.
• The expected level of effort is approximately 20 working days per month on average, with reasonable variation depending on programme requirements, travel, project activity and agreed priorities.
• The Country Lead must be based in Bangladesh and be available to travel within the country to government offices, ports, airports, border posts and other relevant project locations.
• The Country Lead may also be required to travel elsewhere in Asia, subject to the requirements of the assignment and prior approval.

6. Payment Terms

The services will be delivered on a time-and-materials basis. The Country Lead will invoice monthly based on the agreed daily rate and the actual number of days worked.

7. Submission of Proposals

Interested consultants should submit a proposal in PDF format to: macarena.torresrossel@weforum.org with the subject line: “Project Country Lead – Bangladesh [YOURNAME]” by 11:59pm on November 6^th.

The Proposal should include:

• A technical proposal describing relevant experience and proposed contribution.
• A financial proposal clearly presenting the proposed daily rate and any expected expenses.
• A CV.
• An indication of availability and preferred level of engagement.
• The names and contact details of two professional references.

Please note that submission of a proposal in the manner described above will deem all terms and conditions of this Request for Services have been accepted by the Bidder and incorporated into its proposal unless specifically notified otherwise.

8. No Obligation to Award

The issuance of this Request for Services (RFS) does not constitute a commitment by the Alliance to award a contract to any respondent. The Alliance reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to reject any or all proposals, to cancel the RFS process at any time, and to take no action based on the proposals received.