Review and Develop a National Export Strategy for Grenada

Background

In September 2011, the Government of Grenada through the Ministry of Environment, Foreign Trade & Export Development requested for technical assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat in reviewing the expiring National Export Strategy and developing a phase two of NES with an Implementation roadmap for the Country. The NES will respond and support the just formulated national strategic vision for promotion of growth and reduction of poverty. Grenada government with the assistance of Commonwealth Secretariat and International trade Centre (ITC) developed a NES in 2006 which identified key sector constraints and sub-optimal performances for 2 key sectors Agriculture and Tourism. One of the key outcomes of the strategy was the establishment of a National Export Council that would coordinate, monitor and manage the export Strategy. This has not been established due to capacities in legislation drafting.

Over the last five years a number of achievements have been made. These include the Bureau of Standards undertaking capacity building for institutional strengthening and human resources development and undertaking product branding programmes for international ISO accreditation. The Small Business Policy has also been developed and housed in the Grenada Industrial Development Council (GIDC) which will support the new Investment Promotion Strategy. Grenada is in process of establishing the National Export Council and Trade Information Portal as two of the major 2006 NES outputs.

As part of the NES development process a national working team on NES was established under the Ministry of Environment, Foreign Trade & Export Development and it is envisaged that a similar approach will be taken in this initiative.

Objectives

The following are the main objectives:

• Phase I - To review the 2006-2011 National Export Strategy implementation.
• Phase II - To develop a new National Export Strategy and 5 year Implementation Plan

The Commonwealth Secretariat is therefore inviting proposals from consultants to provide the required technical.

Scope of Work

Phase I - Review of the 2006 NES.

This will entail the following:

• Hold an inception meeting with the Commonwealth Secretariat and Ministry of Environment, Grenada’s Foreign Trade & Export Development
• Prepare an inception report including a work plan for completion of tasks as stated below
• Assess relevant Government policies and objectives and their impact on NES implementation
• Assess the impact of major socio-economic and environmental changes during the period of NES implementation
• Analyse the impact of major  export initiatives between 2006-2011 (including policy, fiscal, institutional and infrastructure) on export performance
• Review performance of the export sector between 2006 & 2011 and draw out key trends
• Review the process adopted in developing the NES
• Assess the level of  implementation of the NES (including marketing strategies) and highlight the critical success factors and lessons to be learnt
• Prepare the NES Review Report including recommendations on the way forward.

Phase II - Development of a new National Export Strategy & Implementation Plan for the next 5 years

This will entail the following:

• Inception meeting with the client and the Commonwealth Secretariat to define work plans and modalities for implementation (including for stakeholder engagement)
• Prepare an Inception Report
• Conduct countrywide consultative meetings with stakeholders, to identify Grenada’s current export priorities
• Conduct an inventory of the country’s export capacities and identify barriers to markets
• Carry out a competitive analysis to determine the county’s strategic exports
• Identify interventions necessary for increasing exports including packaging, value addition etc.
• Prepare an interim report for tasks c-f above
• Identify markets for the strategic exports and recommend appropriate market entry strategies
• Identify national institutions for effective implementation of the NES and recommend a mechanism for coordination
• Develop a Draft NES and Implementation plan. The implementation plan should clearly set out:
  • short, medium and long term priority action
  • lead institutions
  • resources required
  • risks and recommended mitigation measures
• Present the draft NES and Implementation Plant to key stakeholders at a national symposium
• Submit the final NES and Implementation plan for the next 5 years

Key Deliverables/Outputs

The successful consultants will deliver the following:

For Phase 1: Review of 2006 NES

• Inception Report
• Review Report with Recommendations

Phase 2: NES and Implementation Plan

• Interim Report
• NES and Implementation Plan

Draft versions of these reports will have to be submitted and reviewed by the Commonwealth Secretariat and Grenada Ministry of Environment Foreign Trade and Export Development.

Level of Effort and Duration

The level of effort required from the successful consultants is 16 person weeks over the period September/October 2012 to May 2013

Budget

An all-inclusive budget of £37,000 has been allocated for consultancy services which will cover professional fees of £1500 per person week, daily subsistence allowance economy class international air fares to Grenada for four return trips.

The Commonwealth Secretariat will meet all the costs of the consultation meetings and workshops, printing of reports and support to national teams.

Qualifications and Working Experience

Attributes

The Commonwealth Secretariat is seeking to hire the services of a team of consultants possessing the following attributes:

• Strong international experience in export development
• Excellent knowledge of international consumer trends
• Expertise in strategy development and review
• Good experience of working in the Caribbean

Qualifications

• Trade Specialist with post graduate qualifications in International Trade, Economics or Business
• Marketing Specialist with post graduate qualifications in Marketing or Business.

The consultants should possess a good understanding of trade policy issues affecting small states.

Preparation of Proposals

Proposals should clearly indicate the flowing:

• Methodology proposed to undertake activities outlined in the scope of work
• Proposed work plan and milestones
• Proposed budget with all costs clearly broken down
• Detailed CVs of the proposed team members
• A breakdown of tasks and responsibilities between the members

The 2006 National Export Strategy document will be provided to the successful bidder as background information.

Reporting Arrangements

The successful consultant will sign a contract with the Commonwealth Secretariat which will be responsible for making contractual payments to the successful consultant.

How to apply