Consultant at HELVETAS

BACKGROUNDS

The context

HELVETAS is a Swiss based, international Non-Government Organization. HELVETAS works in 33 countries and supports rural and urban communities in their efforts to develop for a better life.

HELVETAS promotes fair and sustainable access to essential resources and advocates for social, economic, political, environmental and cultural rights of disadvantaged people.

HELVETAS has a wide range of experiences in promoting sustainable agricultural value chains and a long working history in Vietnam. For more than 20 years, we has been dedicated to improving livelihoods of people from remote areas and promoting development with respects to environment and local societies.

The Project

The Regional Biotrade Project in South East Asia is a four-year project funded by the Government of Switzerland through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The program began with a preparatory inception phase in September 2016 which was completed in April 2017 and is now in the first months of implementation. The main goal of the project is conservation of biodiversity through sustainable trade of natural ingredients in a manner that increases the competitiveness of local exporters/producers and the livelihood benefits (income and jobs) of rural women and men.

Implementation is managed by 3 HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation country programs in Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos, supported by a regional programme management unit (PMU). The project uses the Market Systems Development approach to analyse and develop interventions, facilitating the growth of the Biotrade business model and the sustainable local structures and support services it needs to flourish. To achieve this, the project works with a mix of private companies trading and exporting biodiversity products, public and private sector business support service providers, relevant levels of government and other stakeholders interested in sustainable use of biodiversity.

OBJECTIVES

In the first year of implementation, the project will support some selected companies to develop product export value chains. Due to the limited capacity of local partner, the need to capacity building is high and it is one of the priority from project.

BioTrade companies are mostly SMEs and lack of market access ability. Thus, an export development plan (EDP) is needed, in which the companies are able to make a market entry strategy based on market researches and implement action plans following such strategies. Based on this plan, the companies are expected to develop their capacity in order to export to high value markets (EU, US, Japan, etc).

The objective of this consultancy is to help the companies to establish such an export development plan. This objective will be reached through provision of technical training, coaching, support and advice.

SCOPE OF WORK

1. Support 04 - 06 companies (SMEs) as project’s partners in tea and spice sector to develop their export development plans in order to access higher value markets.

• Provide training & coaching services for company’s managers and staff on export market development which enables them to identify best export markets, develop market entry strategies and action plans.
• Provide the companies with proper supporting tools and knowledge such as market research methods and templates, SWOT analysis, strategy making, export marketing ...etc.

2. Working and coordinating with the project’s staff throughout the consultancy to ensure the activities are in line with the project’s objectives. This assignment is planned to span 03 months, from August to November 2017.

DELIVERABLES

• 01 short training workshop with the participants including the managers and staff of each company (estimated 10 – 20 participants).

• Export development plans (04-06 reports, one for each company) are successfully developed and approved by the Helvetas and partner companies, in which:
  
  • Target markets are selected by the companies through market research and assessment. Market barriers and requirements are identified for those target markets.
  • An export entry strategy for each market is developed for each company.
  • Action plan needs to cover all business aspects (resource, budget, distribution, pricing, marketing and promotion).

REMUNERATION

Remuneration will be subject to the qualification of the consultants and to agreement on services provided by the consultant in relations to HELVETAS’s financial regulations.

The contract will be in form of lump-sum with the proposed total budget covering consultancy fee, VAT/PIT, travelling costs, and other costs.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

The consultant should meet the following requirements:

• Master Degree either in Economics or Marketing or Business Administration;
• Experienced trainers of business management programs
• Significant experience as a consultant in business, management, and marketing;
• Being able to deliver the committed outputs on time;
• Excellent analytical skills and report writing skill in English;
• Training and presentation skills will secure interest;

Interested candidates should send an updated CVs and Expression of Interest letter showing their expected consultancy rates and explaining why they fit with the above consultancy to Ms. Nguyen Thao at [email protected] by Aug 25, 2017.

Please be kindly noted that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.