National Expert on Financing Sources for Eco-industrial Parks

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT OF PROJECT PERSONNEL
INTERNAL/EXTERNAL

Only nationals and/or permanent residents of the country of the duty station are eligible to apply.

Female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.

Vacancy Announcement No: VA2022_ISA_EXT_057
Duty Station: Viet Nam
Date of Issuance: 04 March 2022
Post Title and Level: National Expert on Financing Sources for Eco-industrial Parks, SB4 - Local Professional (Junior & Mid Level)
Type of Appointment: Individual Service Agreement
Employment Fraction: NonStaff-When Act. Employed
Closing Date: 24 March 2022

Organizational Context

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission of UNIDO, as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013 as well as the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted at the eighteenth session of UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States. The relevance of ISID as an integrated approach to all three pillars of sustainable development is recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will frame United Nations and country efforts towards sustainable development. UNIDO’s mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls to “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. The relevance of ISID, however, applies in greater or lesser extent to all SDGs. Accordingly, the Organization’s programmatic focus is structured in four strategic priorities: Creating shared prosperity; Advancing economic competitiveness; Safeguarding the environment; and Strengthening knowledge and institutions.

Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO’s four enabling functions: (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality-related activities; and (iv) convening and partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation. Such core functions are carried out in Departments/Offices in its Headquarters, Regional Offices and Hubs and Country Offices.

The Directorate of Environment and Energy (EAE), headed by a Managing Director, aims to integrate and scale-up the energy and environment activities focusing on supporting governments and industries to provide sustainable and resilient soft and hard infrastructure for industrial development, supporting industries to contribute to climate neutral circular economy, and supporting governments and industries in fulfilling national commitments under multinational climate and environmental agreements. The Directorate consists of the Department of Environment and the Department of Energy.

The Department of Environment (EAE/ENV) contributes to ISID and the implementation of the SDGs, in particular of SDG 9, by greening existing industries and products, as well as by facilitating creation of new green industries and products, and by minimizing resource use along value chains and during the lifetime of products, facilitating uptake of circular economy practices.

The Department promotes the concept of circular economy, sustainable design of products with less materials, being easy to maintain and incorporating longevity, industrial resource efficiency to improve the effective use of natural resources including in particular materials and water; assists developing countries and countries with economies in transition to achieve the objectives of and compliance with multilateral environmental agreements; reduces the release of industrial pollutants into the environment; and improves sustainable access to water for productive uses.

The Department encourages industrial development for economic growth that is sustainable, resource efficient, beneficial to the climate, and resilient as well as protective of the natural environment and human health, and keeps workers, communities and consumers safe. Its activities serve to improve competitiveness, as well as development of and access to markets, particularly for SMEs.

The Department acts as the focal point in UNIDO for various multilateral environmental agreements and multilateral co-operation in the field of the environment: the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer; the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants; and the Minamata Convention on Mercury; as well as other relevant international initiatives and conventions such as the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), and multilateral co-operation in initiatives like the Partnership on Action for Green Economy (PAGE) and the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) and the Green Industry Platform (GIP). The Department coordinates its service delivery with the services offered by other technical departments, and other relevant organizational entities of UNIDO.

This position is located under the Industrial Resource Efficiency Division (EAE/ENV/IRE) which is responsible for supporting capacity development of industry, government, environmental service providers, IGOs and NGOs to scale up and mainstream the production of greener products and adoption of resource-efficient and cleaner patterns of production and circular economy policies and practices that improve profitability of industries while creating social and environmental benefits. Greening of products and industrial processes and introduction of new business models along supply and value chains, as well as the promotion of Eco-Industrial Parks are core activities.

PROJECT CONTEXT

Through the Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production (RECP) Programme, IRE has made outstanding contributions towards the identification, development and testing of tools and methods for RECP to the diverse conditions in developing and emerging economies. The Global Eco-Industrial Park Programme (GEIPP) is geared to scale up RECP to the level of eco-industrial parks seeking to integrate support at the enterprise and park scales and address critical policy issues. Key benefits for Eco-Industrial Parks include: reducing an industrial park’s environmental footprint; promoting efficiency gains; enabling community cohesion; providing better access to finance and technical support; and enhancing business competitiveness. Good international industry practice demonstrates a wide range of economic, environmental, and social benefits from EIPs.

The development objective of GEIPP, which is funded by Switzerland through the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), is to demonstrate the viability and benefits of Eco-Industrial Park approaches in scaling up resource productivity and improving economic, environmental and social performances of businesses and thereby contribute to inclusive and sustainable industrial development in the participating developing and transition economies.

GEIPP is structured into 2 main components:

The country level interventions in component 1 will address country-specific EIP by implementing tailor-made initiatives in the listed 7 countries for potential project activities; Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Peru, South Africa, Ukraine and Viet Nam.

• EIP will be incentivized and mainstreamed in relevant policy and regulations leading to an increased role of EIP in environmental, industry and other relevant policies at the national levels in the participating Programme countries.
• EIP opportunities will be identified and implementation started, with environmental (e.g. resource productivity), economic and social benefits achieved by enterprises confirmed.

Component 2 serves as a transversal component in the GEIPP for global knowledge development. The objective of this component is to generate and disseminate knowledge from present and past endeavors, which can be used to tackle the required preconditions for EIP. It aims to generate and disseminate/transfer knowledge to the various country projects and special country measures within the country level interventions (component 1), to the stakeholders and UNIDO, and to the interested public in general through global dissemination.

• Specific EIP tools will be developed;
• EIP services delivery will be strengthened;
• Lessons learnt from EIP interventions will be captured and effectively exchanged;
• Awareness raising activities on EIP will be developed.

The GEIPP country-level initiative in Viet Nam aims at implementing the GEIPP approach adapted to the national industrial setting.

In order to support the development of EIP in Viet Nam, a tool which highlights financing opportunities for industrial park managers and resident companies in Viet Nam is needed.

Based on the Project’s report on available funding sources for EIPs and UNIDO EIP Access to Finance Tool, the EIP Access to Finance Tool for Viet Nam (EIP Access2Finance Tool VN) will be developed to support industrial parks and their tenant companies in implementing Resource Efficient Cleaner Production, Eco-Industrial Park opportunities or other urban-industrial synergies advancing infrastructure or services.

The key aspects of the financing opportunities identified and the EIP Access2Finance Tool VN will be presented to national stakeholders (IP developers and financers) and to industrial park managers targeted by the project in an online event to be organized by the Project Management Unit, in view of the finalization of the Tool.

A group training on EIP financing and the UNIDO EIP Access2Finance Tool VN will be provided to the industrial parks benefiting for capacity building in the Viet Nam context.

DUTY STATION: Home-based (Viet Nam)
DURATION: 35 working days

Main Functions

Under the supervision of the UNIDO Project Manager and in cooperation with the International Finance Expert and the project team (the Project Coordinator, and the Project Management Unit in Hanoi), the Expert will be responsible for the following specific duties:

1. Collect, review and update information on national incentive schemes, grants and financing sources available for industries and industrial parks in Viet Nam. In particular, identify relevant and up-to-date information pertaining to the above, eligibility criteria for each funding source and compile the information for further use by the International Finance Expert, in a format to be agreed upon with the International Finance Expert and the project team. The specific information to be collected will include (but not be limited to):

• Name of financing organization
• Fund name
• Specific focus of the funding
• Financing threshold
• Eligibility criteria
• Web link
• Contact details
• Investment opportunity information

Concrete/measurable Outputs to be achieved

Report (in Vietnamese and English) and compiled database on available financing sources applicable for industrial parks or their tenant companies for implementing Resource Efficient Cleaner Production, Eco-Industrial Park or urban-industrial synergies submitted.

Expected duration: 15 working days

2. Participate in an online consultation with stakeholders (industrial park developers and companies) and financing institutes/ banks in order to collect feedback on the EIP Access2Finance Tool for Viet Nam, including its testing, towards its finalization.

Concrete/measurable Outputs to be achieved

EIP Access2Finance Tool for Viet Nam presented and feedback from stakeholders documented.

Expected duration: 10 working days

3. Finalize the Tool in cooperation with the International Finance Expert and translate it into Vietnamese.

Concrete/measurable Outputs to be achieved

Inputs stemming from the online meeting provided to the International Finance Expert, to allow for the finalization of the tool.
Tool translated into Vietnamese.

Expected duration: 5 working days

4. Provide one online training on the EIP Access2Finance Tool VN to three industrial park management and resident companies. The event will be organized by the project team.

Concrete/measurable Outputs to be achieved

Training material (toolkit in Vietnamese and supporting slides) prepared and submitted.

Report on the training submitted.

Expected duration: 5 working days

Core Competencies:

Core values:

WE LIVE AND ACT WITH INTEGRITY: work honestly, openly and impartially.
WE SHOW PROFESSIONALISM: work hard and competently in a committed and responsible manner.
WE RESPECT DIVERSITY: work together effectively, respectfully and inclusively, regardless of our differences in culture and
perspective.

Key competencies:

WE FOCUS ON PEOPLE: cooperate to fully reach our potential –and this is true for our colleagues as well as our clients. Emotional intelligence and receptiveness are vital parts of our UNIDO identity.

WE FOCUS ON RESULTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: focus on planning, organizing and managing our work effectively and efficiently. We are responsible and accountable for achieving our results and meeting our performance standards. This accountability does not end with our colleagues and supervisors, but we also owe it to those we serve and who have trusted us to contribute to a better, safer and healthier world.

WE COMMUNICATE AND EARN TRUST: communicate effectively with one another and build an environment of trust where we can all excel in our work.

WE THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND INNOVATE: To stay relevant, we continuously improve, support innovation, share our knowledge and skills, and learn from one another.

Minimum Requirements

Education:

• Advanced university degree in finance, banking, business administration and relevant discipline with a specialization in industrial development is required.

UNIDO Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Vietnamese is required. Fluency and/or working knowledge of another official UN language is desirable.

Field of Expertise:

• A minimum of three (3) years of practical experience in financing, banking or investment, industrial development, industrial park investment or financing is required.
• Previous experience in working for an international organization is desirable.

This appointment is limited to the specified project(s) only and does not carry any expectation of renewal.

Employees of UNIDO are expected at all times to uphold the highest standards of integrity, professionalism and respect for diversity, both at work and outside.
Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for jobs at UNIDO.

All applications must be submitted online through the Online Recruitment System
Correspondence will be undertaken only with candidates who are being considered at an advanced phase of the selection process.

Visit the UNIDO web site for details on how to apply: www.unido.org

Notice to applicants:
UNIDO does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. If you have received a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Vacant positions within UNIDO are advertised on the official UNIDO website. Should you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of UNIDO and requesting payment of a fee, please contact: [email protected]