International: Project Costing and Procurement Specialist (3 person-months, Intermittent)--1069

(ADB funded PPTA)

The consultant will have extensive experience in costing and procurement under similar education projects/programs, as well as a strong mastery of Excel and preferably also COSTAB software. His/ her specific responsibilities include:

(i) In coordination with the other consultants and based on discussions with project beneficiary institutions, prepare a tentative list of civil works, equipment, and materials/supplies proposed for procurement under the Program. This should take into account (a) a summary survey of existing facilities; (b) the needs of the revised LSE and USE curricula; and (c) findings from institutional analyses of schools, teacher training institutions, and other potential target institutions;

(ii) Prepare detailed and disaggregated cost estimates for all elements of the proposed Program, in coordination with other consultants and taking into consideration the longer-term sustainability of project investments; conduct financial analysis;

(iii) In addition to final cost tables (in COSTAB or in self-contained Excel worksheets with cells appropriately linked to facilitate any later revisions), provide a detailed reference note listing assumptions and serving as a guide to support use and potential revision/updating of the Program costs;

(iv) Review the procurement capacity assessment conducted under recent ADB technical assistance on TVET, and provide any updates or augmentation specific to SE; provide training and other support as needed to address any key procurement capacity gaps in relevant central and local institutions;

(v) In addition to inputs to the PAM, provide a set of user-friendly reference materials (in print and/or electronic format, and translated into Lao language) to support compliance with government regulations and ADB’s Procurement Guidelines (2007, as amended from time to time);

(vi) Finalize the procurement plan for the Program.