Please send your CV and letter of interest to the email address tca_recruitment@dai.com with the vacancy title “International Export Consultant” in the subject line. The deadline for applications is June 2, 2024. Only applications sent by email will be considered. Only short-listed candidates will be notified. No phone inquiries, please.
BACKGROUND
The goal of USAID’s Trade Central Asia (USAID TCA) activity is to improve region-wide trade connectivity to accelerate economic growth and increase economic opportunity in Central Asia through harmonization of customs and border procedures, increasing public-private dialogue on trade and investment, improving cross-border firm-to-firm connectivity, and addressing gender-relevant trade issues.
Local firms are affected by the Ukrainian crisis, disruptions of traditional Russian markets, and restrictions on export and import operations to avoid sanctions. Thus, USAID TCA intends to support Central Asian firms in adapting to these realities, diversifying their dependency on traditional markets, and entering new promising markets.
In this context, the Ministry of Investment, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan (MIIT) is keen on harnessing the support of the USAID TCA to pilot the country’s Export Acceleration Program. This program, a crucial step in our economic growth strategy, is designed to equip small and medium-sized businesses with the skills and knowledge to start exporting, promote their products to promising foreign markets, expand international trade activities, and boost exports.
IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISM
The MIIT is the main government body responsible for successfully implementing the Export Acceleration Program in the country. The Program is designed as a long-term platform and will be a crucial government tool for providing free and tailored support for local producers in their initial export steps.
This initiative requires a comprehensive approach involving coordination and collaboration with the various government agencies and donor organizations, supported by the government’s allocated budget (earmarked funds), and regular coordination and monitoring by MIIT. The MIIT requested USAID TCA to test the implementation of the Export Acceleration Program in a “pilot project” involving ten entrepreneurs (hereafter referred to as the participants). In this regard, USAID TCA will engage an international trade consultant and deploy TCA experts to execute this pilot project, mentoring up to ten local entrepreneurs on their journey to enter promising foreign markets.
The Program will target medium-sized entrepreneurs in the textile and food sectors with a robust domestic market presence and ready-to-export capabilities. Considering external factors such as market growth, “time-to-market,” and “cost-to-market,” the Program has selected the Gulf and Middle East markets to test the implementation approach. In addition, these markets present less challenging trade barriers compared to more EU and Southeast Asian markets.
The expected outcomes from this pilot project are:
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The activity implementation requires the efforts of a group of experts (a TCA-contracted international consultant, MIIT team, and TCA experts) whose roles and responsibilities are as follows:
The Consultant will act as the Program’s technical lead and identify its objectives, implementing tools, and scales. The details of these are described in the Section ‘Tasks’ below.
OBJECTIVE
This assignment aims to stimulate the participation of Uzbek entrepreneurs in export activities, develop their entrepreneurial skills, and accelerate the export of export-oriented goods with high commercial potential.
TASKS
To achieve the above objective, the Consultant shall facilitate the accomplishments of the following tasks during this consultancy:
4. Conduct in-depth market analysis (desk research) jointly with the TCA experts for each entrepreneur to identify potential target markets, leveraging data and trends relevant to their business offerings, assess the difficulty of entering these potential markets, and provide final recommendations for each entrepreneur on target markets for the conclusion of the first export contract in the coming months.
5. Work with each entrepreneur to develop a personalized 7-step export strategy (product, price, promotion, place, packaging, positioning, and people) and action plan for the next 9-12 months with TCA experts’ assistance.
6. Assist in identifying potential buyers in target markets in the Gulf region and the Middle East, organize preliminary online and/or offline B2B meetings to introduce entrepreneurs’ offerings, and support negotiating and signing letters of intent, export contracts, and other trade agreements.
7. Facilitate signing at least one export contract for each of the ten participants.
8. Offer online mentorship (regular communication, online masterclasses, workshops, presentations) and facilitate access to industry and market experts. This will provide entrepreneurs with guidance tailored to their strategies and specific challenges as they implement their plans.
9. Provide short periodic progress reports (monthly) on program implementation to the coordinator for monitoring purposes.
10. At the end of the pilot project, prepare a detailed final report in line with USAID’s TCA template, summarizing its execution, achievements, and lessons learned. Provide concrete recommendations for future implementations of the Export Acceleration Program aimed at refining and scaling the initiative.
The Consultant shall submit the deliverable-based interim reports for review and approval by the TCA’s Lead for Trade Development and the TCA Uzbekistan Country Director per the above LOE table. The report review takes up to five working days, including the satisfaction survey among the beneficiary firms. The LOEs are only dedicated to the substantive content, excluding the time for Program administrative matters (discussing travel dates, etc.). The Consultant shall issue an invoice after the formal approval of the deliverables. The changes to the timeline and deliverables can be made through a modification to the Individual Consultancy Agreement.
The final cumulative deliverables include over ten export contracts and over 20 letters of intent to be potentially converted into export contracts worth at least $3 million to be concluded by the beneficiary firms.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
The consultant should have the following qualifications:
