Senior Investment Commission Advisor

SCOPE OF WORK

SENIOR INVESTMENT COMMISSION ADVISOR (STTA)

IRAQ GOVERNANCE AND PERFORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT (IGPA)

TASK ORDER 4

Estimated LOE: 60 days (may be extended based on program needs)

Job Classification: Short Term Technical Assistance (STTA)

Reporting to: Team Leader, Task Order 4

Estimated Start Date: On/about January 24, 2022

Estimated End Date: On/about April 3, 2022

Duty Station: Erbil, Iraq

Project Background

The purpose of the USAID-funded Iraq Governance and Performance Accountability (IGPA/Takamul) project is to advance effective, accountable, and transparent governance in Iraq. This USAID effort, implemented by DAI, is working with the Government of Iraq (GOI) at all levels to better respond to citizen needs by supporting reform initiatives and Iraqi change agents on inclusive governance and public sector transparency, accountability, and economy. Reform initiatives include support to improve service delivery functions, public financial management… and open government initiatives. IGPA/Takamul supports the GOI and the citizens of Iraq in forming partnerships and collaborative efforts to solve problems jointly.

IGPA/Takamul Has Four (4) Objectives
��� Enhance GOI service delivery capacity
��� Improve public financial management (PFM)
��� Strengthen monitoring and oversight of service delivery and public expenditure
��� Support Iraqi change agents (cross-cutting objective)

Under a separate Task Order 4, the IGPA Ninewa Investment Facilitation Initiative (NIFI) aims to increase employment and economic opportunities by helping the private sector, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and, as appropriate, larger, developed businesses. In addition, TO4 will support and build the capacity of Investment Commissions in 6 provinces (Ninewa, Wasit, Basra, Baghdad, Najaf, Anbar) to increase investments from local and international investors.

Assignment Overview

The current performance of the GOI investment promotion apparatus is substandard.

In order to develop and execute an investment promotion strategy to achieve Iraq���s National Investment Commission (NIC) development goals, it is necessary to identify, understand, and if possible, to ameliorate impediments to investment attraction. Optimally, solutions will be devised, a practical plan developed, a course of action decided and implemented to improve the attractiveness of investing in Iraq.

The Provincial Investment Commission system and employees working within this system lack capacity to carry out their work effectively, to include not having a clear strategy or methodology of work.

To improve matters, the STTA – Senior Investment Commission Advisor has been engaged to assist IGPA/NIFI to developing the capacity of six provincial investment commissions in Baghdad, Ninewa, Basrah, Anbar, Wasit and Najaf to assist in transforming them into investment promotion agencies rather than regulatory agencies that only issue investment licensing as is generally currently the case. During his assignment, the STTA will be evaluating the current macro conditions concerning investment attraction and the business enabling environment in Iraq and identify the obstacles and root causes which prevent greater success, recommending potential solutions, and working with relevant parties in developing the most practical approach to improving investment promotion/attraction/facilitation in Iraq.

The STTA will also assist the PICs to prepare strategic investment promotion and attraction implementation plans following internationally accepted best practice standards to assist the PICs to improve their performance.

It is important to note that the consultant, in addition to responsibilities that are solely his own, is to assist the TO4 Team Leader in assuming an oversite and coordination role concerning the entire PIC capacity building program, to include assistance in managing incoming STTAs.

This SOW is for the first 60 days of what is planned to be a longer-term engagement lasting until the end of May 2022. In addition to the initial 60-day period, the SOW contains tasks and activities to be completed by the end of May 2022. In coordination with the TO4 Team Leader, the Investment Commission Advisor is expected to assume a management role concerning incoming STTAs as well as an oversight role of the comprehensive Provincial Investment Commission (PIC) capacity building and macro investment enabling environment effort.

Objectives:The primary objectives of the Investment Commission Advisor are to:
��� Continue to assist the PICs and NIC to identify the primary obstacles to efficient investment attraction and promotion, devise practical solutions, and develop an action plan to implement changes which are intended to have positive impacts both in the macro business enabling environment and within the policy and regulatory framework. As new developments emerge, the STTA will support the PICs and NIC in developing and implementing solutions.
��� Work toward the streamlining of processes for qualifying for a business licenses, and launch an awareness campaign on the Iraq investment law and the investment commission mandate for relevant courts including integrity commission to raise their awareness on investment commission���s work
��� Assist the PICs and the designated Strategic Plan Expert STTA to develop and implement strategic plans which include the use of proven best practices to improve investment promotion performance, such as targeted investment promotion of high-potential investment opportunities.
��� Assist the designated Feasibility Study Expert STTA to organize and plan capacity building trainings.
��� Develop and manage a plan to coordinate the efforts of incoming STTAs to provide a series of capacity building training events.

Responsibilities And Key Deliverables

Under this Scope of Work, and in coordination with the TO4 Team Leader, the consultant will assume a leadership and oversite role over the PIC capacity building efforts outlined below. The below tasks are intended to be completed over the period from January-May 2022. As this particular assignment is 60 days, the deliverables section best portrays what is expected of the consultant over the period of performance. From January-May 2022, the consultant will work to perform, but not be limited to the tasks specified below.

Task 1: Develop an updated structured plan of work considering this SOW, considering work achieved to date, TO4���s assessment of the needs of the PICs, the PIC���s requests for specific assistance, the latest information collected, and the project workplan goals. This plan will be shared with IGPA leadership for approval.

Task 2: Employing the learnings and findings of the roundtable and workshop with private sector operators and the PIC leadership in Baghdad (6-8 Dec 2021) and in consultation with TO4, the consultant has identified and prioritized meaningful impediments to a more functional business enabling environment that could be mitigated through practical intervention. The Consultant will inform each of the PICs of the summarized list of problems identified and work with them to assign each PIC with a number of root causes from the list. Each PIC will be assigned various issues to confront based off of their skills as identified in the project���s previous skills and capacities assessments. The STTA will work independently with each PIC to mentor their management team to identify solutions for the proposed problems and develop an action plan to begin implementation of the solutions. The STTA will provide routine mentorship to the PICs to ensure that each PIC is aware of their assigned ���root cause problem��� and has the tools and skills to implement their action plans.

Task 3: Organize and lead an ���Investments Impediments Improvements��� in February/March 2022 workshop

Following the routine mentorship provided under Task 2, the STTA will conduct an ���Investment Impediments Improvement Workshop��� to bring each PIC together to share progress the PICs have made during January and February in terms of addressing the impediments to investments mentioned in the December workshop. The purpose of this workshop is to enable each PIC to clearly describe the action plan they developed, as well as opportunities and challenges faced throughout implementation of their action plan. This will be an opportunity for the PICs to learn from each other, identify ongoing challenges and work collaboratively to propose solutions.

Task 4: Assist the PICs to identify and prepare three (3) attractive investment project profiles per PIC for targeted marketing and promotion to select investors. The PICs will be guided on how to prepare the pitch write ups and how to approach and generate interest in these opportunities at every stage of the communications with investors. The PICs and other intermediaries will be incentivized by the potential to earn agency commissions on the investment or acquisition consideration amounts. The consultant will assist in the production of viable and enforceable commission agreements with potential investors as part of the capacity building effort.

Task 5: Support other international STTA consultants��� efforts in teaching PIC leadership and staff techniques and best practices in the following critical investment promotion elements:
��� Understanding the investor landscape
��� Most competitive Iraqi sector/industry identification & prioritized investment opportunity identification (project profile creation & promotion)
��� Targeted foreign investor group identification (industries/companies/sectors)
��� Targeted value proposition creation – based on due diligence of specific investor(s)
��� Feasibility study review and analysis
��� Investment promotion best practices.

Task 6: Prepare the final report. The final report should include a description of the assignment, lessons learned and proposed next steps. It should be 10 pages written in English.

Deliverables
��� Initial phase: Summarized work plan with timelines and deliverables for the 60-day assignment (2 pages in English) as well as for the remaining TO4 period of performance ��� until end of May 2022 (5 pages in English). (Covers the comprehensive and coordinated program, STTA responsibilities, timelines, travel agenda and all tasks below.)
��� A written plan to use process flow analysis and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) to streamline the business license application process, considering time and other constraints (2 pages in English).
��� Report providing clear recommendations on how best to reform the existing commercial license approval processes (No more than 3 pages in English).
��� Delivery of an awareness session concerning the need to educate relevant judges and the integrity commission with the participation of NIC and PIC.
��� Workshop presentation materials for all workshops.
��� Investment Impediments and Improvements workshop and at least one follow-up capacity building session for a targeted Provincial Investment Commissions. It should also include required M&E documents and photos, along with a 2-page event report.
��� Workshop reports for all workshops in English covering event activities and results (no longer than 5 pages in length).
��� A memo with one-page summary write-ups of each investment opportunity (from project profiles) and one-page targeted marketing and promotion plans covering to whom, how, and when these opportunities will be introduced and promoted to prospective investors.
��� Regular meetings with the new international STTA to support them understanding the investment, PICs and investors landscape and support the team efforts to achieve the needed results.
��� Final Report highlighting the achievements accomplished for each task, success stories, and recommended next steps to be carried out from March through May 2022 and beyond. (approximately 20 pages).

All deliverables are to be prepared in English and translated into Arabic as requested.

Qualifications And Experience
��� Master���s degree (MBA) preferred. Bachelor���s degree in economics, business, or related field.
��� Demonstrated experience conducting investment promotion agency development and facilitating direct investment.
��� Experienced in prioritizing and delivering training and capacity building programs for government officials and staff. Demonstrated experience in building institutional strategy and leadership capacity building program.
��� Minimum of 15 years of experience in private sector development, entrepreneurship, international investment, and financing.
��� Experience on USAID private sector-oriented projects preferred.
��� Experience in Iraq and/or the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is preferred.
��� Professional English level (speaking, reading, and writing) required to include technical and report writing skills.
��� Fluency in Arabic preferred.

General Statement

This scope of work will be conducted in part in the IGPA project office in Erbil with some remote work and required travel to several provinces in Iraq including Ninewa, Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Wasit, and Anbar. Under this SoW, the IGPA/Takamul project will be responsible to cover all other indirect implementation costs including air and ground transportation, lodging, per-diem, and phone communications