Review of Tonga’s National Export Strategy (NES) and the Development of a Private Sector Development Strategy

Reference: PX/TON/0505
Location: Tonga
Duration: 70 person days or 14 person weeks
Closing Date: 27 Sep 2011

1. Background

The Tonga National Export Strategy (NES) covering the period 2007-2010 commenced implementation in 2009.The NES development and implementation was coordinated by the Ministry of Labour,Commerce and Industries whose mandate it is to provide policy and strategic direction on the development of exports in Tonga. The NES Vision was “To be the leading country in the Pacific in export growth by creating a sustainable economic environment for exporting quality goods and services in three years time”.

To realise this Vision, strategies were developed to deliver support to the five identified priority sectors which are Agriculture, Fisheries, Tourism, Manufacturing and Services. The NES was an outcome of a National economic summit held in late 2007 which also recommended the development of a private sector development strategy (PSDS).

Unfortunately the NES did not receive Cabinet approval and it is a priority of this review to work closely with stakeholders to ensure high level Government support to mainstreaming trade in general and the NES in particular. The NES has been under implementation for three years now and the Government of Tonga feels now is the right time to take stock of what has been achieved so far, discover the lessons learnt and areas that would need to be addressed further in successor projects. In particular, the outcome of this Review will inform the development of a Private sector development strategy (PSDS).The development of the PSDS is supported by goal one of the country’s development objective which is stated as “Accelerated private sector led economic growth”.

2. Progress made on the implementation of NES

According to internal reports, 60% of the NES recommendations have either been completed or are ongoing.This is a remarkable achievement in the face of a worsening global economic environment. In addition; the country is developing a Trade policy framework which will provide a clear and concise direction on all trade related matters. The absence of a Trade Policy Framework meant that approaches to trade were conducted in an un-coordinated manner and often led to the development of adhoc and often conflicting rules, regulations and practices affecting trade. The Trade policy framework will provide complementary support to the implementation of the National export strategy. Furthermore the new Tonga government has established the Cabinet Economic Development Committee whose role includes administering funding and facilitating projects to support private sector development.

3. This consultancy

We are looking for an experienced consultant to undertake an independent evaluation of the NES project since its completion in 2009 and to provide technical support in the development of a Private sector development strategy (PSDS). The consultant is expected to work with the Tonga Ministry of Labour, Commerce and Industries to ensure that the tasks listed below are successfully undertaken.

Scope of work

i) Evaluation of NES 2009-2011

This is a summative evaluation. The objective is to provide evidence of achievements and successes. The specific tasks to be undertaken under this component of the assignment are:

• To assess the extent to which the project has achieved its aims and objectives
• To assess the impacts, benefits and value of the project to the wider Tongan economy and national development.
• To identify achievements and success stories and to engage the community in providing sector feedback
• To synthesize knowledge from the project and lessons learnt
• To review the NES implementation structures, with particular emphasis on seeking and achieving Cabinet endorsement of the NES
• To identify areas that would need to be addressed and incorporated in the successor, Private sector development strategy.

The output of this component of the assignment is the production of a report highlighting key findings, successes and shortcomings with recommendations on how to address the latter. The report should include answers to the following questions:

• Have project objectives been met?
• Have project outcomes been achieved?
• What are the key findings?
• What impact did the project have?
• What tangible benefits are there for the stakeholders?
• Was the approach that was used in the development and implementation effective?
• What lessons have we learnt?
• What would we do differently?
• Possible way forward for Tonga?

ii) Development of the Private sector development strategy

The development of the Private sector development strategy is a natural progression from the National export strategy. It will commence at the conclusion of the NES review and the key tasks are as follows:

• Organising a Public-Private sector forum where the key findings of the NES Review will be disseminated and the process of developing the PSDS launched.
• Creating a working relationship with all key stakeholders, including high level line Ministry stakeholders, in executing the project
• Aligning the strategy with the findings of the NES Review and the country National development plan goals and objectives.
• Developing an objective and acceptable criteria for sector and cross cutting sectors prioritisation and developing appropriate strategies.
• Engaging Resource holder Ministries from the outset in providing resource indicators and direction
• Providing capacity building support to PSDS implementation institutions as part of the PSDS development process.

The output of this component of the project is a well elaborated Private sector development strategy that responds to the following questions:

• What do we want the PSDS to achieve?
• What sectors are of strategic importance or have the potential to exploit market opportunities and achieve the PSDS objectives?
• What structures, services and support do exporters need in order to be more competitive?
• How can we address those needs and create an environment that will enable exporters to be more competitive?
• What is the best way to get all of our organisations to work together to improve export competitiveness?
• How can we manage, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the PSDS?

4. Deliverables and timeframes

The Consultant will be expected to produce the following deliverables:

a) The NES Review component

This component is expected to take Six weeks from inception to the submission of the final report. The deliverables are as follows:

• Inception report- One week on signing the contract

This report should contain a detailed work plan for both the NES Review and the PSDS components and should include tools that have been developed to carry out the exercise.

• First draft report of the NES Review –Three weeks after the submission of inception report

The draft report should include lists of people interviewed and organisations visited and annexure of any testimonials and success stories.

• Public-private sector symposium on NES Review – One week after the submission of the first draft report of the NES Review

The symposium will provide the forum for disseminating the NES Review report to a wide cross section of stakeholders for their comments and inputs. This forum will also be used to launch the process of developing the Private sector development strategy.

• Final NES Review report-One week after the Public-Private sector symposium

The final NES Review report should incorporate comments and inputs from the Public-Private sector symposium

b) The PSDS component

This component is expected to take eight weeks from start to the production of the final PSDS document. The deliverables are as follows:

• First draft of the PSDS-Three weeks after the Public-private sector symposium
• National workshop on PSDS-Two weeks after the submission of first draft of PSDS
• First final draft of PSDS and the organisation of a PSDS implementation action plan workshop for implementing agencies-Two weeks after the National workshop
• Final PSDS document including the implementation action plan as an addendum-One week after the PSDS implementation action plan workshop

5. Consultants competencies

The required competencies for the Consultant or consulting firm to undertake this exercise are as follows:

• The Team leader should have a minimum of a Masters degree in Business Administration or Economics or their equivalents.
• The Team leader should have a minimum of 10 years consulting experience and/or working experience in a technical assistance delivery environment part of which should be in a developing country (preferably – relevant experience to a Pacific Island country like Tonga)
• The Team leader should have at least 10 years experience in the design and delivery of Trade and Export development projects.
• The Team leader should have at least 10 years experience in Project evaluations, and should also have a strong people skills and personal attributes and cultural adjustability to be able to work with the local communities.

6. Required

Interested Consultants and consulting firms should submit their technical and financial proposals detailing the following:

• Technical proposal

The Consultants understanding of the Terms of reference, work plan and the methodology to be adopted in the execution of the project. The CVs of all consultants to be used in the project should be attached.

• Financial proposal

A detailed financial proposal showing level of effort per consultant in days/months, daily fees per consultant and other personnel to be used in the project. The proposal should also show a schedule and cost of travel, accommodation, subsistence and other costs related to the delivery of the project.

Note: The Commonwealth Secretariat will cover the costs of all scheduled workshops separately.

Download the Terms of Reference