Foreign economic-aid-related services

Tender description

This is a prior information notice (PIN) to advertise an early market engagement only. Publication and call for competition will be conducted at a later date. LERII — A flexible and adaptive programme to support the Government of Lebanon deliver key economic reforms and infrastructure investments important for sustainable growth and stability. Lebanon is facing macroeconomic challenges. The country has the third largest debt to GDP ratio globally, persistent fiscal and current account deficits and chronic lack of investment in public services and infrastructure. These structural issues pre-date the Syria crisis. However, the Syrian conflict has disrupted trade flows and reduced investor confidence, costing Lebanon an estimated 30 % of cumulative GDP. UK support will increase the chances that the Lebanese government delivers key economic reforms and secures investment for infrastructure that is well-built and operated. This is a Prior Information Notice (PIN) only: publication and call for competition will be conducted once scope of work is fully defined and approved. DFID intends to publish a new competition opportunity in early 2019 where we will be seeking partner(s) to deliver a Technical Assistance (TA) facility to support the Lebanese government in implementing critical economic reforms. The TA facility forms part of a new programme called Lebanon Economic Reform and Infrastructure Investment (LERII) which will support preparation and investment in large infrastructure projects through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a Technical Assistance (TA) facility to support the Lebanese government in implementing economic reforms. Given the complexity and dynamism of the context, the facility will need to be able to adapt to Lebanon’s complex political economy and must be problem-led. This requires a flexible and adaptive management approach allowing TA to test hypotheses and pivot in response to emerging opportunities as they arise. This is a model which will allow DFID and the supplier to design bespoke governance and management arrangements to fit with both the Lebanese context and with the opportunities that exist to support the Government’s reform, investments and capacity-building priorities. DFID expects that successful delivery will require the supplier to fulfil a range of functions. These could include programme and funds management, technical design and delivery of technical support and reforms, and knowledge management. The right mix of people and skills is extremely important to DFID, including the expertise to undertake continuous political economy analysis and the capacity to design and apply a conflict- and gender-sensitive approach. DFID will be hosting an Early Market Engagement Event about the LERII programme and the services required from interested parties. The main objective is to elicit market views on the feasibility of the proposed delivery options and to discuss challenges and opportunities. The event will be in the form of 2 x 2-hour sessions that will take place in DFID offices in Beirut (Lebanon) and East Kilbride (UK) on 28.2.2019 and 4.3.2019 respectively. Both events will be identical in format: DFID will present the programme, its proposed outputs and delivery channels, as well as a set of key questions to stimulate the discussion. Parties interested in attending the presentation or requiring any other information should register interest in this event via the DFID Supplier Portal where full EME information and a link to the Survey Monkey registration questionnaire is accessible via the attachments tab for this programme. This DFID Supplier Portal will be the main communication channel going forward (https://supplierportal.dfid.gov.uk/selfservice/). We are happy to receive questions in advance of this event, which DFID will respond to at the event. The discussion headlines will also be published after the event on the Supplier Portal. We will not disclose the source of the questions and answers. Due to space restrictions only one attendee per interested party can attend the sessions. Please note that this is a Prior Information Notice to advertise a supplier day. No tender documents will be available at this stage.