RFP – Cambodia National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) Policy Development and Implementation Framework Project

About RT4D The Regional Trade for Development (RT4D) initiative is funded by the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. It assists ASEAN Member States (AMS) in meeting their commitments and realising the advantages offered by the Agreement establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area, or AANZFTA, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP. Through the AANZFTA Implementation Support Program (AISP) and the RCEP Implementation Support Program (RISP), RT4D provides tailored support to enhance the capabilities of ASEAN Member States by strengthening skills, building networks, facilitating policy options and ensuring that trade benefits everyone, including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), women and people with disability. The Governments of Australia and New Zealand have committed up to AUD 53.3 million to fund RT4D from 2020–21 to 2027–28. Project Summary The RCEP Implementation Support Program (RISP), implemented through the Regional Trade for Development (RT4D) Facility, supports ASEAN Member States to realise the benefits of RCEP through capacity-building support and access to technical expertise. The project ‘National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) Policy Development and Implementation Framework’ is approved under the RISP. The project aims to support the Institute of Standards of Cambodia (ISC), other core NQI bodies and sectoral regulators to develop, adopt and begin implementing a unified, Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI)-responsive NQI Policy and Implementation Framework for Cambodia. The Framework will coordinate standardisation, technical regulation, conformity assessment, accreditation and metrology in relation to Cambodia’s implementation of RCEP Chapter 6 and the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT) Agreement. It will: establish an evidence base on legal, institutional, capacity and inclusion gaps in Cambodia’s NQI system against RCEP Chapter 6, the WTO TBT Agreement and ASEAN frameworks, with attention to barriers faced by MSMEs, women entrepreneurs and people with disability; develop, consult on and finalise an NQI Policy and Implementation Framework in Khmer and English; conduct technical and policy consultations with relevant government agencies, NQI bodies, sectoral regulators, private-sector associations, MSMEs, women-led enterprises, organisations of persons with disability, institutes of higher learning and development partners; deliver a national socialisation workshop in Phnom Penh and four stakeholder-specific training sessions for NQI bodies and regulators, women-led enterprises, organisations of persons with disability, private-sector associations and MSMEs; prepare, deliver and document one product-specific pilot implementation applying selected elements of the NQI Policy and Implementation Framework; and produce project reports, a project impact video and short social media videos to document implementation, outcomes and lessons learned. The Opportunity RT4D is seeking a consulting firm/organisation (hereinafter referred to as “the Consultant”) to manage and deliver technical advisory, stakeholder engagement, event management, communications and video-production services for the project, in close collaboration with the RT4D Facility, the Institute of Standards of Cambodia (ISC) and the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation (MISTI). The final Project outputs will be subject to comments, amendments and approval from the RT4D Facility Team, the Project Proponent, the STRACAP Roadmap Implementation Working Group and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The services will be delivered in accordance with the requirements set out in the Request for Proposal (RFP) and Terms of Reference (ToR). Responses to Bidder Questions Request for Proposal (RFP) Terms of Reference Financial Proposal Template Services Agreement Template To ensure the above can be effectively managed and completed in alignment with the ToR, it is recommended that interested organisations have: Qualified and experienced team: A suitably qualified and experienced team with sufficient technical expertise, organisational capacity and availability to deliver policy and legal analysis, policy drafting, stakeholder consultation, capacity building, pilot implementation, communications, event management, video production and reporting outputs within the required quality standards and timelines. National Quality Infrastructure and STRACAP expertise: Demonstrable expertise in National Quality Infrastructure systems, including standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment, accreditation and metrology. Experience with STRACAP-related mechanisms, RCEP Chapter 6, the WTO TBT Agreement and ASEAN quality-infrastructure frameworks will be highly regarded. Policy and legal analysis and drafting: Strong experience undertaking policy and legal reviews, identifying institutional and regulatory gaps, and developing practical policy, implementation and governance frameworks for government or regional institutions. Cambodia and stakeholder engagement experience: Proven experience working with Cambodian government agencies, regulators, private-sector associations, MSMEs and development partners. Experience engaging with ISC, MISTI, NQI bodies, sectoral regulators and relevant Cambodian institutions will be considered an advantage. Consultation and facilitation: Demonstrated experience designing and facilitating technical consultations, policy dialogues, socialisation workshops and stakeholder-specific capacity-building activities involving government, the private sector, MSMEs and civil-society organisations. GEDSI integration: Demonstrated ability and expertise within the proposed team to integrate GEDSI considerations into policy analysis, stakeholder engagement, capacity building and pilot implementation, including consideration of women-led enterprises, people with disability and