Download Kyrgyz Republic The World Bank Private Sector Development

Kyrgyz Republic
The World Bank
Private Sector Development Capacity Building Project
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Project: Private Sector Development Capacity Building IDF Project
Implementing Entity: Ministry of Economy
Position: Expert on supporting Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic on the issues related
to Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)
I.
BACKGROUND
The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic (GoK) has made it a top priority to develop a private
sector development strategy, as well as the action plans for its implementation, the monitoring
and evaluation frameworks needed to oversee its development and impact, and a strategy for the
preparation and coordination of all work components.
Under a World Bank Grant, the Ministry of Economy (MoE) will take measures that would lead
to: (a) strengthening coordination and communication amongst government agencies, the private
sector and donors; (b) designing a private sector development (PSD) strategy and action plans;
and (c) enhancing its policy implementation supervision capacity. To build the needed capacity,
the grant will rely on the provision of significant training, including training staff on how to train
others, and provision of TA to MoE staff, enabling the latter to independently undertake similar
analyses and provide technical advice and input to the GoK based on the knowledge and
capacity to be acquired.
As part of the envisioned Capacity Building Programme, the MoE will hire an international and
a local consultant to guide and support the Government’s staff in designing and implementing a
communication plan for the PSD strategy and related action plans, in the process of both design
and implementation.
This Terms of Reference (TORs) defines the activities for a local communication consultant (the
Consultant).
II.
OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT
Kyrgyzstan became a member to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which requires policy
making on renegotiation of Kyrgyzstan’s commitment with regard to the WTO rules.
On May 29, 2014, the Presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed an agreement in Astana
for establishing the Eurasian Economic Union and free movement of goods, services, capital and
workforce and pursuing coordinated policies in key sectors of economy, such as energy, industry,
agriculture and transport. The agreement sets forth the principles of coordinated macro-economic
and foreign exchange policies, financial market regulation, interaction in the energy and transport
sectors, development of a common gas, oil, petroleum product, medicines and medical equipment
market.
Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Kazakhstan (recent member) as a WTO member-countries must follow
certain WTO procedures when establishing or joining the EEU. It is extremely important that any
external trade legislation is amended by the KR Government in compliance with the WTO
standards. This will help the Government to avoid negative implications such as potential sanctions,
compensation demands and retaliation measures from the WTO member-countries. Every five
years WTO member-countries undergo trade policy reviews and submit reports on the foreign
trade regime and implementation of its WTO commitments. Next report shall be presented by
Kyrgyzstan to the relevant WTO committee in 2017. In this regard it is crucial for Kyrgyzstan’s
policy makers to ensure compliance with the country’s WTO commitments. This could allow
Kyrgyz Republic
The World Bank
Private Sector Development Capacity Building Project
Kyrgyzstan’s economy avoid negative impacts in trade, which may possibly be a subject for a
dispute settlement process under the WTO.
The Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic is the main government institution responsible for
negotiations with the WTO. However, due to the complexity of renegotiation processes in the with
the WTO countries that are the holders of Kyrgyzstan’s Initial Negotiating Rights (INR) or having
principal supplying interest, the there is a need to provide expert support and guidance to the
Government agencies to help it make decisions on the WTO issues in light of the country’s accession
to the Eurasian Economic Union.
INRs is being used as a useful tactical tool in bilateral negotiations about tariffs, which take place
after submitting the application to the WTO Secretariat. INRs are dominated by major players in the
WTO such as Canada, Australia, the EU, the United States, Japan and New Zealand. And to a lesser
extent, they are dominated by India, Turkey and Brazil. In this sense, and considering this situation,
the bilateral negotiations about tariff will inevitably involve many parties. This would make it
difficult to reach an agreement through this “bilateral-turned plurilateral” negotiation. According to
WTO documents, recent acceded countries (particularly small countries) mostly conferred
considerable INRs to other WTO members. In regard of Kyrgyzstan, its table of concession reveals a
high rate of INRs, where the largest share of them are attributed to the EU, followed by the US and
Japan respectively. For most tariff lines that Kyrgyzstan conferred INRs on them, INRs were
attributed to these three countries.
III.
SCOPE OF SERVICES
A consultant will provide expert consultative support to the Ministry of Economy and the
Government agencies on WTO related aspects at this early stage of Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the
EEU under the provisions of the Article XXIV: Territorial Application - Frontier Traffic - Customs
Unions and Free-trade Areas and develop policy recommendations to the Prime-minister on the
WTO process and related EEU provisions, while understanding that regional agreements leading to
a formation of a customs union, the duties and other regulations of commerce imposed shall not on
the whole be higher or more restrictive than the general incidence of the duties and regulations of
commerce applicable in the constituent territories prior to the formation of such union or the
adoption of such interim agreement.
Donor partner or institution is hiring a local consultant to provide expert support to the
Government to help it comply with the WTO requirements while negotiating with EEU and rightly
handle the process of notifications to the WTO’s Secretariat regarding the accession and post
accession process to the EEU by the Kyrgyz Republic.
A consultant will perform the following specific tasks:
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develop recommendations under the WTO rules provisions of the Article XXIV: Territorial
Application - Frontier Traffic - Customs Unions and Free-trade Areas;
conduct consultations with the relevant ministries and agencies and develop
recommendations on negotiations at the WTO Council for Trade on Goods and Services;
conduct consultations with the Working Group of the Kyrgyz Republic on negotiations with
the WTO and develop recommendations to the Prime Minister on the process of
notifications to the WTO;
develop guidelines to the Government agencies on notifications to the WTO and
recommendations on hearings of the Government agencies on notifications to WTO on
related amendments of legislation in foreign trade policy;
closely work with the relevant government institutions to assess the current status of
Kyrgyzstan's WTO obligations due to the accession process to the EEU;
Kyrgyz Republic
The World Bank
Private Sector Development Capacity Building Project
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IV.
Review and analyze the EEU vs WTO requirements for the services sector and develop
recommendations on possible impacts of Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the EEU;
Identify service sector where exceptions from MFN will be needed in Kyrgyzstan’s WTO
Schedule of Specific Commitments on Services;
Conduct consultations, based on its mandate confirmed by the Ministry of Economy, with
the EEU, and WTO Secretariat in order to prepare the review process on Kyrgyzstan's case
in light of its accession to the EEU;
Communicate with the Secretariat of the WTO and the Council for trade and services to
develop the recommendations to the Government and its agencies for trade policy
measures;
Coordinate with Kazakhstan Ministry of Economic Integration in its effort of addressing
similar issues faced as result of its membership in the EEE; and
Conduct a round table discussion with the representatives of the relevant ministries and
agencies and the Government agencies to present the recommendations on negotiation
process with the WTO members.
QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED
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Advanced degree, preferably PhD level, in Economics, Public Policy, or related disciplines 10 scores;
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At least 3 years of relevant work experience, including knowledge of determination of tariff
policy for customs – 20 scores;
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Strong knowledge of the regulations of WTO – 30 scores;
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Knowledge and experience on WTO, especially related to business environment issues and
regulatory economics – 20 scores;
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Knowledge of issues related to economics and economic policy in the Kyrgyz Republic, the
regulatory environment in the Kyrgyz Republic – 10 scores;
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Analytical and quantitative skills, including training in econometrics, statistics, and
microeconomic theory - 10 scores;
V.
ASSIGNMENT DURATION
The work outlined above will be undertaken during the period of September 15, 2015 to January
15, 2016.
The consultant will be expected to be based days in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for the duration of his
assignment.
VI.
REPORTING
The Consultant’s work will be coordinated through the Ministry of economy and the donor partner
which will identify a contact person for the purposes of communication with the relevant ministries
and agencies during the implementation of the project.
Ministry of economy will provide facilities (conference rooms), whenever needed, for conducting
meetings and discussion during the project implementation.
Kyrgyz Republic
The World Bank
Private Sector Development Capacity Building Project