A. BACKGROUND

Mongolia received a credit from the International Development Association (IDA) for the Strengthening Fiscal and Financial Stability (SFFS) Project. The Objective of the SFFS Project is to contribute to the Government of Mongolia’s efforts to strengthen fiscal and financial stability and improve the quality of expenditure management. The project is designed with five components: (i) Strengthening Macroeconomic and Fiscal Management; (ii) Improving the Efficiency of Public Financial Management; (iii) Enhancing Financial Sector Stability; (iv) Strengthening the Social Protection System; (v) Project Management and Monitoring. The objectives are to strengthen fiscal responsibility and implement the relevant policy measures; improve fiscal discipline; strengthen the resiliency of the banking system; improve public expenditure quality in social protection; and provide support for Project implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, including, inter alia, audit arrangements, reporting requirements, procurement and financial management activities, respectively. For more details, please refer to the Project Appraisal Document Report No. PAD2269 .

Within the objectives of the Component B on improving the efficiency of Public Financial Management, there is a sub-component on strengthening the public financial management institutional capacity. Under this sub-component, the Ministry of Finance seeks to advance the public procurement reforms. 

The current Procurement planning and reporting regulation was first approved in 2012 and once revised in 2018. In March 2019, major policy reforms were made in the public procurement and amendments to the PPLM were ratified by the Parliament of Mongolia including advance procurement, green procurement, and additional provisions for complaint and domestic preference procedures. Subsequently, these policy changes needed to be reflected in existing regulations and guidelines followed in the public procurement of Mongolia including the Procurement planning and reporting regulation. 

B. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The objective of this assignment is to assist the Procurement Policy Division (PPD), Legal Department of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in i). revising Procurement planning and reporting regulation of Mongolia in line with the most recent policy development in public procurement; and ii) provide support to improving and streamlining the government procurement reporting in the government’s e-procurement system in line with the revised regulation.

C. SCOPE OF WORK

The consultant will perform the following tasks under direct supervision of the PPD of the Legal Department, MOF:

Task 1: Improve and revise the Procurement planning and reporting regulation. Specific tasks will include:

1. Conduct a detailed analysis on most recent policy reforms introduced in public procurement in Mongolia;
2. Review the current Procurement planning and reporting regulation and prepare recommendations to improve and revise it based on the detailed analysis mentioned above and other diagnostics on the strengths and weaknesses of the current regulation and related international experiences, if any;
3. Prepare a revised draft of the Procurement planning and reporting regulation;
4. Provide technical assistance to the MOF in running consultations on the draft revisions to the regulation among the relevant MOF officials and other stakeholders, and in collecting and analyzing recommendations from them;
5. Incorporate recommendations provided by stakeholders and finalize the revisions to the Procurement planning and reporting regulation for approval and support the MOF in the process leading to its approval as deemed necessary ad appropriate; 

Task 2: Provide support to improving and streamlining procurement reporting in the government’s e-procurement system.

1. Review the templates, functions, actions, procedures, and sequenced tasks required from each stakeholder for procurement reporting in the government’s e-procurement  system (www.tender.gov.mn) and provide detailed and constructive feedback and recommendations to improve and streamline the procurement reporting in the system in line with the revised regulation;
2. Develop recommendations to automate the annual procurement evaluation of general budget governors and procuring entities in the government’s e-procurement system in line with the revised regulation;     
3. Translate procurement documents as assigned by the MOF; and
4. Other tasks assigned by the MOF.

D. DELIVERABLES 

Deliverable #1: Report on detailed analysis of most recent policy reforms introduced in public procurement in Mongolia including recommendations to improve and revise the Procurement planning and reporting regulation based on the findings;

Deliverable #2: Final revised draft of the Procurement planning and reporting regulation together with the consolidated analysis of feedback and recommendation provided by the stakeholders in the public procurement of Mongolia;

Deliverable #3: A review report of templates, functions, actions, procedures, and sequenced tasks required from each stakeholder for procurement reporting in the government’s e-procurement system (tender.gov.mn) and detailed constructive recommendations to improve and streamline the procurement reporting in the system;

Deliverable #4: Recommendations to automate the annual procurement evaluation of general budget governors and procuring entities in the government’s e-procurement system (tender.gov.mn) and reports of technical assistance provided to the State procurement agency in automating the annual procurement evaluation in the system;

Deliverable #5: Final reports on all tasks completed and other relevant technical assistance provided including translation of procurement documents, if any.

E. SUPERVISION AND REPORTING

The work plan developed by the consultant will be approved by the PPD of the Legal Department, MOF. The work plan should be measurable, time-bound and output-oriented. 

The consultant will work on a day-to-day basis with the staff of the MOF and under direct supervision of the Head of the Procurement Policy Division, the Legal Department of the Ministry of Finance or an appointed specialist who will meet regularly with the consultant to review the assignment progress and to resolve any issues.  

All information provided to the consultant will be regarded as confidential and shall not be shared with any outside individuals or organizations. 

F. CONTRACT DURATION AND PAYMENT CONDITION

The consultant work is expected to commence in April 2021 with the duration of 9 months. If any task is not completed within the agreed timeline, consultant should complete the tasks with no additional cost. 

Payments will be released upon satisfactory completion of deliverables in accordance with the following schedule:

(i) Deliverable #1: 15% of total contract amount

(ii) Deliverable #2: 30% of total contract amount

(iii) Deliverable #3: 20% of total contract amount

(iv) Deliverable #4: 25 % of total contract amount

(v) Deliverable #5: 10% of total contract amount

G. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

The Ministry of Finance will provide office space and available information and reports related to the public procurement to the consultant. The consultant is expected to communicate and coordinate his/her work with Head of the Procurement Policy Division, the Legal Department of the Ministry of Finance or the appointed specialist. 

H.  CONSULTANT’S QUALIFICATIONS

To be considered eligible candidates should have all the eligibility criteria listed below:

Education: A master’s degree in law, business administration, public administration, procurement or a related field;

Experience: 5 years of relevant work experience in public procurement, preferably 2 years of relevant experience in developing legal documents and regulations; 

Language skills: Moderate proficiency in English is required;

Other skills: Be proficient in PC-based applications such as Word, Excel, Power Point and have excellent web research and navigation skills; Demonstrated professionalism, good judgment, and willingness to work beyond the regular office hours to meet the deadlines and the needs of the position, if necessary; Proven ability to work in national and international contexts; Ability to work with multidisciplinary teams and institutes; Capacity to manage a variety of tasks with minimal supervision.

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