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. The project is designed into five components: (A) Strengthening Macroeconomic and Fiscal Management; (B) Improving the Efficiency of Public Financial Management; (C) Enhancing Financial Sector Stability; (D) Strengthening the Social Protection System; (E) Project Management and Monitoring. For more details, please refer to the Project Appraisal Document Report No. PAD2269 .

The World Bank (WB) and the EU has also been implementing a Trust Fund-financed project called Strengthening Governance in Mongolia (SGM) (TF) aimed to support the efforts of the Government of Mongolia (GM) to improve fiscal discipline, public financial management (PFM), and transparency and accountability processes for strengthened governance in the public sector in Mongolia. This project complements the WB-financed Strengthening Fiscal and Financial Stability (SFFS) Project in supporting the ongoing government reforms in PFM and governance in the public sector. 

This TF, through both Recipient Executed (RE) and Bank Executed (BE) interventions, serves two main purposes. Firstly, it complements and expands the ongoing technical assistance the WB is providing through the Strengthening Fiscal and Financial Stability (SFFS) Project. Secondly, this TF supports the GoM in advancing the current efforts toward increasing transparency, participation and accountability in fiscal matters as well as in strengthening its capacity to deal with non-technical drivers of the reform process that prevent state agencies from implementing policies and regulations as intended.

Specifically, the Component 2 of the TF focuses primarily on supporting the specific needs of the GOM to establish sound fiscal discipline, to improve expenditure management by strengthening the budget credibility, to establish the foundations for medium-term budgeting, and to re-orient public investment to strategic projects linked to the diversification of the economy. Five priority areas constitute the core of the component: (i) development and implementation of a public financial management reform plan and inter-agency coordination; (ii) strengthening budget preparation and execution towards results-based medium-term budgeting; (iii) improving budget reporting and transparency by increasing the comprehensiveness of fiscal and financial information and reporting; (iv) improving the management of contingent liabilities, through improving the existing governance framework for recognizing, managing, and disclosing contingent liabilities; and (v) strengthening public investment management, through the development and implementation of mechanisms for prioritizing capital project proposals and cost-benefit analysis.

As per the Government’s PFM strategy and action plan for 2020-2023, (under budget revenue and expenditure matters), the GFMIS’s functions should be improved and integrated with other related systems. To achieve this goal, the Treasury Department (TD) of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) contracted with Freebalance Ltd to implement commitment control and a web service extension to the GFMIS, but possibility of providing all spending units with access to the system remains to be limited. The TD| maintains more than twenty thousand accounts for more than four thousand six hundred budget entities through the units located in each soum and aimag. To increase the coverage of the accounts in the use of the FMIS, developing a Portal system to enable electronic exchange of financial information with budget entities as spending units, billing of utility services, and more. This will enable the TD to integrate sub systems with the GFMIS and improve the unified coding system for further reporting, which will allow data exchanges with line ministries and the National Statistics Office. The TD has been working toward improving its operations through interlinked systems with paperless transactions, digital signature approval and implementation of sub systems that allow data exchanges with other government agencies such as the tax office, procurement agency and the Civil Service Council. To help bring these efforts together, there now is a need to develop and implement a portal for electronic exchanges of financial transactions for budget entities. 

Furthermore, the Government maintains bank accounts at commercial banks to quickly and timely provide some government services such as social security, revenue collection and pety cash needs of budget entities. However legislative arrangements, effective rules, and regulations governing the opening/closure of accounts at commercial banks for the Government and budget entities have resulted in difficulties in practice when opening, closing, managing, monitoring, and reporting on these accounts.  This creates discrepancy between central bank and commercial banks data that is challenging for the TD to reconcile. To manage all commercial bank accounts daily basis, there is a need to develop and implement of a Bank Account Management, Monitoring and Dynamic Reporting System (BAMMDRS) for Government banks accounts, which will improve transparency and coordination tax offices, local treasury units and line ministries for better management.

The IT Center (ITC) of the Custom, Taxation and Finance (hereinafter, the developer), a State-Owned Enterprise was established under the MOF in 2015 and has since developed several systems for the MOF. The MOF has assigned the task of developing the web portal system for the Treasury also to the ITC. 

B. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT 

The objective of the assignment is to provide support to the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance (TD, MOF) in developing and implementing the portal system and the commercial bank account monitoring and reporting system for the Treasury, which are to bring Treasury services to a new level through improved automation and digitization. The desired national consultant will work closely with the system developer and the Payment and Settlement Division of the TD, MOF in the capacity of a back-end developer to provide technical support in the development of the above-mentioned two systems. 

C. SCOPE OF WORK

The main responsibility of the consultant will include assisting in the implementation, testing, and deployment of the proposed systems. The consultant will work closely with the Treasury Department and the developer (ITC) in this regard and will perform the tasks including, but not limited to, the following under supervision of the senior national consultant (project manager):

Task 1. Provide technical support in the development and pilot of the Portal system:

1.1 Provide inputs and directions on back-end technologies and approaches to developing the system;

1.2 Participate in the whole software development lifecycle with a special focus on coding, debugging and testing; 

1.3 Write clean codes to develop functional web applications;

1.4 Collaborate with the front-end developer to integrate codes;

1.5  Build reusable codes and libraries for future use and create API documentation;

1.6 Resolve problems with the software and respond to suggestions for improvements and enhancements by the Client;

1.7 Perform code analysis, code reviews, and software reliability analysis;

1.8 Undertake such other tasks related to the system as reasonably requested and/or assigned by the Director-General of the TD or Project Coordinator of the SGMP; 

Task 2. Provide technical support to the development of a Bank Account Management, Monitoring and Dynamic Reporting System (BAMMDRS) for Government banks accounts:

2.1 Provide inputs and directions on back-end technologies and approaches to developing the system;

2.2 Participate in the whole software lifecycle with a special focus on coding, debugging and testing; 

2.3 Write clean codes to develop functional web applications;

2.4 Collaborate with the front-end developer to integrate codes;

2.5 Build reusable codes and libraries for future use and create API documentation; 

2.6 Resolve problems with the software and respond to suggestions for improvements and enhancements by the Client;

2.7 Perform code analysis, code reviews, and software reliability analysis;

2.8 Undertake such other tasks related to the system as reasonably requested and/or assigned by the Director-General of the TD or Project Coordinator of the SGMP; 

D. DELIVERABLES:

Based on the tasks under the assignment and a detailed Work Plan (WP) to be approved by the client, the consultant’s deliverables will be as follows:

Under Task 1. 

1. Evidence on the development process meeting the client requirements;

2. Evidence and reports on research conducted, tests carried out, and conversion and/or integration of new public-facing products built and coordinated based on the technical requirements;

3. Weekly and monthly report on the code analysis, code reviews, and software reliability analysis performed;

4. Documentation for API developed and completed;

5. Results of Unit Tests;

6. A portal system with secure verification of electronic transfers developed, tested, and operational.

Under Task 2. 

7. Evidence on the development process for the BAMMDRS running as the MOF requirements;

8. Evidence and reports on research conducted, tests carried out, conversion and/or integration of new public-facing products built and coordinated based on the technical requirements;

9. Weekly and monthly report on code analysis, code reviews, and software reliability analysis performed;

10. Documentation for API developed and completed;

11. Results of Unit Tests; and

12. An BAMMDRS with secure verification of electronic transfers developed, tested, and operational.

The Consultant will receive formal feedback and comments on each deliverable within 1 week after submission from the TD.

E. CONSULTANT’S QUALIFICATIONS/ SELECTION CRITERIA

Education: A suitable candidate should have a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a field related to this assignment;

Experience:  Incumbent should have at least two (2) years of relevant professional experiences in the software development including following;

• Minimum 1 year back-end experience developing Java, Spring, REST, DBMS, SQL Query, ERD
• Experience of developing at least one CMS framework or web application framework;
• Full system/software development life cycle experience from defining requirements to conducting analysis through coding and release;
• Proven experience in developing, testing, documenting and releasing mission-critical sotfware;
• Strong knowledge of web development tools and programming languages; 
• Solid understanding of API design and implementation;
• Excellent analytical and time management skills; and
• Teamwork skill with a problem-solving attitude.

Language skills:  Good written and spoken skills in English and Mongolian;

Other skills: 

• Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to work in a collaborative team environment, which includes discussions around creative reviews, giving and receiving constructive feedback to and from fellow team members.
• Be able to develop documentation.
• Be able to work overtime if required.

F. SUPERVISION AND REPORTING 

• The consultant will report directly to the Director-General of the TD, MOF, who will meet regularly with the consultant to review progress with the work program and to resolve any outstanding issues. The Client may also appoint officials to monitor the contract implementation. Appointed MOF officials will be responsible for the coordination of activities under the Contract. 
• The consultant will be required to carry out his/her tasks in line with the approved WP which will serve as a basis for measuring progress on desired outcomes and goals for the entire consultancy service.
• The consultant will prepare monthly progress reports detailing the achievements towards the aforementioned deliverables supported by the relevant evidence as well as any  impediments in executing the entire WP effectively. These progress reports will be discussed with the Director General of the TD.

G. CONTRACT DURATION 

The consultancy is expected to commence in July 2021 with a total duration of 06 months with a possible extension period, subject to business needs and satisfactory performance.  

H. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

The MOF will provide office space for the consultant and the Consultant is expected to bring his/her computer equipment. During the workshop, the client will provide venue and projectors. 

The consultant will work on a day-to-day basis with the ITC team on the system development matters related to the assignment and also work closely with respective officials of central and local budget entities. 

The Consultant will have access to all the necessary data/information that the MOF could provide for this assignment. All information provided to the consultant will be regarded as confidential and information shall not be shared with any outside individuals or organizations.

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