A. BACKGROUND

The World Bank (WB) and the EU have 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 (PFM) reform strategy 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 above-mentioned 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), with support from the SFFS Project, contracted with Freebalance Ltd to implement commitment control and a web service extension to the GFMIS. Yet the possibility of providing all spending units with access to the system remains to be limited while 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. Moreover, 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, rules in effect, 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. 

Against the background above, in an effort to increase the coverage of the accounts in the use of the FMIS and to 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, a Treasury Portal system has been under development. The Portal System is expected to bring together the TD’s efforts toward electronic exchanges of financial transactions for budget entities particularly regarding enabling 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.

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 had assigned the task of developing the Treasury Portal system to the ITC and with support of national consultants, and development has begun with four modules.

The Treasury’s experience so far with development and introduction of various information systems has required updates and modifications in the relevant internal operations and business processes, the relevant regulatory documents, as well as training materials and manuals. Furthermore, building capacity and skills of the system users has faced various challenges regarding time and space, and in particular in-person training of specialists in remote aimags and soums has not been sufficiently accessible due to the required travel costs and availability of quality trainers. The inability to adequately train staff and professionals in the use of the systems in their day-to-day operations has a direct impact on the success of the digital transformation efforts. Hence, in order to help address the gap in training delivery, the TD, MOF has developed a Learning Management System (LMS) with a series of training contents on the IPS, ETVD, and commitment control that allow budget entity accountants and Treasury specialists to study independently and improve their skills according to their time, availability, and needs. The LMS has been used by accountants and treasury officials nationwide, currently with over 2107 users, of which 847 users completed all training sessions and passed the associated tests qualifying them to receive certificates. There is currently further needs to improve the already available content and also make additional content available on the Portal system of the Treasury.

B. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The objective of the assignment is to assist the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance, hereafter called “Client”,  in the process leading up to the implementation and rollout of the Treasury Portal system, by developing contents for the LMS on the use of Treasury Portal system and the Electronic transaction verification directory (E-TVD).

C. SCOPE OF WORK

The consultant will collaborate with the relevant specialists and national consultants at the TD, MOF and perform the following tasks:

1. Prepare a detailed plan for the video contents to be developed for the LMS on all modules of the Portal as well as on other systems;

2. Develop training curriculum and learning content for each module of Portal system and E-TVD in consultation with the relevant officers and consultants of the TD, MOF;

3. Renew current training curriculum and learning contents on the IPS as per updates made in the IPS in consultation with the IPS consultants;

4. Develop learning content on the Regulation for the Treasury Operations in consultation with the relevant officers and consultants of the TD, MOF;

5. Publish the prepared contents including training presentation slides, video and audio clips, animation, graphics, short multiple-choice quizzes and assessments developed through the LMS from time to time as completed; 

6. Review the current operation of the LMS and its integration with SSO system for user registration and improve the user registration process through the E-TVD; 

7. Provide support to transferring ownership of the LMS to the MOF together with all the related documents; and

8. Undertake such other tasks related to the assignment as reasonably requested and/or assigned by the Director-General of TD.

D. DELIVERABLES

1. Detailed plan for the video contents to be developed for the LMS;

2. Training contents on the Invoice and Reports modules of the Portal system uploaded in LMS;

3. Training contents on the Commitment control modules of the Portal system uploaded in LMS;

4. Training contents on the Expenditure modules of the Portal system uploaded in LMS;

5. Training contents on the ETVD uploaded in LMS;

6. Revised training contents on the IPS uploaded in LMS;

7. Learning content on the Regulation on Treasury Operations uploaded in LMS;

8. Evidence of improved end-user registration through E-TVD with the related documentation as well as of smooth operation of the LMS and its integration with SSO system;

9. Evidence on the transfer of ownership of the LMS (system administration) to the MOF together with all the related documents; and

10. Bi-weekly progress report to the Client and other required project related reports to the Client and the SFFS PIU.

E. CONSULTANT’S QUALIFICATIONS/ SELECTION CRITERIA

Education: A suitable candidate should have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Information Technology or Computer Science or a relevant discipline. 

Experience:  Incumbent should have at least ten (10) years of relevant professional experience including the following: 

 Previous experience in a similar capacity of operation of learning management systems; 

 Experience working on LMS or similar systems to create contents; 

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

Other skills: 

 Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to work in a group and multicultural team environment is required to deal effectively with staff at all levels;

 Have excellent skills in Video editing, Training Course Development;

 Be able to work with Adobe After Effects, Premiere and other video editing systems;

 Have ability to communicate complex technical problems concisely and professionally to technical and non-technical audiences, including high ranking officials;

 Be able to work overtime if required; and

 Must be able to work independently, advise others, as well as work in a team.

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 MOF 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 and 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 November 2022 with the total duration of 4 months.  

H. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

The MOF will provide office space for the consultant and s/he  is expected to bring a computer equipment. 

The consultant will work on a day-to-day basis with the Treasury Portal team on the matters related to the assignment and also work closely with respective officials of MOF. 

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.

If you possess the above qualifications, please submit the following documents via email to procurement_sgm@sffs.mn:

1. Cover letter indicating why she/he considers her/himself suitable for the position.

2. Detailed CV highlighting relevant skills/experience.

3. Copy of diplomas or certificates; and,

4. Two (2) reference letters from previous last two employers no later than 15:00 PM, November 11, 2022.

The consultant will be selected in accordance with the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers (July 2016).

The submitted documents will not be returned to the applicants. Please be noted that incomplete applications would not be considered for evaluation. Only selected candidate will be contacted. Address for submission of Expression of Interest: Ms.Zolzaya.B, Procurement Specialist, Strengthening Fiscal and Financial Stability Project, Room #205, Negdsen undestnii 8/2, 4th khoroo, Chingeltei District, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Tel: 70120582 or via email to: procurement@sffs.mn

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