International Consultant to review and propose improvement of trademark registration

Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan (Ministry) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are implementing a project entitled “Strengthening the Trade Capacity of Turkmenistan”. The project is focused on supporting the Government of Turkmenistan in building trade capacity of the country with a view to support the realization of Turkmenistan’s objectives aimed at increasing competitiveness of national economy, reducing imports dependence and diversifying exports, including by increasing the share of higher-value added products in export composition.

Due to the increasingly intensifying international competition for markets it is necessary to address the objective of export diversification with implementation of range of measures focused on the creation of effective system to promote domestically produced goods in export markets throughout the whole value chain: producer – ultimate buyer. Among range of issues the efforts on ensuring access of specific types of products to foreign markets have unsystematic character.

In the business community the prevailing view is that enabling access to the external markets shall be addressed through provision of targeted benefits for the products of Turkmenistan, including in the framework of General System of Preferences (GSP). However, there is no legal basis to do so. Preferences under the GSP are not granted to the countries classified by the World Bank as upper-middle income and high-income economies. In 2012 Turkmenistan was classified as an upper-middle income country. Therefore, Turkmenistan products should compete with products of other countries on a common basis. In a highly competitive market environment the successful implementation of export diversification objective, including access to new markets for Turkmenistan, will require a targeted and systematic work in this area. 

One of the objectives of the current project is to enhance the level of competitiveness of national economy by strengthening qualification of professional staff of trade related institutions of Turkmenistan through building capacity to formulate and implement trade-related policy measures. Strengthening qualification of national professionals will be directed towards training of specialists demanded by modern economy, conducting market analysis through applied scientific research, establishment of contacts with foreign and international organizations that would support national professionals to develop domestic and international trade policy.

UNDP is planning to engage international consultant with the hands-on experience to conduct review and preparation of proposals to improve the trademark registration practices engaging with specialists of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, Ministry of Finance and Economy,  Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange and other related organizations in Turkmenistan. This will help to identify the business, encourage customer loyalty towards the goods of certain producers, which in turn will serve to improve “brand recognition” of domestically produced goods and develop consumer market.

In accordance with the above-mentioned objective of the assignment and under the supervision of the Project Manager, the International Consultant (IC) will have the objective of transferring knowledge and expertise to the national trade representatives through provision of review and preparation of proposals to improve the trademark registration practices. To achieve the objective, he or she will perform the following tasks:

• Action 1. Carry out desk review by reading relevant sections of the project document, analytical reports of national consultants with consideration of local context, project targets and indicators related to the trademark registration as well as other relevant information provided by the project team;
• Action 2. Study and analyse national consultant’s report on trademark registration, review national legislations related with trademark regulations;
• Action 3. Prepare set of questions and communicate with related national trade partners and other organizations related to management of trademark registration through online meetings to prepare proposals for improving trademark registration practices;
• Action 4. Develop comprehensive solutions for registration of trademarks of national products, including solutions related to patenting and registration of trademarks;
• Action 5. Conduct online workshop to present proposal, findings and recommendations to national partners. Submit consultancy report;

Deliverables and timeframe:

Deliverables:

• Desk review on trademark registration practices in Turkmenistan is carried out;
• National consultant’s report was analyzed, and national legislations related with trademark practices were reviewed;
• Set of questions were developed and communicated with national trade authorities and other relevant trademark regulation institutions of Turkmenistan to prepare proposals for improving trademark registration practices;

Duration and timeframe:

• 5 working days for analyses, desk work and understanding of trademark registration practices in Turkmenistan;
• 5 working days to conduct online meetings with national trade and other relevant authorities in Turkmenistan to generate objective picture on trademark registration practices;

Deliverables:

• Comprehensive solutions for registration of trademarks of national products, including solutions related to patenting and registration of trademarks are developed.

Duration and timeframe:

• 10 working days for developing comprehensive proposal for improving trademark registration practices in Turkmenistan.
• Conduct online workshop with national partners to present proposal, findings and recommendations. Submit consultancy report with findings and recommendations.

Payment conditions:

This is an installment-based contract that should cover the costs of consultancy required to produce the above deliverables. Schedule of payments will be agreed upon in the beginning of consultancy. Payment will be released in two installments: 1st installment: 40% (after release of draft proposal) and 2nd installment: 60% (after submission of final consultancy report along with relevant requested proposal as per this ToR) – upon timely submission of respective deliverables and their acceptance by UNDP Turkmenistan.

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment;

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge of and extensive experience working with UN international trade development mechanisms;
• Excellent analytical, communication and proposal writing skills;
• Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines;
• Good understanding and practice of capacity development;
• Cultural sensitivity;
• Diplomatic skills;

Education:

• Advanced university degree (at least master’s degree) in a relevant field, such as business administration, economics, international trade law or a related field with a particular focus on the development of trademark practices;

Experience:

• At least 7 years of working experience in advising, capacity development or marketing involving trademark practices;
• Experience in capacity building to formulate and implement foreign and domestic trade policy measures with focus on trademark registration and practices;
• Knowledge and experience of work in the CIS or Central Asia is an advantage;
• Good knowledge of the UN, WTO mandate in the area of international trade policy development is an asset;

Language requirements:

• Excellent written and spoken Russian; fluent English is an asset;

Submission of applications:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. All experts applying for this position are required to provide:

• Brief (1-2 pages) description of the methodology for the assignment. However, the specific design and methods for the workshop will be determined from consultations among UNDP Turkmenistan Economic Diversification program unit, the expert, and the national partner (Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan) about what is appropriate and feasible to meet the goals of the technical seminar;
• Financial Proposal with the references to (1) the daily rate for the assignment and within the timing scale indicated in the present TOR, and (2) any other expenses (including transportation costs, accommodation costs, the possibility of vaccination and etc.). Template of the form can be found at: http://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/procurement.html . The UNDP will enter into an Individual Contract based on a lump sum amounts. The financial proposal shall represent a detailed, justified and “all inclusive” amount.  In order to assist UNDP in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount, including: a daily fee for the tasks and an estimated duration as specified in this announcement, travel (to and from the missions), per diems, any other possible costs (including vaccinations, dwelling, communication etc.);
• Cover letter explaining why they are the most suitable candidate for the assignment;
• Resume /CV.

Evaluation of proposals:

Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on the combined scoring methodology. When using this method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/Compliant and
• Having received the highest score – out of 100.

Out of the maximum score, the score for technical criteria equals 70% – maximum 100 points, and for financial criteria 30%.

The technical evaluation will take into account the following as per the scoring provided:

• Education in the area of business administration, economics, international trade law or a related field with a particular focus on the development of trademark practices – 25 pts;
• Experience in capacity building to formulate and implement foreign and domestic trade policy measures with focus on trademark registration and practices – 35 pts;
• Methodology – 10 pt;
• Good knowledge of the UN mandate in the area of democratic governance – 5 pts;
• Knowledge and experience of work in the CIS or Central Asia – 10 pts;
• Fluency in Russian – 10 pts;
• Fluency in English – 5 pts.

Financial proposal – 30% of total evaluation.

Additional requirements for recommended contractor:

Recommended contractors aged 65 and older, and if the travel is required, shall undergo a full medical examination including x-ray, and obtain medical clearance from the UN-approved doctor prior to taking up their assignment. The medical examination is to be cleared by the UN physicians, and shall be paid by the consultant.