---

Exhibit A: Scope of Work

Senior Research Coordinator

Background

The Feed the Future Bangladesh Improving Trade and Business Enabling Environment Activity  (Feed the Future Bangladesh Trade Activity) aims to improve economic growth in Bangladesh  through the following objectives: 

• Objective 1: Improving Trade Facilitation; 
• Objective 2: Improving Business Enabling Environment; and  
• Objective 3: Promoting Best Practices in Economic Growth Activities and Their Application. 

This includes facilitating an improved policy environment to promote sustainable economic  growth and prosperity, improved regional economic cooperation, sound management of  institutions, and good governance while also expanding markets for U.S. goods and services in the  Indo Pacific. This activity also addresses efficiency and transparency in the business enabling  environment.  

The Feed the Future Bangladesh Trade Activity delivers technical assistance and capacity building  to support implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and improve the BEE. The  project works with key public agencies, private sector stakeholders, and civil society organizations.  Work activities draw on best practices and regional experiences in order to build support for  initiatives aimed at simplifying documentary requirements for imports and exports. The project  supports strengthening technical capacity across border agencies and modernizing procedures  through digitization and ICT.  

The technical assistance and capacity building activities supported by Feed the Future Bangladesh  Trade Activity are based on an inclusive approach that integrates the gender dimension and  addresses vulnerable and marginalized populations. Ensuring inclusivity is central to realizing  USAID goals and objectives for the Feed the Future Bangladesh Trade Activity. Activities seek to  include and ensure representation of women, youth and other marginalized groups in public private dialogue and advocacy efforts.  

Position Description and Rationale 

Government institutions of Bangladesh issue more than 300 business licenses, permits, and certificates required by law for conducting various business activities and operations. Examples of  licenses issued by central and local government institutions include licenses for the retail trade of  cotton cloth, work permits, and route permits for vehicles. According to previous research, the  process of obtaining licenses is often a costly and time-consuming administrative procedure,  particularly for small and medium businesses. Unlike larger companies who have access to high  quality legal advice, small and medium enterprises are disproportionately affected or  disadvantaged by the lack of information. This can result in significant administrative effort to find  the information and comply with the regulatory requirements, even though entrepreneurs are  willing to comply with the regulatory requirements. The lack of information about legally required  licenses may result in high fines or even bans on companies and individuals to continue their  activities. 

To reduce the time and cost of obtaining licenses by entrepreneurs and to eliminate information  asymmetry, Business Initiative Leading Development and Feed the Future Bangladesh Trade  Activity (BUILD) are working together to prepare the Sixth Edition of the Business Guideline on  Start-Up Licenses in Bangladesh. The guideline is not only a comprehensive inventory of licenses  and permits but also a one stop-shop for obtaining detailed information about required documents,  government fees, and steps to follow to obtain each license and permit. It is intended to help local  and foreign investors better understand the landscape of regulatory requirements required for doing  business in Bangladesh while bringing time and cost savings for small and medium entrepreneurs.  

The previous (fifth) edition of the Guideline was published in 2017 and contains information about  215 licenses. However, because of the regulatory and administrative changes operated since then,  the process of obtaining some of these licenses and the list of required documents may have  changed, while some may have been eliminated or replaced by new ones. Thus, BUILD’s primary  task will be to confirm and/or update the requirements for obtaining the existing licenses included  in the previous edition. Additionally, BUILD’s research found that there were new licenses  introduced after the publication of the previous edition of the guideline and the process of obtaining  these must be documented. BUILD is willing to identify new licenses introduced after the  publication of the previous edition of the guideline. BUILD will include this new information  about the process and documentary requirements and add it to the new edition.  

To help BUILD prepare the sixth edition of the Regulatory Guideline on Business Start-up  Licenses the Trade Activity intends to hire a senior research coordinator. The coordinator will be  part of a larger team of research specialists formed by BUILD and the Trade Activity and will  work under the supervision of the Trade Activity and the project manager assigned by BUILD. 

Specific Tasks 

The senior research coordinator will be responsible for coordinating and supervising the data  collection efforts of a team of research specialists formed by BUILD who will update the  information about licenses and permits included in the previous edition of Regulatory Guideline  on Business Start-up Licenses and will collect the information about new licenses and permits  introduced since 2017. They will provide coaching, technical, and methodological support to  research specialists and will monitor the progress. Additionally, the senior research coordinator  will serve as a liaison person with approximately 60 government agencies. Together with the  research specialists, they will work with the government agencies to facilitate data collection and  data validation (process maps, process steps, list of documents etc.). More specifically, the senior  research coordinator will be responsible for the following tasks: 

*Note: The LOE days listed in this table are estimates only to be used for planning purposes. The consultant  may reallocate and utilize the LOE days as needed up to the maximum total.  

Deliverables 

Deliverable 1: Completed inventory of business licenses introduced after January 1, 2017. 

Deliverable 2: Detailed information for business licenses and permits introduced after January 1  by using the template developed by BUILD  

Reporting Requirements 

The Consultant will report to the Team Leader of Component 2 or their designee through regular  briefings and day-to-day dialogue.

Level of Effort and Period of Performance

The period of performance will be March 1, 2023 – June 31, 2023 

Required Skills and Experience 

• University degree in economics, law, policy, or related fields. Master’s degree would be  considered an advantage. 
• Minimum 10 years of relevant professional work experience in policy development and  implementation 
• Minimum 5 years of work experience with a central government institution in  Bangladesh  
• Proficiency in English and Bengali

**IDG has issued policies essential for the safety and well-being of all staff, including  requirements for all employees to be appropriately vaccinated against COVID-19 or to have  an approved exception/exemption on file. New employees will be asked to provide validation  of full compliance of IDG's vaccination policies.