Land O’Lakes Venture37 Bangladesh: Bangladesh Trade Facilitation Project
Trade Facilitation Intern

Background:

Land O'Lakes Venture37 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping communities around the world build economies by strengthening agriculture from farm-to-fork, helping businesses grow, and linking farmers to markets. Since our start in 1981, we have been leveraging nearly 100 years of expertise in crop inputs, agricultural insights, dairy and animal nutrition from our close affiliate, Land O’Lakes, Inc., a farmer-owned agribusiness in the United States committed to fulfilling its purpose of feeding human progress. 

Project Description:

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded Bangladesh Trade Facilitation project (BTF) will expand regional and international trade in agricultural goods by addressing systemic constraints to agricultural trade at Bangladeshi ports; simplifying and automating import and export processes; improving the capacity of government agencies, laboratories, and warehouses; and by fostering private and public investment in cold storage and temperature-controlled logistics.

Position Summary:

The Trade Facilitation Intern will collaborate closely with the BTF Technical Team and work full-time on specific BTF project initiatives for a three-month period, which can be extended upon mutual agreement. The work initiatives provide opportunities for the Intern to build understanding about the challenges and opportunities for modernizing procedures and systems for cross-border trade, specifically food and agriculture products.  The Intern will be responsible for a specific assignment, with a set of deliverables and timeline for completion.  Moreover, while completing the assignment, the Intern will gain hands-on project implementation experience, knowledge about the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), and country specific requirements for export and import.  BTF will train the recruited interns to understand the assignment and conduct the tasks. 

Past interns analyzed legislation and regulations, providing valuable contributions to BTF’s regulatory reform activities, and researched market entry requirements for Bangladeshi export items. For 2023, the Trade Facilitation Intern will research, compile, and upload information and content for a repository holding comprehensive documents and compliance requirements for import and export of food and agricultural products.  The online database of information will be organized and searchable by HS Code (i.e., Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System), which is used worldwide for international shipping and customs operations. The Intern will also research the status of selected Government of Bangladesh regulatory agencies compliance with the TFA and then update a Trade Facilitation Roadmap for the agencies.

Reporting & Supervision:
The Trade Facilitation Intern will report directly to a member of the BTF Technical Team and have no supervisory responsibility.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Review legislations and relevant documents of the Government of Bangladesh to identify the HS Code-specific list of documents required for exporting and importing products.
• Support the development of the detailed repository for selected Harmonized System (HS) Chapters and organize the relevant information.
• Support the development of agency-specific Trade Facilitation Roadmap following the given template tool.
• Communicate with public and private sector officials (with the support of the BTF team) to collect information.
• Communicate and Coordinate with an IT firm and BTF Technical Team the upload of materials to the Repository and provide detailed review of the accuracy and completion, applying project management skills to achieve the objectives in the specified timeframe.
• Contribute to other relevant tasks to support the project’s objectives as assigned.  

Learning Opportunity:

The Trade Facilitation Internship offers a unique opportunity and exposure for recent graduates and final year students who are preparing to pursue a career in fields related to international trade and economic and agricultural development. The Intern will gain understanding of the trade-related regulatory environment in Bangladesh, measures to facilitate trade, project implementation, etc.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Recent graduate (within the last 12 months) or pursuing degree in relevant disciplines agriculture, business, economics, information technology or other relevant fields.
• Work experience or proven experience in academic research or voluntary service in the relevant areas will be given preference.
• Willingness to look for, learn, and acquire new knowledge, and to exhibit flexibility.  Demonstrate professional conduct and behavior suitable per BTF office culture and environment.
• Advanced command and proficiency in English and Bangla languages is required.
• Ability to read and interpret Bengali script is required. Skills typing Bengali is advantageous. 
• Demonstrate high-quality written, oral communication, and presentation skills. Proven ability to draft concise written letters or documents is preferred.
• Experience handling content for websites and/or using graphics or design software is advantageous, but not required.

Salary: Competitive

Job Location: Dhaka

Please apply using a cover letter and up-to-date CV as a single document and, send to umtama@landolakes.com.

Application Deadline: 31 October 2023