Terms of Reference for Organising Trade Fair in Shibganj, Chapainawabganj

1. Background

Swisscontact was established in 1959 as an independent organisation by prominent individuals from the worlds of commerce and science in Switzerland. It is exclusively involved in international cooperation and since 1961 has carried out its own and mandated projects. Since it was founded, Swisscontact has maintained close ties with the private sector. Currently, Swisscontact is active in 35 countries with a workforce of over 1,200 people, implementing 110 projects. The organisation is based in Zurich. Swisscontact concentrates on four core areas of private sector development:

2. Prabriddhi - Local Economic Development

Bangladesh’s economy has been steadily growing over the last three to four decades with GDP growth rates above 5% over the last 10 years. Not all regions of Bangladesh were able to profit to the same extent from the economic transformation that led to this impressive GDP growth. As decentralization remains an important element of the 7th FYP, new approaches such as LED are entering the sphere of the local government mission. The 7th FYP recognizes that overall rural development can contribute significantly to economic development of the whole country and thus supports the country’s ambition to upgrade to the status of middle-income country. In recent years, established and democratically elected Local Government Institutions (LGIs) at union, Upazilla and municipal level increasingly have gained weight in national debates on local governance and decentralization. This will possibly support and renew the decentralization process.

Local Economic Development (LED) is an approach towards economic development which allows and encourages local people to work together to achieve sustainable economic growth and development thereby bringing economic benefits and improved quality of life for all residents in a local municipal area. The Local Economic Development (LED) project, branded as Prabriddhi, funded by SDC and implemented by Swisscontact Bangladesh has started an 18-month long pilot or inception phase in August 2018. The pilot project called PRABRIDDHI is testing approaches to local economic development (LED) and their adaptation to the Bangladeshi context. The project will explore LED initiatives in two selected municipalities and learn from the experiences how to replicate the processes in other municipalities. At the same time the project will foster the awareness on these processes and will seek the buy-in of the government at the national level.

Prabriddhi has selected two Municipalities - namely Jashore and Shibganj - and has already initiated a number of interventions in Shibganj. Local actors and facilitators have gone through the LED capacity building exercises and identified problems, solutions and opportunities in their public or private sector field of activities. They have formulated related proposals. These first proposals concern activities which are more public, private or a mix of public and private issues, like provision of trade license (public), training in private activities like safe mango production. One of the proposed initiatives at Shibganj is to organise a Trade Fair to showcase the business potential, strengthen business linkages and bring more investment to Shibganj. Shibganj Upazilla is famous for Mango production, and it is one of the major suppliers of mangoes to the national market. Apart from Mango, Shibganj is also famous for Silk production.

3. Objectives of the Assignment

The broad objective of the assignment is to design and execute “Trade Fair” to showcase the business potential of Shibganj to various businesses including agro-processors, online retailers, buyers, exporters, agro-inputs and technology services providers; academia, tour operators, tourists; improve awareness on different products and services; and strengthen linkages with local farmers, traders, businesses and entrepreneurs. Please find below particulars on the design of the Trade Fair.

Trade Fair
Venue Model School Ground, or the Upazilla Parishad Ground
Duration 3 Days, ideally Thursday - Saturday
Date Within 31 July, 2019
Target Group As above, the selected agency will have to meet and ensure the participation of suggested companies/organisations, and use innovative means to ensure maximum participation of the local farmers, traders, businesses and entrepreneurs.
Operation The selected agency will have to set up necessary infrastructure at the Trade Fair Venue such as stalls to showcase products and services; stage to organise opening and closing ceremony, and other programs to facilitate interaction between visitors and local businesses. The selected agency will have to ensure security and utilities (electricity, water, toilets, etc.) at the fair venue.
Expected Outreach 5,000+

4. Specific Tasks/ Deliverables

The tasks of the selected agency would be as follows:

  1. Meet, discuss and incorporate feedback from Prabriddhi on the event plan; collect the list of expected participants from Prabriddhi.
  2. Undertake visits and meetings in Dhaka, Chapainawabganj and Shibganj to finalise the design of the Trade Fair and ensure the participation of expected participants.
  3. Fully manage execution of the Trade Fair; engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure their participation and to obtain the necessary permission.
  4. Take feedback from participants, document the outcome of the events, and present a brief report including lessons and way forward plan to Prabriddhi

5. Budget and Timeframe

The selected agency will have to organise the Trade Fair within 31 July 2019; depending on outcome and requirement, Prabriddhi may engage with the agency in 2019-20 to organise similar fairs in other locations. Total budget for the Trade Fair must NOT exceed BDT 8 Lakhs (inclusive of AIT and VAT). Prabriddhi reserves the right to negotiate and revise the budget.

6. Selection of the Service Provider(s)

Prabriddhi invites eligible event and activation agencies to submit a brief technical proposal outlining their capacity and experience in organising similar events, and an event plan for the Trade Fair. The financial proposal should outline detail costs under the following sub-heads: preparation, promotion, venue branding, activities during event, human resources and miscellaneous. The proposals will be evaluated as below:

 
Team Capacity & Experience
Proposed Event Plan
Budget and Cost-Effectiveness
Technical Proposal
20
50
-
Financial Proposal
-
30

7. Proposal Submission Process

All offers must be received in original hard-copy form (i.e. submission of e-mail tenders alone is unacceptable) with a cover letter signed by a competent authority of the tendering organisation, and lodged either via the postal system or courier service or delivered directly to the Swisscontact office at the following address: Finance & Admin Officer, Prabriddhi, Swisscontact Bangladesh, House 19, Road 11, Baridhara 1212, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

In all cases, the offer must be sealed in a covering envelope and addressed as per the RFP notice. Please write the subject as ‘Prabriddhi-Trade Fair’ on top of the envelope.

  1. Separation of financial and technical elements: The technical and financial proposal must be provided in separate envelopes. Failure to do so will disqualify the tendering organisation from the tendering process.
  2. Soft copies: An additional soft-copy of the Technical Proposal may be submitted (i.e. not the Financial Proposal) to the Admin & Finance Department’s tender e-mail address huraeen.ruhi@swisscontact.org
  3. Mandatory Legal and Financial Information: It is mandatory for bidding organizations to submit documentary evidence demonstrating their legal, taxation and financial status. This includes:
    1. Company Profile
    2. Company Registration (e.g. trade license or certificate of incorporation)
    3. Income Tax/VAT certificates
    4. Company Bank account details (certified by Bank)

The deadline for submission of the proposal is: 30 June, 2019; 17 00 hours (Bangladesh Time).

If a proposal is not received in the manner specified in the request, especially if it is not received by the due time, it is deemed as non-qualifying proposal, and will not be considered.

8. Reporting

The agency will report to Team Leader, Prabriddhi but will work closely with Facilitation and Capacity Building Manager and his/her team.

9. Reservation:

Swisscontact reserves the right to invite additional bidders to participate in an announced tender, exclude one or more bidders from consideration, extend the deadline for submitting bids, or cancel any tender procedure.