The Government of Vietnam has received a grant from the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) for the implementation of the Nordic Partnership Initiative Pilot Programme and intends to apply the proceeds of this grant to payments under a contract for Consulting Services for the Pilot Programme for supporting up-scaled climate change mitigation action in Vietnam’s cement sector. The Nordic Partnership Initiative on Up-scaled Mitigation Action (NPI) will explore and demonstrate how international climate finance can be matched with up-scaled mitigation plans in developing countries. The NPI initiative was endorsed in COP17 in Durban by ministers or vice-ministers from Peru, Vietnam and four Nordic countries. Background information is available at http://www.nefco.org/en/financing/nordic_partnership_initiative. The NPI Pilot Programme aims to improve readiness for both carbon market and other support mechanisms through technical and financial assistance. Readiness activities should address relevant barriers to up-scaled mitigation as well as gaps in knowledge, data availability, institutional capacity etc. As a result of the Pilot Programme, Vietnam should be able to prepare and implement a full-scale scheme of a clearly specified NAMA in accordance with the Cancun, Durban and any future Agreements which could attract international climate finance through the carbon market and/or other international climate financial sources.
The Programme will be implemented by the Ministry of Construction (MOC) through its Department of Science, Technology and Environment. The MOC will recruit a consulting firm (or association of firms) to improve Vietnam’s readiness to benefit from international climate finance and/or the carbon market for supporting up-scaled mitigation action in the cement sector.
The Consulting firm would assist MOC to address gaps in data availability and quality and technical and institutional capacity, as well as relevant technical, financial and other barriers to up-scaled mitigation and private sector engagement. The two-year Pilot Programme will be initialized through preparatory works and will consist of three major phases: 1) a design stage, including identification and collection of relevant data, development of baseline emission trends for the cement sector and establishing a sector-level MRV system, 2) a consultation stage and 3) a readiness stage with capacity building, training and support for policy and NAMA design. The amount of effort is expected to be 159 person-months (43 person-months of international Consultants and 116 person-months of National Consultants) over a period of two years commencing from December 2013.
The Ministry of Construction now invites qualified consulting firms from any country to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Consulting firms may associate to enhance their qualifications through joint venture or sub-consultancy agreements. In case of association, the Expressions of Interest should clearly indicate the intended position of each firm: is it the lead firm, a joint-venture partner or a sub-consultant. Interested firms must provide information indicating that they have the necessary skills, experience and resources to perform the services (brochures, demonstration of experience in similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate skills among staff, etc.). Firms are not supposed to propose at this stage key persons for implementation of the services and neither shall they submit CVs of personnel at this stage.
The firms shall not have conflict of interest related to the assignment and shall not be under sanctions or debarment by Vietnam or international finance institutions, United Nations, or the European Union, and shall not have participated in money laundering, financing of terrorist activities or other prohibited practices.
Interested consulting firms may obtain further information by contacting Ms Luu Linh Huong by telephone during working hours or by e-mail at luulinhhuong@gmail.com. The Draft Terms of Reference are available upon request from the e-mail address above or from NDF's website at www.ndf.fi.
The consulting firm (or association of firms) will be selected using quality- and cost-based selection method among not more than six firms to be shortlisted on the basis of the Expressions of Interest received by MOC.
The Expressions of Interest in English must be delivered by email, fax, courier or mail to the address below before 3 May 2013 at 5 p.m. (Hanoi time).
Department of Science Technology and Environment (Ms. Luu Linh Huong)
Ministry of Construction
Address: 37 Le Dai Hanh, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: (+84) 3.9760271/ ext 121
Fax: (+84) 3.9780676
E-mail: ndfc34@moc.gov.vn