Request for Information (RFI) No. 72036720R00005 -Trade and Competitiveness Activity.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

ISSUANCE DATE: Friday, May 8, 2020

RFI CLOSING DATE: Friday, June 19, 2020, 9:00 AM Nepal Time

SUBJECT: Request for Information (RFI) - Trade and Competitiveness

REFERENCE: RFI No. 72036720R00005

Dear Prospective Respondents and Interested Parties, The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Nepal Mission (USAID/Nepal) issues this RFI per the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) sections 15.201(c)(7) and 15.201(e), respectively, to provide stakeholders an opportunity to review, comment, suggest and enhance areas in the attached statement of objectives for a planned new USAID/Nepal economic growth activity, tentatively titled the “USAID Nepal Trade and Competitiveness Activity.”

USAID issues this RFI solely for information and planning purposes. This RFI does not constitute a request for proposals. USAID posts its competitive business opportunities on www.beta.SAM.gov. It is the potential offeror’s responsibility to monitor this site for announcements of new opportunities.

By issuing this RFI for consultation, USAID/Nepal aims to consult with a broad community of public and private sector actors concerned with improving the productivity and competitiveness of select sectors in Nepal. USAID/Nepal requests your comments to help refine the concept and ensure maximum development impact. USAID/Nepal may significantly revise the approach based on comments received and further stakeholder consultations.

RFI Submission:

All organizations and firms (large and small business) are strongly encouraged to provide information and comments by the closing date and time noted on the cover page. Responses should be sent to kathmanduoaaexchange@usaid.gov with the Subject Line reading “Trade and Competitiveness RFI Response”. We request that respondents limit their submissions to 7 pages and would particularly value comments responsive to the consultation questions listed below.

Consultation Questions

1. To what extent are the proposed objectives accurately focused on the areas of greatest USAID/Nepal comparative advantage and the specific types of technical assistance organizations such as yours are best suited to provide? Are there any major gaps USAID/Nepal should consider? Are there proposed focus areas that may present particular risks or implementation challenges?

http://www.fbo.gov/ http://www.fbo.gov/ mailto:kathmanduoaaexchange@usaid.gov

RFI No. 72036720R00005 USAID/Nepal Trade and Competitiveness Activity

2. Which three or four products, services, or sectors show the most promise for participating in global value chains; providing broad-based impact for Nepalis; and the ability to capitalize on innovation? What criteria would you use to evaluate their participation in global value chains?

3. What trade barriers need to be addressed (and are not being addressed by other donors or the Government of Nepal) to ensure that firms are able to source inputs to production and are able to export?

4. What areas of a traditional competitiveness activity should be considered for an activity envisioned in the attached draft Statement of Objectives? For example, since workforce productivity levels are very low in Nepal, is it worthwhile to build the capacity of enterprises to adopt digital technologies or other innovations? Are other development partners supporting workforce development, vocational training, or other skilling programs for labor supply and to what extent should a USAID-funded activity engage in these or other traditional interventions?

5. Regarding support for Nepal's trade and competitiveness ecosystem, what specific innovations, investments, and approaches does your organization view as likely to be the most successful vis-a-vis the Indo-Pacific Vision trade and competitiveness objectives?

6. With respect to the proposed draft outcomes in the results framework in the attached draft Statement of Objectives, what scale of results does your organization view as likely to be feasible within a three to five year time frame and roughly what level of resources would be required?

7. What are the most significant coordination gaps between USAID and other development partners and U.S. government agencies related to trade? At the activity level, how can this activity best ensure strong coordination, avoid duplication, and ensure the greatest possible development impact?

8. Given Nepal’s high vulnerability to shocks - be they from internal (fiscal, security, disaster, climate vulnerability) or external sources - how might USAID broaden economic participation and increase resilience into the economy while increasing trade and competitiveness?

9. The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have a severe short-term impact on Nepal’s economy.

With one of the world’s highest reliance on remittances, Nepal faces an even higher exposure to COVID-related shocks since Nepali expats abroad will also be impacted by a downturn in economic activity. How might the Trade and Competitiveness Activity best respond to this shock and support Nepal in its economic recovery? What approach should the Activity adopt to transition from short-term, COVID-related recovery efforts to programming that achieves sustainable competitiveness and productivity outcomes?

Issuance of this RFI neither obligates the USG to issue a solicitation or award a contract nor commits the USG to pay for any costs incurred or information resulting from this request. Respondents remain solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

Sincerely, Marva M. Butler Contracting Officer

Attachment 1: Nepal Trade and Competitiveness Activity Statement of Objectives

DRAFT Statement of Objectives

1. PURPOSE

The purpose of this activity is to increase Nepali private sector participation in targeted global value chains. This SOO allows Offerors to propose and price a set of interventions that achieve the outlined objectives and contribute to measurable improvements in the functioning of market systems, business operations, and/or production capabilities; promote investment and increased use of available technologies and innovation to spur productivity; strengthen marketing capacities; and streamline select import and export procedures. While the interventions supported must be concise and well-tailored to firms in the targeted sectors, we expect that some interventions will yield broad-based and positive system-wide impacts for Nepali firms as whole. We also hope to leave room for more opportunistic actions at a firm level that can yield immediate impacts in terms of jobs, exports, and/or increased competitiveness.

2. SCOPE

This Statement of Objectives (SOO) describes the objectives of USAID/Nepal for an acquisition that will enhance capacities of Nepali enterprises including micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) associated with targeted value chains and to create commercially sustainable jobs. This SOO does not state how the work is to be accomplished but provides potential Offerors with the flexibility to develop cost-effective solutions and the opportunity to propose innovative approaches to meet the stated objectives and results.

Based on this SOO, Offerors will submit a Performance Work Statement (PWS) which describes a market-driven approach that tailors strategic interventions to the needs of the Nepali private sector to achieve the objectives of the activity and the intended economic impact of proposed interventions.

The PWS must enable USAID to assess the performance of the work against specific, clear, and measurable performance standards (i.e., in terms of quality, quantity, timeliness, etc.) and show the method of assessing contractor performance against the performance standards.

3. PERIOD AND PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

(a) Period of Performance: USAID anticipates a period of performance of up to five years from the date of contract award.

(b) Place of Performance: This activity will be implemented in Nepal.

4. BACKGROUND

Nepal is a country that is plagued by many challenges to growing its economy. The options for a landlocked, geographically challenged economy are considerably more limited than those of a country that has easy access to global markets. Social rigidities, a fragile ecosystem, and a significant and high vulnerability to disaster induced by demographic shifts and climatic effects all contribute to the re-occurrence of economic shocks that impact competitiveness and cause poverty backsliding.

Government instability has been a key challenge as Nepal had over 30 governments between 1990 and 2018, in addition to an eight year battle with a Maoist insurgency. While instability remains a threat, the government is making headway, having ratified a national constitution, conducted local elections, and elected a super majority in the parliament in 2017. The government continues to take steady, if not decisive, steps toward implementing a system of federalism which holds promise to rectify at least some of the disparities and grievances that fueled the insurgency.

Nepal has made tremendous progress in eliminating extreme poverty in the last 24 years largely due to the migration of youth to more vibrant job markets. Yet, during the last decade, Nepal grew at an average rate of only 4.2%, which is lower than the average growth rate of its neighbors by two percentage points, although post-earthquake reconstruction contributed to higher growth rates in recent years (Figure 2.1). Identifying growth prospects for Nepal would be a challenge even in the best of contexts given the issues outlined above and the small size of its market. However, in Nepal these challenges are exacerbated by a poor investment climate, risky and costly business environment, and limited market opportunities that constrain private investment, both foreign and domestic, and impede the country’s sustained growth. Costs of production are high in Nepal, even though labor is cheap, and transport costs are prohibitive even in the southern Terai, where geographical barriers are not so daunting. The country’s manufacturing sector contributes only 5% and agriculture 25% to Nepal’s GDP.

Figure 2.1 Nepal Economic Performance FY 2008-2018

Source:Nepal Rastra Bank

While migration has been a key factor in reducing poverty in Nepal, it also contributed to a low growth and high migration trap over the last decade. Nepal’s growth has been insufficient to create enough jobs to absorb roughly 378,000 new entrants to the labor market each year. As a result, nearly as many workers - 363,000 - migrated from Nepal in FY17/18, seeking employment abroad. While remittances equivalent to 25% of GDP ($7.8 billion in FY18/19) have had a positive effect on the living standard of many Nepali households (improving access to quality education, health care, consumption, and home improvements), it has eroded the domestic economy’s competitiveness and heightened macroeconomic vulnerabilities.

Because there are so many Nepalis working abroad and remitting hard currencies, Nepal has a staggering trade deficit of $11.4 billion (an increase from $10.8 billion in 2017/2018). Nepal has also chosen to fix its exchange rate to the Indian Rupee and, because of inflationary pressure, has been forced to use their foreign currency reserves to defend the exchange rate. As a result, their foreign reserves are falling and can only cover 7.7 months of import bills, down from 11.4 months two years ago. At this rate of decline, rather than devaluing to solve the problem, there is a substantial risk that the GON could impose additional, administrative measures that will interfere with free trade and further damage trade development and export diversification efforts.

Enterprises in Nepal are constrained by numerous barriers, including;

● lack of access to low-cost and high-quality inputs,

● inefficient inbound and outbound logistics,

● poor access and adoption of improved technologies,

● an inadequately skilled workforce,

● poor governance pertaining to operating a business,

● lack of access to finance,

● lack of access to markets and market intelligence, and

● a poor enabling environment for imports and exports.

According to the 2020 World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Survey, Nepali enterprises continue to not fare well in terms of starting and operating a business. Out of 190 countries in the survey, Nepali enterprises rank 94th overall but faced particular difficulties in starting a business (135th), enforcing contracts (151st), getting electricity (135th), and paying taxes (175th.) Such challenges in doing business have placed enterprises at a disadvantageous starting position relative to competitors in other countries. Entrenched patronage systems, procurement practices and systems of commerce beneficial only to a small group of elites remain pervasive.

In November 2017, President Trump laid out America’s vision for a free, open, and secure Indo- Pacific region in which all nations are independent, strong, and prosperous. This activity falls within the Economic Pillar of this “Indo-Pacific Vision.” (Figure 2.2)

Figure 2.2: Indo-Pacific Vision (IPV) Results Framework

In addition to the economic background provided above, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have a severe short-term impact on Nepal’s economy. The World Bank predicts that Nepal’s economic growth will decrease significantly, between 1.8 and 2.8% in 2020, down from 6.3% forecasted in September 2019. According to the World Bank’s best-case scenario, Nepal’s economy may not return to pre-COVID growth rates until early 2023. The fiscal deficit is expected to widen by around 4% (as a result of increased government spending to support the COVID response); and inflation will increase to approximately 6% due in large part to the rise in food prices. Most economic sectors and support services will be affected. Nearly one million Nepali migrants have returned to Nepal, without domestic employment prospects, reducing the purchasing power and incomes of 56% of Nepali households who depend on remittances. While some Nepali migrants remain abroad, they also face economic hardships specific to their host countries; their limited ability to provide remittances will have an outsized impact on Nepal’s domestic consumption, savings, investment, and liquidity. Exports will likely dwindle due to weak external demand. Domestic supply chains will also likely see a hit as demand for imports falls. The impact of the COVID -19 pandemic will exacerbate the constraints that Nepali enterprises already face in the short-term and will further erode their competitiveness.

5. PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED RESULTS

To best support the trade and competitiveness goals of the IPV in the Nepal context, the goals of the U.S. Mission to Nepal’s Integrated Country Strategy, and the goals of the current USAID/Nepal CDCS, the overall goal of this activity is; “Nepali private sector participation in targeted global value chains increased.”

The proposed theory of change for the Activity is: If, the costs of production and trade for Nepali firms in sectors with high growth and employment potential can be reduced; and if business innovation and productivity is increased through targeted streamlining of business processes; and if Nepali firms gain improved access to supportive market-based finance; then, private sector participation in targeted global value chains will increase.

Outcome One: Access to supportive market-based services improved

Outcome Two: Productivity in sectors with high growth and employment potential increased

Outcome Three: Targeted business processes streamlined

Consistent with the USAID model of economic growth emerging through the new Economic Growth Policy, the proposed goal places enterprises squarely at the center of the proposed design.

Successful achievement of the Activity goal would be demonstrated most fundamentally through clear, commonly accepted measures of enterprise competitiveness at the firm and sector levels. In line with the overall Results Framework for the T&C Initiative, the key outcome indicator at the goal level is EG 5.1, “USD sales of firms receiving USG funded assistance.”

Outcome One: Access to supportive market-based services improved

In addition to identifying financial institutions to partner with, interventions under this Outcome are expected to include catalyzing new partnerships with the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and/or other relevant multilateral financial institutions (IO 1.2). At a minimum, the Contractor must achieve the following results:

• IO 1.1: Increased utilization of targeted, supportive financial products and services

• IO 1.2: New foreign and domestic investments mobilized

• IO 1.3: Access to market intelligence products and analyses increased

• IO 1.4: Business Development and Acceleration Service providers have improved capacity to respond to the needs of targeted enterprises

Outcome Two: Productivity in sectors with high growth and employment potential increased

To be competitive in the interconnected global economy, Nepali firms require enhanced access to affordable productivity-enhancing technologies (IO 2.1), tools to help guide their product development and diversification efforts (IO 2.2), quality market intelligence (IO 2.3), and a skilled, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vTcgwhykBk1eixCBjXJqkiBy2ceaUp-K/view https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1z55y24TkFDthl0GjgZqjYhHk_ls5n0GKkNK_TddQz2A/edit#slide=id.g6ea4558896_0_38 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1z55y24TkFDthl0GjgZqjYhHk_ls5n0GKkNK_TddQz2A/edit#slide=id.g6ea4558896_0_38 competent workforce and competitive human resources management plan. Outcome Two comes verbatim from the Theory of Change for the IPV T&C Initiative as a whole at the intermediate outcome level, presenting clear conceptual and reporting linkages.

The Contractor must achieve the following results under this Outcome:

• IO 2.1: Access to productivity-enhancing technologies increased

• IO 2.2: Export-oriented product development and diversification tools developed and applied

• IO 2.3: Skill base for Nepali workers enhanced

Outcome Three: Targeted business processes streamlined

At every stage in its life-cycle, from starting a business, to operating one, and until the point of liquidation, Nepali enterprises are burdened by cumbersome business and property registration requirements. Interventions in this Outcome must address these constraints by supporting targeted business climate reforms to ease regulatory burdens, reduce the cost-burden to enterprises (to meet those requirements), and redistribute business operations towards productivity enhancements that can lead to increased competitiveness.

Offerors must propose activities that are well-coordinated and complementary to the activities of other donors in this space. Interventions should focus specifically on: bottom-up reform efforts to promote private sector policy advocacy, devoting special consideration to supporting historically underrepresented, economically disenfranchised groups, or firms headed by relatively disempowered social groups when feasible.

The Contractor must achieve the following results under this Outcome:

• IO 3.1: Public-private platforms for policy advocacy strengthened

• IO 3.2: Government of Nepal processes for doing business streamlined

• IO 3.3: Trade barriers reduced

6. ANTICIPATED APPROACH

Proposed approaches must effectively demonstrate how they will support key IPV priorities as defined by USAID’s Strategic Approach to implementing the Indo-Pacific Vision. More specifically, the approach should be focused on only a few key components of the Theory of Change for the Trade and Competitiveness Initiative.

The proposed approach is firmly rooted in the model of enterprise-driven development articulated by the USAID Administrator in recent speeches, the Agency’s Private Sector Engagement Strategy, and the Agency’s forthcoming Economic Growth Policy. By focusing and concentrating on a highly targeted set of market inefficiencies and firm-level productivity constraints, this activity hopes to advance Nepal’s sustainable growth and Mission objectives at a targeted but potentially transformative scale. Implementation approaches should incorporate the needs of the private sector and should https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WdsCSb-YQ3PDgttl9D8zcol5K_C9x_sZkN6P1g4OoRs/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/13D6gx8L_KsZID7aOWCPyyI-gZEKv0Y748S_xFaVN5EU/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/13D6gx8L_KsZID7aOWCPyyI-gZEKv0Y748S_xFaVN5EU/edit https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/dec-12-2018-administrator-green-panel-launch-private-sector-engagement-policy https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/usaid_psepolicy_final.pdf https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1z55y24TkFDthl0GjgZqjYhHk_ls5n0GKkNK_TddQz2A/edit#slide=id.g6ea4558896_0_71 ensure that advocacy informs and shapes the majority of activities in a strategic and demand-driven manner.

The PWS should explicitly and intentionally place market systems at the core of the approach and should demonstrate effective leveraging of private sector resources to achieve expected results.

Offerors should not play the role of direct service providers but, instead, should serve as convener, facilitator, co-creator, and catalyzer of new partnerships that will achieve sustainable results.

USAID envisions an implementation model heavily focused on market-driven support, market linkages, and facilitating the highly specialized, and usually sector-specific, expertise and market intelligence that enterprises require to expand their operations and engagement in global value chains.

Offerors should propose interventions that are marked by:

● A market-driven approach to identify and develop solutions to the key constraints faced by Nepali enterprises,

● A management approach and set of interventions focused on at least two sectors on the basis of proposed selection criteria*.

*Any additional proposed sectors or products must be justified through offerors’ selection criteria. While offerors are free to develop, with justification, their own selection criteria and rationales for their selections, the selection criteria must, at minimum, include: a) the sector’s economic significance and growth potential; b) its impact on the economic participation and empowerment of women and socially excluded groups; c) its relevance to new market entrants and opportunity to reduce the depth and extent of Nepal’s entrenched cartel-like political and economic interests that dominate many sectors; and d) its alignment to Government of Nepal priorities and complementarity to other USG activities and other development partner-supported projects.

Given the magnitude of the impact of COVID-19’s on Nepal’s economy, offerors should focus first on recovery-related interventions that seek to kick-start productivity and off-set losses. Offerors should propose interventions that will provide immediate relief to affected enterprises and service providers that will eventually allow them to benefit from trade-related activities that may have been viable pre-COVID-19. Offerors should clearly lay out a phased approach for how their recovery interventions will impact beneficiaries and how the activity will transition to a longer-term strategy to deliver the expected results of this activity.

Offerors should only consider concise engagements to smooth compliance with international trade policies and standards and enhance the legal and regulatory environment for competitiveness where these factors are clearly inhibiting progress in a targeted sector, there is a clear champion and potential momentum for change, and where no other donor is currently providing support. Offerors should not focus on SPS interventions.

7. GENDER EQUALITY AND SOCIAL INCLUSION ANALYSIS AND ACTION

PLAN

Participation of women and marginalized communities are critical for broad-based and sustainable economic growth. The Activity will adopt an inclusive strategy that will address barriers faced by women and disadvantaged communities in trade, business, access to resources (finance, technology, business services, markets), and market intelligence and information, which impede their ability to be competitive and expand their businesses. The Activity will strive to foster inclusive and gender-sensitive and gender-responsive policies and interventions. Targeted approaches will be used to reach businesses owned, managed and controlled by women and members of marginalized groups. It will also strengthen the channels by which the benefits of growth are transmitted to women and members of disadvantaged groups, while improving the productivity and competitiveness in products and services. In this pursuit, the Activity will give due consideration to both the gender-specific or gender-intensified constraints that women and other members of disadvantaged groups experience in relation to trading opportunities. In-depth analysis will be carried out to identify these constraints as well as to design the policy reforms and the interventions that address them. A detailed GESI Analysis and Action Plan will be developed to inform the Activity.

8. PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND ILLUSTRATIVE INDICATORS

The Performance Monitoring and Learning Plan for this activity should be strongly aligned with the IPV Performance Monitoring Framework for the Trade and Competitiveness Initiative. The Activity should draw from the standard and custom indicators developed for the IPV and relevant indicators from the T&C Initiative framework as a whole, such as:

● O.2 - Number of known barriers to trade and investment reduced as a result of USG assistance

● EG.5-1 USD sales of firms receiving USG-funded assistance

● EG.5.2-1 Number of firms receiving USG-funded technical assistance for improving business performance

● O.4 Number of commerce laws and regulations simplified and implemented in accordance with international standards as a result of USG assistance

9. COMPLEMENTARY USG AND DONOR ACTIVITIES

USAID/Nepal’s two Feed the Future (FTF) flagships activities, KISAN II and NSAF, take a market systems approach, which facilitates private sector-led development of the targeted value chain commodities and an improved enabling environment. NSAF focuses on strengthening the competitiveness of the seed and fertilizer value chains through improved technologies, market systems, and policy. These FTF activities and this Activity are mutually reinforcing in building the competitiveness of agricultural products and will amplify the results achieved under each activity.

The goal of USAID/Nepal’s Urja Nepal Activity (under procurement) is to create a financially viable electricity sector that provides affordable, reliable and secure power and enables the entry of private investment into the Nepali market. Urja Nepal has four interrelated objectives: 1) Utility performance and relevant sector policies improved; 2): Advanced energy systems deployed; 3): Increased private sector engagement; and 4) Cross border electricity trade between Nepal and its neighbors advanced.

Urja Nepal’s substantial private sector engagement elements are highly relevant to the proposed Activity, making strong coordination essential. The fact that energy is potentially a very important export for Nepal, and electric vehicles an important means of reducing Nepal’s trade imbalance given the significance of petroleum to its overall import basket, underscore the importance of strong collaboration.

U.S. Government inter-agency coordination and collaboration is critical for an effective implementation of this Activity. The Activity will contribute to the U.S. Integrated Country Strategy (ICS) and goal to promote economic growth and prosperity in Nepal. The ICS will serve as the main platform for this inter-agency coordination and collaboration, especially to support coordinated engagement with GON officials to advocate for key policy reforms.

The U.S. Support for Economic Growth in Asia (US-SEGA) project aims to improve the policy environment for sustainable economic growth and prosperity, regional economic cooperation, and the sound management of institutions and good governance throughout the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Indo-Pacific regions, while also expanding markets for U.S. goods and services. As US-SEGA envisioned to work with USAID economic growth programs in the Indo- Pacific, this Activity will collaborate with US-SEGA to achieve results on the common areas of interest, such as in trade facilitation and the enabling environment.

The new Food Safety Activity, which is an interagency partnership between USAID’s Bureau for Food Security with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety Network will support the establishment of an effective SPS system and thus enable Nepal to participate more robustly in international trading, while also ensuring food safety and food quality for domestic consumption. The new Food Safety Activity will include the following aspects of the SPS system:

standards adoptions; risk management; support on customs and trade facilitation; and a communication structure for value chain actors to enable them to understand SPS standards and how to reach them., The Food Safety Activity will complement work undertaken by the Trade and Competitiveness Activity by enhancing the capacity of Nepali firms to meet international standards and connect to the global economy.

DFID, EU and the World Bank are in the process of launching highly complementary activities (summaries provided below). We anticipate that these activities will add significant value to this Activity and will amplify its results. A robust coordination will be orchestrated to ensure this complementarity. The Economic Growth and Private Sector Development Donor Group is an important platform to serve this purpose. As encouraged by EGPS, we will facilitate the creation of a Trade and Competitiveness Working Sub-Group. In addition, such coordination will also be pursued between the implementing organizations with close oversight from these respective sponsoring donor agencies.

DFID’s new Nepal in Business (NIB) Project (launching in 2020) aims to create and sustain formal jobs in Nepal by helping firms to grow, become more productive and take part in domestic and global value chains. NIB aims to: i) catalyze economic transformation and job creation in key sectors;

ii) improve the capabilities of SMEs, linking them with domestic and international partners, leveraging the Nepali diaspora and improving access to finance to enable them to take promising ideas to scale and to strengthen their role in the economy; (iii) work in collaboration with the private sector and the federal and provincial government to improve sectoral constraints for SMEs; and iv) generate evidence and learning on accelerating private sector development in low income countries like Nepal.

The EU-Nepal Trade and Investment Programme (TIP), aims to increase Nepal’s trade and its participation in regional and global value-chains, improve the investment climate, and attract FDI.

It focuses on: 1)addressing procedural and regulatory obstacles for foreign investment; 2) enhancing government capacity to attract foreign investment through a single-entry point improved, especially that of Department of Industry; 3) supporting Integrated Trade and Investment sector policy and strategy through policy dialogue underpinned by technical support developed; and 4) improving information sharing and coordination mechanism for rural/economic and trade investment programmes.

The World Bank’s Nepal Sustainable Tourism Value Creation Project focuses on: 1) establishing a model integrated approach to tourism development at selected destinations; 2) supporting inclusiveness and innovation in products and services by supporting local communities, small and medium enterprises, tourism developers, and tourism workers to enhance and diversity their offering and skills; and 3) enhancing institutional and regulatory capacity for promoting sustainable tourism investments.

[END OF RFI No. 72036720R00005]