Final Evaluation of the Trade Development & Market Enhancement Programme (EuropeAid SIEA Lot 2 2018/401999/1)

Project title: Final Evaluation of the Trade Development & Market Enhancement Programme (EuropeAid SIEA Lot 2 2018/401999/1)

Reference number: EuropeAid/138778/DH/SER/Multi

Title: Framework contract for the implementation of external aid 2018 (FWC SIEA 2018)

Lot 2 – Infrastructure, sustainable growth and jobs

Name of client: Delegation of the European Union to Egypt

Detailed description of project:

The objective of the Trade and Domestic Market Enhancement Programme (TDMEP) was to assist the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) of Egypt in the implementation and execution of key policy reforms in order to sustain economic development and Egypt’s further integration into the global and regional economy. The specific objectives were to implement trade and domestic market-related reforms to i) increase Egypt's benefit from international trade policy and agreements and ii) foster industrial development, in particular, improve the quality infrastructure necessary for trade liberalisation so as to enable the development of the private sector through trade.

The programme was designed to be implemented through two separate but closely interlinked components, with a maximum budget of EUR 20 million:

Component 1: Foreign trade, export promotion and trade agreements

This first component provided a combination of technical advice, capacity-building and institutional development for the MTI departments and agencies, as well as the private sector in, inter alia, trade defence, trade in services, trade facilitation, IPR and trade-related legal service and IT department within the MTI.

Component 2: Industrial development and quality infrastructure

The second component focused on industrial quality, the alignment of quality infrastructure bodies to international standards and the harmonisation of the technical regulations in Egypt with a view to reach the technical eligibility for opening ACAA negotiations with the EU. Activities in this component were aimed at fostering exports of Egyptian industrial products to the EU while, at the same time, improving the domestic market conditions.

In particular, the evaluation served to better understand the performance of the TDMEP, its enabling factors and those hampering proper delivery of results, so as to inform the planning of future EU interventions and Actions in the same sector. It assessed the Programme using the six standard DAC evaluation criteria, namely: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, coherence and early signs of impact.

Type and scope of services provided:

Assessed the past performance of the TDMEP, paying particular attention to its results measured against its expected objectives, and the reasons underpinning such results - according to DAC criteria

Evaluation of the coherence of the Action itself, with the EU strategy in Egypt and with other EU policies and Member State Actions, as well as with other donors' interventions

Estimated whether gender, environment and climate change were mainstreamed; whether the principle of Leave No-One Behind and the rights-based approach methodology was followed in the identification/formulation documents; Estimated the extent to which they have been reflected in the implementation of the Action, its governance and monitoring

Provided recommendations in order to design future Actions on the basis of key lessons learned and conclusions of the implementation.