Market orientation - IT outsourcing expert for business export coaching

About CBI

The Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) is a constituent of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), commissioned by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs. Our objective is to foster the transition towards inclusive and sustainable economies by reinforcing the economic, social, and environmental resilience of local small and medium-sized 
enterprises (SMEs). We accomplish this through the export of value-added and/or niche products to European and regional markets. Our projects aim to invigorate sustainable trade and 
production, thereby contributing to the creation of decent jobs, with a focus on integrating women and youth into value chains.
We support SMEs in our projects, usually spanning four to five years, through aware ness and capacity-building activities for sustainable production, employment, and trade. We encourage 
effective collaboration and alignment at the sector level and assist various sector stakeholders in enhancing their services for the sector and developing more conducive standards, norms, and 
policies.

About RVO
The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (in Dutch: Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, RVO) supports private and public organisations with funding, international business partners, knowledge, 
and regulations. More information about RVO can be found on: www.rvo.nl and http://english.rvo.nl/.

Purpose of the notification

The purpose of this market orientation is:
• To find out which parties potentially are interested in this assignment.
• To collect comments from potentially interested parties on possible adjustments for the 
assignment.

Assignment Background and Objectives

We are seeking IT Outsourcing (ITO) experts to provide business export coaching (BEC) for three upcoming CBI projects in Senegal, Morocco, and the Palestinian Territories. The experts will 
mentor and train a cohort of ITO SMEs to establish their presence in the EU market and optimize their processes, such as human resource development, service design, and so forth.
The BEC includes:
• Individual Export Coaching: SMEs selected for project participation will undergo a company assessment conducted by the ITO expert. Following this assessment, a bespoke action plan 
will be created for each company. The ITO expert will then provide tailored coaching, concentrating on the execution of this action plan. Additionally, the expert will provide 
remote coaching through various platform s, supporting our objective to minimize the environmental footprint.
• Group Training: We will organize on-site and preferably online training sessions for all participating companies, addressing sector-wide issues.
• Market Entry: Our focus will be on both physical and digital strategies to establish direct access to export markets.
The experts will collaborate with other specialists hired to implement each project, potentially including an institutional development expert, a local project coordinator, and others.

Assignment Activities

The expert’s primary role is to mentor and train the SMEs participating in the CBI project to enhance their export performance on EU markets. The expert will facilitate a business export 
coaching program to assist SMEs in successfully engaging with European markets. Activities will include export audits, support for peer-to-peer exchange, provision of coaching and training for 
necessary improvements, assistance in finding and establishing business connections with European buyers, assistance in international trade fair participation, and promoting the project 
among European buyers. The expert will engage on average in one to two technical assistance missions (TAM) per year,where the experts travels to the project country and provides in-person coaching and technical assistance to the SMEs, with additional remote guidance as needed.

Assignment Expected Outcomes

The assignments expected outcome is the achievement of CBI project results pertaining to SMEs, their access to the EU market, and contribution to select issues such as youth inclusion and gender 
equality, as outlined in the project's results framework.

ITO Expert Knowledge and Professional Experience Requirements

The expert must:
- Be able to independently represent CBI in the IT outsourcing sector in the respective countries (Senegal, Morocco, or Palestinian Territories) without any conflicts of interest.
- Have a minimum of five years of experience in the EU ITO market in a commercial/ technical or consultancy role within the last decade.
- Have at least five years of experience in business development, marketing, and promoting ITO services in the EU market within the last decade. Additionally, the expert should not 
have been inactive in the sector for more than two years at the time of application.
- Have a minimum of one year experience within the last five years in coaching IT outsourcing companies in developing countries.
- Possess proven knowledge of the latest trends, distribution channels, and players in the EU ITO markets.
- Maintain an active network of EU buyers and agents in EU ITO buying markets.
- Have experience in facilitating and conducting trainings and workshops on export development.
- Have experience in remote coaching using digital tools.

Rate/Price Requirements

The maximum daily rate for this assignment is EUR 750.- excluding Dutch VAT and including local VAT. The quoted rate must be all-inclusive.
- The estimated total value of the assignment over the 4-5 year period will be between EUR 300,000 and EUR 500,000.
- Local expenses, if the company is not located in the project country, can be invoiced according to the UN-DSA list flat rates.
- The daily rate is fixed for the duration of the assignment and is charged retrospectively based on actual costs and specified daily rate.

Travel policy

All international flight tickets and hotel bookings must be arranged by the expert and are only reimbursable with valid receipts. All flight tickets should be economy class.

Implementation period

The expert will be contracted for the entire duration of the project via a framework agreement. 
The expert must be flexible in his/her availability because the activities cannot always be planned on fixed days in the week or month. The project duration is 4 or 5 years.

Application

Interested companies are invited to send an expression of interest to CBI, by sending an e-mail to thomas.vanoudheusden@rvo.nl of the Procurement Office and services@cbi.eu answering the 
following questions:
1. Would you be interested in submitting a tender for the aforementioned assignment?
2. Do you have any suggestions for the assignment? If so; please list them accordingly.
Please do note that the maximum daily rate for this assignment is non-negotiable.
Please state the name of the contact person of your company and his or her e-mail address.
You do not have to send any documents; please only send a short message with your response to 
the questions. 
As a result of the market orientation, CBI can decide to start an European open tender procedure. CBI can use the information collected as a result of this market orientation when formulating the 
final assignment. Candidates should note that information they provide in the context of this market orientation may be made public (albeit in anonymised form).
In case of a follow-up process, no distinction will be made between parties that have or have not 
participated in this market orientation.

Deadline
The deadline for responding to this market orientation is set at 25 August 2023