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1. The proposed Second Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Corridor Towns Development Project (the
Project) represents the second phase of the ongoing GMS Corridor Towns Development Initiative. It
will be implemented in seven towns in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), and Viet
Nam. The Project will result in three separate country specific loans, each financing a number of
sub-projects in each of the seven participating towns. These towns were selected based on economic
and investment potential, potentials for cross-border trade and presence of economic and industrial
zones; potential for tourism development; and potential for public‒private partnership for selected
public investments. The towns are:
(i) Cambodia: towns on the Southern Economic Corridor‒Kampot and Sihanoukville;
(ii) Lao PDR: towns on the North‒South Economic Corridor‒Houayxay and Luang Namtha;
(iii) Viet Nam: towns on the North‒South Economic Corridor‒Bac Giang, Mong Cai, and Sa Pa.
2. The impact of the Project is aligned with the governments’ respective national development
plans. The outcome of the Project will be improved urban services in the participating towns. The
outputs of the Project are (i) Strategic Local Economic Development Plans (SLEDP) endorsed; (ii)
priority urban infrastructure investments implemented; (iii) institutional capacities for managing
public investments strengthened; and (iv) community awareness on project activities and
environmental sustainability improved.
3. Participating towns in Cambodia are Kampot (Kampot Province) and Sihanoukville (Sihanoukville
Province). The tentative investment program for Kampot includes (i) wastewater collection and
treatment, (ii) urban drainage, and (iii) solid waste management. For Sihanoukville, the tentative
investment program includes (i) urban drainage, and (ii) solid waste management.
4. Participating towns in Lao PDR are Houayxay (Bokeo Province) and Luang Namtha (Luang Namtha
Province). The tentative investment program for Houayxay includes (i) solid waste management; (ii)
urban roads and drainage; (iii) riverbank protection, road and walkway; (iv) riverport
rehabilitation; and (v) ecological park and recreation area. For integrated Luang Namtha, the
tentative investment program includes (i) solid waste management; (ii) urban drainage; (iii) urban
village upgrading; (iv) urban recreation facilities and construction of a bridge.
5. Participating towns in Viet Nam are Bac Giang (Bac Giang Province), Mong Cai (Quang Ninh
Province), and Sa Pa (Lao Cai Province). The proposed investment program for Bac Giang includes (i)
wastewater collection and treatment; and (ii) drainage and urban roads.
For Mong Cai, the proposed investment program includes (i) wastewater collection and treatment; and
(ii) drainage and riverbank protection. For Sa Pa, the proposed investment program includes (i)
wastewater collection and treatment; (ii) urban roads; (iii) town center enhancement; and (iv)
green city action plan.
6. The project preparatory technical assistance (PPTA) for the Project commenced in July 2014 and
concluded in August 2015. The main outputs of the PPTA are:
(i) Strategic local economic development plan (SLEDP) for each of the seven towns;
(ii) Feasibility study for each town; and
(iii) Institutional arrangements for project implementation.
7. In addition to the ongoing work under the PPTA, there is a need to strengthen resilience to
integrated disaster risk management (IDRM) in the seven towns. Climate extremes, combined with
rapid unplanned growth in urban population and infrastructure, results in increased vulnerability
and exposure. A critical component of strengthening long-term climate resilience will be to manage
present disaster risk ‒ risks from natural climate variability, rising vulnerability, as well as
increasing exposure to natural hazards ‒ through IDRM.
8. In recent years, the towns have experienced the impacts of climate extremes. Kampot and
Sihanoukville in Cambodia face regular flooding from heavy rainfalls affecting tourism and economic
activities; Houayxay and Luang Namtha in Lao PDR experience considerable river erosion due to
increased rainfall levels to the detriment of the urban core areas; and Bac Giang and Sa Pa in Viet
Nam experience flooding from heavy rainfalls affecting human settlements, tourism, and economic
activities. Mong Cai, Viet Nam, and Kampot and Sihanoukville, Cambodia, face inundation due to
extreme storm surges.
9. It is also important to strengthen the enabling environment to allow small and medium-sized
towns located along the GMS to factor in current and future disaster risk information in socio-
economic development processes, so as to strengthen disaster resilience in urban sectors and
services that are typically under the jurisdiction of provincial and city government agencies.
10. This consultancy will be a capacity building technical assistance (CDTA) that will build on the
assessments and reports of the PPTA for the Project.
11. Specifically, this consultancy will support the institutionalization of IDRM, and capacity-
building and training activities for provincial and city government agencies. The two main
activities to be supported are:
(i) Institutionalization of IDRM through:
a) Development of IDRM actions to enhance the SLEDPs prepared under the PPTA;
b) Formulating and applying IDRM criteria on identified priority infrastructure investments, and
demonstrating their application on potential future investments.
(ii) Capacity-building and training activities for provincial and city government agencies on
mainstreaming disaster resilience in planning, design, project implementation, and operations and
maintenance (O&M). This will include, at a minimum:
a) Training on disaster risk assessment, with a focus on flooding, in each of the seven towns.
b) Training and capacity building for IDRM in the spatial and socio-economic planning and in the
design of relevant investment projects, using existing plans and proposed investments as case
studies, in addition to good practices within the subregion.
12. The consultancy is expected to be implemented over 6 months. The consulting firm will provide a
total of 9 person-months of international consultants and 13 person-months of national consultants.
The consultant team will provide expertise, both international and national, in (i) IDRM (1
international, 4.5 person-months, intermittent); (ii) flood risk assessment (1 international, 4.5
person-months, intermittent); and (iii) capacity building in IDRM (3 nationals, 13 person-months
total, intermittent). For capacity building in IDRM, there will be one national consultant each for
Viet Nam (5 person-months, covering 3 towns), Cambodia (4 person-months, covering 2 towns), and Lao
PDR (4 person-months, covering 2 towns). All consultants must have excellent writing and
presentation skills in English. To the extent possible, the capacity building and training will be
based on the utilization of tools that are freely available in the public domain. To the extent
possible, training materials are to be made available in English and the local language of each
Project country (Khmer, Lao, and Vietnamese).
13. The consultancy is expected to be carried out in three phases as outlined below.
(i) Inception (months 1 – 2): During the inception stage, the consulting team will assess the
training and capacity needs of officials in all seven towns, and prepare an overview of recently
completed or ongoing activities that are relevant to this CDTA. The team will identify and collect
necessary data, including any spatial and survey data needed for the flood risk assessment, making
use of assessments done by the PPTA and previous TAs in the subregion. Based on these aspects, the
scope and schedule of activities and workshops will be finalized. These aspects will be captured in
an inception report.
(ii) Development and Delivery of Capacity Building and Training Activities, and IDRM Actions and
Criteria (months 2 – 5): The consulting team will develop and deliver the key activities specified
in the inception report, including at least 6 training workshops (i.e. one per country on disaster
risk assessments; and one per country on IDRM in spatial and socio-economic planning and in design
of relevant investment projects). The IDRM actions for the SLEDPs, IDRM criteria and their
application, and draft final versions of all training modules, materials, and workshop proceedings
will be developed. A stand-alone knowledge product, about 20 pages in length, distilling key
findings and leanings and geared towards a broader audience, will also be developed. These aspects
will be captured in a draft final report.
(iii) Final Report (month 6): Based on comments received on the draft final report, the final
report will be concluded.
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