1.    Objective of the Consultancy:

The purpose of this assignment is to provide advice for an investment policy framework for Sindh that encourages investment and assists in meeting the objectives of private sector development and growth set in Sindh 2025 Vision and Sindh Growth Strategy (SGS).

2.    Specific Tasks of the Consultants:

The specific purpose of this assignment is to identify key impediments to investment in Sindh and undertake assessment of the existing investment policy framework and provide recommendations. The consultants will also benchmark the existing investment policies with those of major competitive economies by sector and/or region and provide best practice guidelines for sustainable investment policy formulation.

Specific tasks required are:

Task 1 - Literature review and secondary research

1.1   Consultants will review and refer to the ongoing or previous work on investment policy (especially Punjab Investment Policy developed by SMEA and the Investment Policy Review done for the Government of KP) and incentives in Sindh and other available literature on investment impediments in the province[1].

1.2   The consultants will identify recent investments or pipeline investments in Sindh. Ideally, this should include foreign investment, local investment and investment undertaken by SMEs in particular.

1.3   The consultants will also develop a better understanding of government institutional space by identifying key actors working within this domain, especially the ambit of Investment Department, Industries Department, and Sindh Board of Investment.

1.4   The consultants will also undertake a review of international best practice on investment policy, particularly investment incentives.

1.5   The consultants will review the capacity of government institutions to structure investment deals and past experiences in innovative financing

1.6   The consultants will review the provincial policies including but not limited to agricultural, ICT and industrial policies.

1.7   The Consultants will review international best practices in promoting environment-friendly and sustainable investments. The work will be gender-sensitive and will encourage the participation of women in the economy.

Task 2 - Scanning investment landscape of Sindh, with a special focus on SMEs

2.1 The consultants will engage with selected investors (foreign and local; large and small),    who either have invested in Sindh or are in the process of considering investment and identify impediments that they have faced or are facing in the process. These issues may include conditions of FDI entry and establishment, provincial taxation and investment incentives, laws relating to business (general and specific), competition, employment and the environment, access to land and/or dispute settlement or contract enforcement.

2.2 The consultants will hold a total number of 2 FGDs with SMEs & investors in selected sectors (specifically SMEA target sectors, start-ups and women entrepreneurs) to validate the list and expand the findings. The proposed location of these FGDs is Karachi & Hyderabad given that most of the economic activities in Sindh are concentrated in these two cities. To capture dynamics and growth potential of emerging cities, (such as Sukkur), an FGD may also be organized  here. The final location of these 2 FGDs shall however be discussed and finalized with the consultants.

2.3 The consultants will narrow down the findings to 7-8 key issues hampering investment in Sindh.

2.4 Consultants will also develop a Short-term implementation plan which can be executed without any major structural changes and at low cost. 

Task 3 – Institutional, policy and regulatory analysis around key impediments

3.1 This work will be informed through earlier tasks and will revolve around the shortlisted investment impediments. The consultants will categorize the impediments based on whether they are federal or provincial or if the bottlenecks are stemming from institutional, policy or regulatory issues.

3.2 The consultants will deepen the analysis around these impediments, especially the ones that are provincial. The consultants will hold one-on-one meetings with key government agencies.

3.3 The consultants will review relevant laws and regulations and identify areas for improvement and reform.

Task 4 – Recommendations and final report formulation

The consultants will jointly produce a final report, with following distinct parts:

4.1 Targeted investment incentive policy – The consultants will produce an investment incentive policy for Sindh, with targeted incentives that can help attract potential investors, along with proposed good practices on such investments

4.2 Provincial policy, regulatory and institutional reform package for investment promotion – The consultants will propose a provincial reform package. This package will include early win reform proposals that can be addressed at the provincial level and will include specific institutional, policy or regulatory measures pertaining to various provincial agencies or subjects. In particular, this section will include broad recommendations for the institutional capacity building of the Investment Department Sindh, to champion the policy and become its custodian for implementation.

4.3 A short policy brief for the Government which includes a policy statement, key incentives and recommendations along with an implementation plan for the government.

3.    Job Qualifications

Position	Person Specifications	Level of Effort
Institutional Expert	Master’s degree in Public Policy, Law, Public Administration from a reputed international university At least 10 years of experience working on development issues Deep knowledge and understanding of the national, provincial, local regulatory, legal and policy environment pertaining to the SMEs A sound understanding of issues related to the role investment plays in the economy, particularly is a developing country context Knowledge of investment policies in Pakistan and Sindh, as well as best practices Special consideration will be given to candidates who have previously worked on designing investment policies for other provinces, especially Sindh Previous experience of working with USAID projects in the area of economic growth will be preferred Experience of working with donor projects in the SME space Excellent communication and report writing skills	15 person days
Economist	Master’s degree in Business, Economics, Management, Public Policy from a reputed international university At least 5 years of experience in undertaking research on industrial development in Pakistan Good understanding of the current business environment, macro-economic framework and the corresponding institutional arrangements at the federal and provincial levels Deep understanding of the investment climate in Pakistan and Sindh and of the investment policies and incentives Special consideration will be given to candidates who have previously worked on designing investment policies for other provinces, especially Sindh Good understanding of the constraints faced by the SMEs at the federal and provincial levels Previous experience of working with USAID projects in the area of economic growth will be preferred Experience of working with donor projects in the SME space Excellent communication and report writing skills	15 person days
Legal expert	Master’s degree in law At least 5 years of relevant experience Solid understanding of laws relating to business (general and specific), competition, employment and the environment, access to land, and dispute settlement Good understanding of the current business environment, macro-economic framework and the corresponding regulatory and legal arrangements at the federal and provincial levels Special consideration will be given to candidates who have previously worked on designing investment policies for other provinces, especially Sindh Excellent communication and report writing skills	5 person days
Investments Expert	Master’s degree in Development Economics, Public Policy, Public Administration from a reputed international university At least 5 years of experience in investment/business advisory, banking and/or asset management Deep knowledge and understanding of the national, provincial, and local impediments to investment; identifying the challenges and opportunities, particularly in the context of SME sector Prior experience in developing financial mechanisms/tools to accelerate investments in an underdeveloped sector Extensive knowledge of business investments environment and ability to trigger match-making between private sector and investors in development projects Prior knowledge and experience of undertaking economic and investment studies and designing investment strategies for the Government Knowledge of investment policies in Pakistan and Sindh, as well as international best practices Special consideration will be given to candidates who have previously worked on designing investment policies for other provinces, especially Sindh Previous experience of working with USAID projects in the area of economic growth will be preferred Experience of working with donor projects in the SME space	5 person days

4.    Duration of the Assignment:

This job is planned to take place as per a start date of on or around August 1, 2019 and end date of on or around October 30, 2019 (subject to date of mobilization) for a total of 40 days LOE, split as: 15 days LOE for Institutional Expert, 15 days LOE for Economist, 5 days LOE for Legal Expert and 5 days for Investments Expert.

5.    Deliverables:

Following are the key deliverables and their associated deadlines. The final deliverable for this assignment is the Final Report on Sindh Investment Policy Framework. The timeline for the LOE assigned for each activity as mentioned in the following table will be discussed and agreed with the technical team and the consultant.

No.	Activity	Required LOE Days
1	Interview and meet with the Chief of Party, Senior Policy Advisor, BEE Team and other technical staff to understand the scope of the assignment and agree on the activity and work plan.	1
2	Meetings and discussion with Government Departments including (but not limited to) Investment and Industries Department to develop institutional understanding	4
3	Literature Review and background meetings/interviews with private sector, SMEs and investors	10
4	Preliminary Findings	2
5	2 FGDs at two different locations	4
6	Legal Review	2
7	Draft Report/presentation to SMEA	10
8	Final Report on Sindh Investment Policy Framework	5
9	Possibly a Presentation to USAID	2
	Total	40 Days