The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has received a grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) through the World Bank (WB) for the Vietnam Scaling Up Energy Efficiency Project (VSUEE Project). The project will provide TA to support the implementation of VNEEP’s targets and the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation measures in the industrial and energy sector. In addition, capacity building activities will address the knowledge, institutional, and capacity-building needs of the relevant stakeholders in the management and development of a national mechanism and policies on EE. Those efforts will be accompanied by the establishment of a risk-sharing facility, backed by a GCF Guarantee instrument, which aims to address current regulatory barriers to access commercial capital, mobilize local bank financing, and encourage stakeholders such as industrial enterprises and commercial banks to implement projects and develop an EE investment market. The project consists of two components: (i) GCF Risk Sharing Facility; (ii) Technical Assistance. The VSUEE Project Management Board (PMB) intends to use part of its grant to recruit a qualified consultant firm to Capacity Building of Participating Financial Institutions (PFI) and Program Implementing Entity (PIE).

The consulting services (“the Services”) consists to provide support to conduct: (i) Capacity building for the PFIs to improve their knowledge, understanding, and expertise in identifying, appraising, and implementing EE lending projects in the industrial sector and in business development to generate deal flow; (ii) Capacity building for the PIE to review RSF Guarantee applications and loan appraisals based on normal commercial practices, including eligibility criteria, technical and financial feasibility of proposed sub-projects, financial capacity and solvency of IEs, required mitigation of environmental and social impacts, and other regulations as specified in the VSUEE Operations Manual. The Consultant shall be responsible for: (i) Review of the functions and responsibilities of the PIE and PFIs as defined in the VSUEE Operations manual; (ii) Desk research to identify and document the efforts for capacity building of financial institutions in prior projects in Vietnam (if any), the training materials developed in these efforts, and the results and effectiveness of the capacity building delivered; (iii) Identification of knowledge and capacity gaps and preparation of a needs assessment report for capacity building for (i) PFIs and (ii) PIE; (iv) Design of a comprehensive capacity building program to address the gaps; (v) Delivery of the capacity building program in several locations in Vietnam. The estimated implementation time of this consulting task is 18 months, expected to start from June 2024 with possible extension based on the need and Consultant’s performance and project extension.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be obtained by submitting a request to the email addresses indicated at the end of the REOI.

The VSUEE Project Management Board now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services and attachment the business license of firm. The shortlisting criteria are:

(i) Minimum 5-years’ experience in industrial EE project design and implementation;

(ii) Have demonstrated relevant experience leading and delivering at least 1 assessment in developing and delivering training/capacity building programs, prioritize assessments that have worked with industrial sector in Vietnam;

(iii) Knowledge and understanding of technical and financial characteristics of financing of industrial energy efficiency projects;

(iv) Knowledge and understanding of banking procedures related to credit appraisal, technical assessment, financial analysis, and risk mitigation of energy efficiency financing proposals;

(v) Experience in preparation of “bankable” financing project proposals for EE;

(vi) Extensive experience in designing and conducting technical training programs, preferably in energy efficiency;

(vii) Experience in working as a credit or loan officer in a bank will be plus.

This assignment will require the consultant to assemble a strong team experienced on the topics above, which collectively brings the range of skills needed for the different tasks (e.g. energy efficiency, economics, financial, training specialists, etc).

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” July 2016, revised November 2017 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. 

Consultants may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications, but should indicate clearly whether the association is in the form of a joint venture and/or a sub-consultancy. In the case of a joint venture, all the partners in the joint venture shall be jointly and severally liable for the entire contract, if selected.

A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the CQS method set out in the Procurement Regulations.

Further information can be obtained from VSUEE Project Management Board via email: vsueemoit@gmail.com during the hours from 09:00 a.m. to 16:00 p.m. in working days

Expressions of Interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below in person (or by Post, or Email) by 16:00 on April 05, 2024.