1.     BACKGROUND

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“the EBRD”) supports the economic transition to an open market economy by fostering enterprise change in small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) and developing the local consultancy market to achieve a sustainable support structure of business advisory services in its countries of operation.

National Development Strategy “Moldova 2030” foresees as one of its core pillars development of a sustainable and inclusive economy through 1) increasing revenues from sustainable sources and relief of economic inequality; 2) better access to physical infrastructure, public utilities and living conditions and 3) improvement of working conditions and reduction of informal employment.

Atop the established broad priorities for Moldova, specific effort is put by all stakeholders into alleviation of the consequences the COVID-19 pandemic had on all sectors of the economy. The new realities dictated by the pandemic highlighted particular importance of digitization, support to vulnerable and most affected groups as well as persistent gender disparities.

In line with the Donor Agreements “Sweden-EBRD Women in Business Programme (Moldova) Cooperation Account” and “EBRD Advice for Small Businesses, Team Europe EaP window” the EBRD SME Finance & Development (SME F&D) Moldova team plans to implement dedicated visibility and communication activities with the objective to raise awareness about the available donor support and assistance to SMEs. These activities are aimed at dissemination of best practices and promoting the relevance of advisory services via visibility events, as well as to publicly acknowledge donors’ financial contributions.

The proposed activities consist of online and offline events (to be aligned to enforced regulations at the time of implementation) as well as media communications designed to achieve the visibility goals set by the abovementioned agreements through webinars, meet-ups and consistent social media presence to showcase the impact of successful advisory projects as well as best practices in the field. The proposed activities will target existing and potential beneficiaries, government and international development stakeholders, partner institutions and the media. Specific focus of the events and communication topics will be put on the national economic development priorities and the EBRD’s development priorities: access to finance for SMEs, digitization of business and green and inclusive economy.

2. ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION

The overall objective of the Assignment is to raise awareness of SME support instruments and support business development.

Specific objectives include:

• Promote continuous professional development for businessmen and consultants;
• Increase awareness and understanding of consultancy services;
• Highlight the potential contribution of the EBRD and its donors to the development of the SME sector;
• Raise awareness of SME support infrastructure;
• Share best practices and know-how in local consultancy;
• Promote green and inclusive economy solutions;
• Attract eligible applications for the EBRD SME F&D support from potential client enterprises.

There are three main audiences for EBRD communications and visibility in Moldova: i. SMEs

A core audience of the activities are SMEs across the country who might be potential beneficiaries of the programme. A key purpose is therefore to explain benefits of using EBRD’s advisory toolkit and where possible inform about EBRD financial products including those implemented by Partner Financial Institution. The activities shall result in an increased number of applications for advisory support and better awareness of EBRD products in PFIs. Primary focus to be put on companies led by women, exporters of goods and services, companies focused on implementation of green technology and the ones embracing digitization in traditional sectors as well as breakthrough technology development. SMEs from both rural and urban locations to be addressed, including Gagauzia and Transnistria regions.

ii.         Donors and other stakeholders

The success of the programme relies on close cooperation with donor organizations. They require adequate visibility for contributions. Correct use of logos on all marketing materials will be followed. Evidence of donor visibility, such as media coverage, official notices and press releases, reports and publications referring to the projects will to be collected. Many of the activities will involve close cooperation with other stakeholders like government organizations, international organizations and business associations. At every stage, synergy with the visibility activities of partner organizations will be sought to maximize impact.

iii.        Media

EBRD targets to build positive relations with the media and get the maximum amount of coverage and visibility for its programmes. The planned market development activities will involve media contacts where relevant. Focus will be made on case studies where real stories show the positive affect of EBRD on the individual companies and the region.

The Consultant will be responsible for the management functions of the Assignment, including monitoring, marketing, communication, visibility, reporting and completion within time and budget.

The Consultant is expected to provide the EBRD with detailed recommendations on increasing awareness among stakeholders to better respond to potential clients’ needs. As the result of the Assignment, it is expected that :

• The Action Plan is developed and systematic activity is launched in accordance with these documents.
• The constant progress of the communication activities is monitored and reported to the EBRD on a regularly basis.
• All available digital and offline communication channels work systematically and provide with the high level of audience engagement.
• All relevant EBRD implemented activities aimed at SME support are covered in online and offline media qualitatively and on time.
• All relevant target audience stated in the Assignment covered by online and offline media and are informed on the opportunities existing for SMEs under the European Union (EU4Business) and Sweden funds.
• The EBRD and the donors have regular coverage in online and offline media throughout the implementation period and, thus, stimulate interest from potential participants.

The Consultant is expected to possess sufficient capacity to deliver the full scope of services under the Assignment. As such, a dedicated team of specialists, should be ready to support all kind of requests stated in the Assignment. The profile of such specialists should be provided. If there is a need to hire/replace a dedicated staff for the Assignment, a profile of the best candidate for the position should be provided to the EBRD. The EBRD Communications should be involved in taking the final decision on the candidate. The project team specialists should be able to cover request from the EBRD of any communication area (digital, production, design, media, marketing, event management, etc.). The Consultant should calculate the capacity bearing in mind that several kinds of similar tasks and requests could be required to be processed simultaneously. The EBRD reserves the right to replace any Expert/Key Expert, if the one fails to provide the required support at any stage of the Assignment. The adequate replacement shall be provided within the two weeks after the written request from the EBRD.

The activities of the Assignement should be designed to achieve the following KPIs:

The activities delivered through present Assignment shall cater to the achievement of the following outcomes:

• At least 170 women entrepreneurs reached through outreach activities;
• At least 40 business consultants reached through dedicated events;
• At least 100 entrepreneurs would have attended meet-ups with consultants;
• At least 20 advisory projects with companies participating in the events within 12 months will be started;
• At least 950 new followers for EBRD ASB Moldova Facebook page;
• At least 250 new followers for EBRD ASB Moldova LinkedIn page;
• At least 10% increase in posts reach and engagement featuring EU donor support;
• At least 10% increase in posts reach and engagement featuring Sweden donor support;
• At least 10% increase in media coverage featuring EU donor support;
• At least 10% increase in media coverage featuring Sweden donor support;
• 64 - 70 new social media posts featuring EU donor support;
• 64 – 70 new social media posts featuring Sweden donor support;

3. ASSIGNMENT PLACE AND DURATION

The Assignment should be implemented across Moldova, covering the approved regions, including selected rural outreach.

It is envisaged that the current Assignment duration is 16 months, starting from the date of Agreement signing.

4. Consultant profile

The Consultant shall be a firm able to demonstrate the following experience and expertise:

1. A first-hand experience in Digital Marketing sphere.
2. A proven track record in undertaking similar assignments.
3. At least 3 (three) positive feedbacks from international or large-scale local organisations, working in the similar sector.
4. Submission requirements

Qualified consultants are hereby invited to submit proposals to undertake the Assignment.

In order to determine the qualifications and competence of consulting firms seeking to be shortlisted, the information submitted should include the following:

1. Company profile, organization and staffing.
2. Details of experience or previous similar assignments, including contact details, CVs of staff who are available to work on the assignment.
3. Copy of Registration Certificate.
4. Information on the owners.

• Proposed short concept vision and format of the above-mentioned Assignment, including stages of the process, responsible parties and the proposed timetable, instruments, methodology, expected output.
• Short analysis of the EBRD SME F&D Moldova Facebook page -
• Proposed budget with breakdown (number of consultancy days, fees, direct costs, etc.). Please do not include any direct costs related to the proposed activities (venue and equipment rent, transportation costs, etc.)

The documentation has to be delivered in English language by e-mail to the person mentioned in Section 6 below.

6. CONTACTS

Proposals should be sent by email:

TO: siana@ebrd.com Alexandra Sian, Analyst

CC: kuznetso@ebrd.com Olga Kuznetsova, National Programme Manager, EBRD SME F&D, Moldova.

Note: The EBRD in Moldova is not bound to accept any of the proposals. Selection and contracting will be made from the proposals received in response to this Call for Expressions of Interest only. The successful consultant will be engaged on the EBRD consultancy services contract for the implementation of the Assignment. Only selected consultant will be contacted.