UZBEKISTAN
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION UNIT UNDER THE COMMITTEE OF VETERINARY AND LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT FOR THE FINANCING OF INCLUSIVE AND CLIMATE INVESTMENTS IN THE LIVESTOCK SECTOR OF UZBEKISTAN
CONSULTING SERVICES
Request for Expressions of Interest
Technical Assistance to Stimulate the Demand for Climate Finance in the Livestock Sector of Uzbekistan
The Republic of Uzbekistan (the borrower) has signed a Credit Facility Agreement (No. CUZ1018 01 S dated 28 June 2021) and its Amendment No. 1 (dated 17 August 2023), as well as a Grant Financing Agreement (No. CUZ1018 02 T dated 25 March 2022) and its Amendment No. 1 (dated 25 April 2024) with the French Development Agency (AFD) to implement a “Project for the Financing of Inclusive and Climate Investments in the Livestock Sector of Uzbekistan” (hereinafter the “Project”). The Project aims at promoting the sustainable and climate-compliant development of the livestock sector of Uzbekistan by supporting selected investments through credit lines, guarantees, investment subsidies and technical assistance to stakeholders and final beneficiaries.
AFD has provided a EUR 100 million loan to the Government of Uzbekistan for the Project, out of which EUR 89.9 million are dedicated to two credit lines to participating financial institutions (PFIs) intended for climate-smart investments in compliance with a set of predefined eligibility criteria. The first credit line amounts to EUR 65.9 million, and is open to a broad range of beneficiaries. The second credit line, amounting to EUR 24 million, targets the improvement of access to credit for smallholder farmers and small enterprises, the creation and development of cooperatives, as well as the financing of climate adaptive subprojects. A Project Implementation Unit (PIU), hosted by the Committee for Veterinary and Livestock Development (CVLD) under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, oversees the implementation of the Project.
In order to reach the Project objectives, technical assistance funded by a grant from the European Union (EU) will be provided at two levels: i) technical assistance to the PFIs and EDC to stimulate the financing supply side; and ii) technical assistance to the end beneficiaries (livestock breeders) to stimulate the financing demand side. The two technical assistance assignments are separate.
This request for expressions of interest focuses solely on the technical assistance dedicated to the stimulation of the demand for the proposed climate-smart credit lines. The technical assistance will be designed to reach a large number of beneficiaries in two directions: (i) improving knowledge on the livestock sector and climate change, (ii) while supporting a better access to sustainable banking services. In that regard, the technical assistance should strengthen the skills of relevant professional organizations on climate change and sustainable investments in the livestock sector, as well as their capacities to provide trainings in order to rely on them to disseminate the trainings to be proposed.
Technical support will be provided to a range of producers’ organisations with the following objectives:
• Raise the awareness of professional organisations’ staff and members on the impacts of animal productions on, and their vulnerabilities to, climate change;
• Develop the knowledge of these organisations’ staff and members on access to banking services, sustainable finance, financial literacy, management skills, accounting and all other relevant fields related to climate-smart business planning;
• Strengthen these organisations’ abilities to provide trainings not only to their members but also to a broader interested public consisting of the whole livestock sector value-chain, with a specific focus on smallholders (dehkans, tomorqas), family enterprises, sole entrepreneurs and cooperatives;
• Ensure that this technical support will allow relevant professional organizations to set up a network of training and consulting services dedicated to giving advice to their members and the targeted public on climate-smart farming practices, climate chance mitigation and adaptation in the livestock sector, sustainable investment opportunities, access to banking services and economic/business capabilities (financial literacy, management skills, accounting, business planning, etc.).
The PIU hereby invites Applicants to show their interest in delivering the Services described above.
This Request for Expressions of Interest is open to:
Consulting firms q Individual consultants
q NGOs q Joint Venture between NGO(s) and consulting firm(s)
Eligibility criteria to AFD financing are specified in sub-clause 1.3 of the "Procurement Guidelines for AFD Financed Contracts in Foreign Countries", available online on AFD’s website:
http://www.afd.fr.
The Applicant shall submit only one application, either in its own name or as a member of a Joint Venture (JV). If an Applicant (including any JV member) submits or participates in more than one application, those applications shall be all rejected. However, the same Subconsultant may participate in several applications.
If the Applicant is a JV, the expression of interest shall include:
a copy of the JV Agreement entered into by all members,
or
a letter of intent to execute a JV Agreement, signed by all members together with a copy of the Agreement proposal.
In the absence of this document, the other members will be considered as Subconsultants.
Experiences and qualifications of Subconsultants are not taken into account in the evaluation of the applications.
Interested Applicants must provide information evidencing that they are qualified and experienced to perform those Services. For that purpose, documented evidence of recent and similar services shall be submitted.
Determination of the similarity of the experiences will be based on:
The contracts’ size (EUR 2,800,000);
The nature of the Services (capacity building of professional organizations);
The technical area and expertise (climate finance in the livestock sector, as well as provision of business development services to farmers);
The location (in Central Asia).
Among the submitted applications, the PIU will shortlist a maximum of four (4) Applicants, to whom the Request for Proposals to carry out the Services shall be sent.
The Expressions of Interest must be submitted to the address below no later than 20.12.2024 at 16:00 pm Tashkent time.
PIU Office
100022, Kushbegi Str., 22, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Telephone: +998 99 991 60 72
Email: icif@vetgov.uz
Interested Applicants may obtain further information at the above address during office hours: from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
