Miscellaneous business and business-related services

Description

The GIZ project ‘Employment-oriented MSME Promotion’ (MSME) aims to support Jordan's economic growth in accordance with 'Jordan 2025 — A National Vision and Strategy' and the 'Jordan Economic Growth Plan 2018-2022'. The project's objective is to improve the opportunities for employment- oriented growth of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and it engages in three main fields of activity: 1) Improving enterprise competitiveness in selected sectors of Jordan's economy; 2) Enhancing MSME competences; and 3) Improving the business and investment climate in selected sectors. Important partners are governmental agencies engaged in MSME promotion, business and professional associations as well as the national and local chambers of commerce and industry. The project focuses its activities on three sectors selected through in-depth study and stakeholder consultation, namely tourism, food processing, and information and communication technology (ICT). The project started in 2018 and will run until 2024, and it is part of a special initiative to the MENA region by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The GIZ ‘Employment- oriented MSME Promotion’ project through this tender aims to support, in partnership with local stakeholders, the Jordanian tourism sector in the areas of: 1) Digital transformation; 2) Product development and innovation. The ultimate goal of promoting digital transformation is to improve the competitiveness of tourism MSMEs through enhancing their marketing and operational capacities. Within this area, the contractor will work closely with local sector support organizations including associations and business service providers to improve their service provision mechanisms in the areas of capacity building, access to information and professionals. Furthermore, the contractor will utilize these service delivery models to strengthen tourism MSMEs' linkages and access to ‘global’ and ‘local’ digital platforms and ICT service providers. This will include integrating digital tools in the strategic plans of the sector's associations and MSMEs, conducting awareness and capacity building activities in cooperation with digital platforms and ICT service providers. These efforts should be designed and implemented in line with the national strategies adopted by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) and the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) and aim to expand their links to the governorates. The second area of action aims to improve MSMEs' capacity to innovate and introduce new products, through developing the skills of the workforce, facilitating access to information and strengthening the value chain and innovation ecosystem. For that, the contractor will build the capacity of business service providers and sector support organizations in the areas of service provision and access to information. This will require the development of innovation plans on national and destination levels as well as enhancing cooperation and knowledge exchange through adopting joint approaches and innovation models. These efforts should be in line with the current national initiatives in the field of innovation and based on best practices through learning and cooperation mechanisms between local associations and counterpart organizations in other countries. In order to realize the intended outcomes, awareness and capacity building programs in the area of innovation should be facilitated. Furthermore, the experts will work on strengthening value chain linkages through designing and implementing cooperation models, based on best practices, among stakeholders including amongst others MSMEs, associations, universities and academic institutions, and the public sector. The contractor should also take into consideration the new developments and impact of Covid-19 on the global travel industry, including the new challenges as well as opportunities that emerge as a result of the crisis. The contractor will deliver the required activities in 18 month period from contract signing.