The Institute of Finance of Lebanon – Basil Fuleihan Institute for Economy and Finance (IoF), training and communication agency of the Lebanese Ministry of Finance has been awarded an Institutional Development Fund (IDF) Grant by the World Bank for Developing Capacity Building Tools for Sustainable Governance in Lebanon and the MENA region.
The main objective of this project was to build the capacity of the Institute of Finance in public finance management through developing several training modules specialized in public finance management addressed to civil servants affiliated to Ministries of Finance and other line ministries involved in implementing public finance reforms in Lebanon and the MENA region.
During phase one of the project entitled “Validation of MENA region training needs and devising methodology”, the IoF contracted an individual consultant to conduct a needs assessment survey in order to validate the perceived demand of subjects proposed hereunder and explore existing regional offerings in Public Finance Management.

Based on the report and recommendations at the end of phase one of the project, the experts were expected to develop several training modules as follows: 1) Budget preparation, 2) Budget Execution, 3) Government Accounting and 4) Internal Controls & audits (internal & external)

The project targeted:
• Civil servants affiliated to Ministries of Finance in Lebanon and the MENA region and/or directly involved in implementing public financial management reforms;
• Civil servants in line ministries involved in public financial management reform implementation;
• Managers and financial directors of public enterprises;
• Financial auditors in inspection boards and supreme audit institutes;
• Donor-financed projects staff

Type of services provided:

• Review of the Individual Consultant’s report and recommendations in addition to examining available learning resources at the Institute of Finance of Lebanon, WBI and other institutions involved in public financial management (PFM) reform in MENA countries.

• Curricula development (including sharing of developed curricula with IC and IoF):
– ensuring that they comprise specific and tailored case studies that cater to the regional audience and are congruent with their financial systems; validating, in consultation with concerned parties the content of the modules and case studies;
-ensuring that modules are prepared in electronic versions in order to guarantee sustainability and transferability of the project, and easy access to data and material.
-Finally, the firm should revise and validate the execution modalities.
The modules were developed in English and French and translated into Arabic.

TEP C is part of an overall Trade Enhancement Programme (TEP) which aims, for trade facilitation purposes, to address Egypt’s structural and institutional impediments to international trade. They represent impediments to the effective implementation of the trade and trade-related measures in the EU-Egypt Association Agreement as well as to the WTO agreements, and they undermine Egypt’s policy of encouraging inward investment and export-led growth.

The global objective of this program is to support, mainly through technical assistance and training, the Customs Reform by improving the general performance of the Customs administration and thus making the Customs more predictable, quicker, and at a better cost for all operators in foreign trade activities.

Specific objectives:
To streamline and harmonize Customs procedures according to international best practices and standards in full compliance with WTO requirements.
To modernize Customs operational tools and upgrade Customs professional capabilities at the technical, managerial, and institutional levels.
Results to be achieved by the Consultant
• The implementation of a reliable valuation system based upon international standards, consistent, in particular, with the WTO valuation concept
• The set-up and implementation of an efficient risk management system
• The organization of a comprehensive post-clearance control/audit based upon a clear strategy for post-clearance control
• The successful organization of “on the job training” for the middle management staff
• The design and implementation of an internal and external communication plan for actively supporting the whole reform process

Type of services provided:
• Capacity Building
• Training of Trainers / On-Job Training
• WTO Valuation
• Risk Management System
• Communication Optimization
• Policy advice to the Ministry of Finance

The overall objective is to assist the Industrial Research Institute (IRI) in developing a long-term capacity to host, manage and develop the European Lebanese Center for Industrial Modernisation (ELCIM) as a professional and increasingly financially self-sustainable service provider of high-quality business upgrading services, primarily targeting manufacturing SMEs.

The Contract includes two specific objectives:

Capacity building at IRI.

• The Contractor will support the rapid “anchoring” of ELCIM’s functions and processes within the existing organization of the Industrial Research Institute. ELCIM will become a permanent department of IRI reporting to its Director-General.
• This process will entail assistance to IRI by the Contractor in creating a cost-effective specialized business support unit capable of quickly adopting international best practices.
• Within this objective, IRI will also receive assistance in integrating ELCIM within the broader national SME support framework being developed in Lebanon. The fulfillment of this objective will be achieved mainly through the assignment of relevant expertise as well as day-to-day mentoring from the international experts to their Lebanese counterparts.

Provide direct business advisory services.

• The Contractor’s expertise will also be mobilized to take part in advisory activities to SMEs supported by ELCIM. This will both serve the purpose of supporting at least 170 companies throughout the duration of the Contract.
• Direct advisory activities by the Contractor will provide guidance to the local business advisers inappropriately responding to the needs of the companies.
• Particular emphasis will be placed on finance-related advisory services for which one expert with international experience will be assigned on a full-time basis.

Type of services provided:
• Assist IRI in establishing all the management functions of ELCIM in accordance with international practice for effective business support services
• Help set up the structure of a Human resource for ELCIM (training needs analysis, develop in-house training program combining on-the-job training and formal training sessions)
• Assist in elaborating work processes and workflows with associated institutions including leading private sector institutions (Kafalat, chamber of commerce, etc)
• Advise IRI in improving information systems focused on the management needs of ELCIM and its enterprise portfolio.
• Develop a complete workflow enabling the timely processing of clients’ requests from the initial visit to the delivery of the required support services
• Support ELCIM in developing a fully operational Financial Unit with adequate linkages with Kafalat and other financial institutions.
• Support IRI and the Federation of the Chamber of Commerce in developing the regional outreach of ELCIM.
• Advise IRI in integrating ELCIM with the broader SME support network simultaneously developed by the MoET. The contractor will further develop coordination with MoET to work on a variety of cross-cutting issues, i.e. coordination of international aid, business-enabling legislation, development of SME financing schemes, etc.
• Propose, develop and deliver demand-driven training packages targeting manufacturing SMEs.
• Development of ToRs for short-term technical assistance assignments for SMEs
• Propose and monitor promotional campaigns to increase ELCIM’s visibility at a national level.