1.       Position Title & Department

Short Term Technical Experts.

The proposed team composition for this assignment will include the following:

-      Content Creator (Team Lead)

-      Website Developer

-      Graphic Designer

The STTA Content Creator will serve as the Team Lead for this activity and the outcome of this assignment in the form of the final deliverable report will be a collective work of the team. The consultants will be required to work together to complete the tasks under this scope of work.

 2.      General Summary:

Chemonics International is implementing Pakistan Investment Promotion Activity (IPA), which is a 5-year, $16.8 million project that is aimed to strengthen Pakistan’s policy & regulatory regime and build institutional capacities to increase domestic and foreign investment, along with increasing bilateral trade between the United States and Pakistan.

The goal of the project is to work closely with the Government of Pakistan (GoP) and the Provincial Governments to streamline their business practices, improve operational transparency and governance, promote regulatory reforms and competition with an aim to reduce the cost of doing business, strengthen the investment climate for foreign investors in Pakistan and promote opportunities for enhanced trade and investment between U.S. and Pakistani businesses.

To this end, it is expected that the project will.

• Leverage $25 million dollars of Pakistani private sector investment to support $75M of Foreign Direct Investment
• $40M in U.S.-Pakistan trade increased
• 2000 meetings between US and Pakistan companies facilitated.

IPA will be achieving its targets through three major segments (1) Business Enabling Environment, (2) U.S.-Pak Bilateral Trade and Investment and (3) IPA Fund.

IPA has been working closely with the TDRO to operationalize the new TDR regime in Pakistan, under the TDR Act 2022. While the act was under the enactment process, IPA provided technical assistance to TDRO in developing a comprehensive roadmap for effective implementation of Trade Dispute Resolution (TDR) Act 2022. The roadmap was accepted and adopted by TDRO and MoC, and guided important actions, including but not limited to; establishment of the TDR Commission (TDRC), securing operationalization funds, developing TDR Rules 2024, hiring of relevant staff, etc. These actions show the government’s proactive approach to fully own and implement the new TDR regime in Pakistan. IPA continued to support TDRO and MoC throughout these stages in the form of a) finalizing the TDR Rules 2023 b) finalizing the advertisement for TDRC, which was formally advertised by MoC on July 14, 2024, c) advising on the operationalization funds rules and d) preparing subsidiary legislation instruments. Additionally, IPA and TDRO are also in agreement with the need to launch a nationwide awareness campaign through dedicated technical sessions with the Chambers and Trade Bodies to create awareness about this new regime and TDRO/TDRC’s role.

As the government prepares to launch and fully operationalize the new TDR regime in Pakistan, it is crucial that TDRO's digital infrastructure is aligned with its enhanced mandate. The website, being a key communication tool, must be upgraded to reflect the modernized processes and ensure accessibility to all stakeholders. This upgrade will not only enhance the efficiency and transparency of the dispute resolution process but will also play a pivotal role in educating traders about their rights and the procedures under the new TDR framework. The website will serve as an effective platform for both local and international traders and reinforce TDRO/TDRC’s position as a central player in Pakistan’s trade ecosystem.

3.      Objectives:

 4.      Principal duties and responsibilities

The consultants will be required to perform the following tasks:

• Review and consider IPA’s Roadmap for “Effective International Trade Dispute Resolution under the New Trade Dispute Resolution (TDR) Act 2022”, TDR Act 2022 and TDR Rules 2024.
• Assess how the roadmap’s recommendations can be reflected in the website’s functionality and content.
• Analyse the current TDRO website to identify gaps, inefficiencies, inaccuracies and areas for improvement.
• Develop and review content for the upgraded website, including legal, procedural information and ADR related content.
• Prepare a detailed plan and design for upgrading the website based on the findings of the initial assessment  of the existing website, including but not limited to; a user-friendly interface and intuitive navigation, sections dedicated to legal framework, features that enable stakeholders to file and track trade disputes online, multilingual support to cater to both local and international stakeholders, enhanced search functionality and a comprehensive resource repository, compliance with accessibility standards for users with disabilities, contact details for queries and feedback etc.
• Identify design-related improvements required to ensure a visually appealing and consistent website layout, including improved visual elements such as banners, icons, and infographics to support content clarity, use of colour schemes, typography, and branding elements across the website, basic graphic design adjustments for an engaging user interface (e.g., header designs, call-to-action buttons, etc.), optimization of images and graphics to ensure faster loading times without compromising quality, etc.
• Present and discuss the proposed upgradation plan along with its salient features with IPA, its legal expert and TDRO.
• Coordinate with the TDRO’s IT team and any necessary external department/wing or vendors to implement the website upgrades.
• Conduct a session for relevant TDRO staff on how to manage, update, and maintain the upgraded website.
• Conduct thorough testing (both functional and non-functional) of the website to ensure all functionalities work seamlessly before the official launch.
• Provide support during the initial post-launch phase (up to 2 weeks) to address any issues or fixing bug.
• Ensure the website complies with relevant legal and regulatory standards, including data protection and privacy laws.

5.      Specific Tasks of the consultants

• Meet with IPA team and TDRO to understand the tasks relevant to this scope of work and align expectations.
• Submission of a workplan including activities, tasks and suggested timelines.
• Development of website upgrade plan, ensuring user-friendly features, design enhancements and relevant contents.
• Based on the approved plan/ design, implement the website upgrades in close coordination with TDRO.
• Conduct thorough testing of the upgraded website to ensure all functionalities work as intended and provide post-launch support for up to 2 weeks.

 6.      Job Qualifications

 7.      Duty Station:

The consultant(s) will work with the related IPA and TDRO teams, based in Islamabad.

 8.      Workspace and Use of Personal Laptop and Software(s):

The consultant(s) will be required to use their own personal laptop and must certify that all software used are genuine and licensed; to ensure that the project’s IT resources are protected from accidental destruction or deliberate attempts at sabotage by computer viruses and other hazards.

 9.      Reporting:

The consultant(s) will report to IPA Business Enabling Environment (BEE) Lead and will be required to interact and work in coordination with IPA team for the purpose of completion of this assignment.

 10.   Duration of the Assignment:

This assignment is planned to take place as per the start date of on or around January 06, 2025, and end-date of on or March 15  , 2025. The total LOE will be spread over a period of 2 months from the start date of the assignment.

 11.   Deliverables:

The timeline for the LOE assigned for each activity as mentioned in the following table will be discussed and agreed with the consultants.

12.   M&E only.

Data gathered during the implementation of this activity (quantitative and qualitative) in the form of list of stakeholders along with contact details, meeting minutes/notes, interview questionnaires, meetings pictures etc. will be required to be shared with IPA M&E team for reporting. This activity will contribute to IPA’s following indicator:

• Indicator 3.1.3b: Number of trade and transit facilitation policies supported with USG assistance.

 13.   Cross-Cutting Theme: Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI):

The upgraded TDRO website will ensure that its content and design are accessible and relevant to all stakeholders, including women and marginalized groups.