Facilitation services for an Aspiring Entrepreneurs Day

Background

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Lao PDR the ILO, with endorsement from the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI), launched a project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The project, implemented in partnership with the SME Service Center and the LNCCI, ultimately aims to support women and men-owned MSMEs in Laos to become more sustainable and resilient and generate economic and decent employment opportunities, contributing to Lao PDR’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, the project aimed to achieve this by:

• Working with financial institutions and other partners to support formal and informal women and men-owned MSMEs in accessing funding (cash and credit) and other financial services;
• Supporting efforts to provide continued and reliable information related to COVID-19 support measures and contributing to a better enabling environment for entrepreneurship development and MSMEs; and
• Delivering business development services to women and men-owned MSMEs and aspiring entrepreneurs, including those in the informal sector, to build business and financial management skills, enhance financial literacy, promote entrepreneurship and stimulate new innovative and sustainable business ideas.

 In 2022, Entrepreneurship Days have been organized in Vientiane Capital and Luang Prabang Province with the Luang Prabang Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LPBCCI) and Souphanouvong University with support from the SME Service Center (SSC) and the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SSC-LNCCI). These initiatives have beeb conducted under the International Labor Organization (ILO) project “Supporting Resilience to Lao MSMEs in Response to Covid-19”.

Given the impact of COVID19 on returning migrant workers and those who have been left unemployed, the project will organize an entrepreneurship day open to any aspiring entrepreneurs. The event aims to equip aspiring entrepreneurs with necessary entrepreneurial knowledge and inspiration to explore self employment and entrepreneurship for themselves to create a livelihood and promote employment for others.

Scope of work

The ILO seeks the support of a National Consultant/Service Provider to undertake an ‘aspiring entrepreneurs’ day event for 150 participants (plus an additional 20 invited guests) in Vientiane using the ILO’s Activity Based Learning approach and accompanying modules (available on https://learninghub.ilo.org/downloads). The service provider will be responsible for organizing and facilitating the event and all logistics.

Main Tasks

1. Discuss with ILO to reach a common understanding on the specific objectives, scope and agenda of the event.
2. Review the relevant ILO modules and identify the best suited module for the target group (returning migrants, unemployed and aspiring entrepreneurs)
3. Design a programme using the ILO’s ABL tools and interactive approaches to best engage participants
4. Contact key stakeholders to support the event and to help identify participants for the event, including representative of workers and specifically for returning migrants
5. Prepare and conduct a half day introductory session to prepare volunteers for their co-facilitator and supporting roles during the event
6. Organize logistics and materials for the event for 100 participants (including set up and procurement)
7. Facilitation and overall support to activities on the actual aspiring entrepreneurs day (to be held before 20 July)
8. At the end of the event, prepare a summary report on the event with a focus on feedback from participants and visual aids and recommendations for improvement based on the role as an implementer

ILO Support

• Inputs for the Design of the Programme/Agenda
• Provision of ILO learning tools as the core material for the sessions (recommended: Ready for Business package)
• Communication support (through official letters) to key stakeholders where required
• Technical presentation or remarks if needed 

Final deliverables, to be submitted

1. Detailed agenda for the aspiring entrepreneurs event
2. Training materials or accompanying resources to be used (videos, etc)
3. List of participants confirmed
4. Facilitation service at the event
5. Summary report on the event (2-3 pages) including list of participants and feedback from participants 

Budget

The total budget for this assignment will be based on a quotation provided by the National Consultant / Service Provider.

Please note: The costs related to the event facilities, stationery, printing, tea breaks and lunches will be covered under the contract with the service provider.

Payment Terms 

50% payment will be made on submission of workplan, event agenda and training materials adapted for the event. This payment will facilitate the service provider to secure logistics and catering services

50% payment will be made upon receipt and completion of all deliverables and summary report (in English) as certified by the ILO Lao PDR MSME Resilience Project that the work has been successfully completed to the satisfaction of ILO.

Duration of Contract

Work will commence on 22 June 2022 and will conclude by 20 July 2022 at which time the contract will terminate.

Application

Interested service providers should submit their Expression of Interest, CV or Company Profile and Quotation (including service fee and all logistics) to sosenginh@ilo.org by 16 June 2022.