Consultant (Connectivity - Trade and Transport)

Result of Service A comprehensive needs assessment study of dry ports development in Mongolia.

Outputs/Work Assignment Under the general supervision and guidance from the Head of ESCAP East and North-East Asia Subregional Office (SOENEA), the consultant will undertake a comprehensive needs assessment study of dry ports development in Mongolia covering the following elements:

Chapter 1: Technical Assessment This chapter would include the technical assessment of the following dry ports identified by Mongolia in the Agreement. These include: Altanbulag, Sainshand, Ulaanbaatar, Zamyn-Uud and Choibalsa. In addition, to include new locations: Tsagaannuur Free Economic Zone (along AH4 on the western part) and Bichigt Port (Eastern port bordering with China).

The dry ports would be assessed according to the guiding principles for the development and operation of dry ports (Annex II to the Agreement) and 12 elements identified in the Regional Framework for the Development, Design, Planning and Operations of Dry Ports, which include: basic requirements; dry port location; transport infrastructure linkages (dry-port-seaport linkages, rail infrastructure within dry ports, road transport linkages, road infrastructure within dry ports); technical standards for dry ports ; container yard capacity and equipment; design of other major facilities; terminal management IT system; coding of dry ports of international significance; incorporation of dry ports into international transport documents; proposed arrangements for customs clearance at dry ports; policy measures, legislation and solutions for planning dry port development; practical options for financing development and operation of dry ports.

Chapter 2: Recommendations This chapter would include recommendations to support dry ports development in Mongolia. These would include: a. Draft action plan based on the assessment of the 12 elements b. Approaches for seamless interconnections between dry ports in Mongolia and seaports in China and the Russian Federation within the framework of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Dry Ports

The report will consist of 100-120 pages.

Work Location Home-based

Expected duration 1 May – 31 Aug 2022

Duties and Responsibilities Amid complex global and regional production networks, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted gaps as well as opportunities to improve efficiency and strengthen resilience of supply chains. In this context, the potentials of inland intermodal facilities or dry ports find further merit to improve transport efficiency and meet supply chain requirements. It has been pointed out that the recent disruptions caused by the pandemic may have provided the impetus to increase additional warehousing capacity or dry ports to shorten the time to get goods to market. To this end, dry ports—being points of convergence grouping access to transport modes together with customs processing, warehousing and clustering of economic activities—offer ideal settings to boost integration into global/regional supply chains.

The Intergovernmental Agreement on Dry Ports (hereinafter – ‘the Agreement”), which is facilitated by ESCAP and entered into force in April 2016, is a fundamental pillar for the development of dry ports in the Asia-Pacific region. There are 269 dry ports, comprising 181 existing and 88 potential dry ports listed in the Agreement (as of September 2021). During the 4th Meeting of the Working Group on Dry Ports in June 2021, Mongolia noted the continued need to develop member States’ capacity on dry ports and requested the secretariat to continue organizing capacity-building workshops and seminars, especially for countries with special needs, including the landlocked developing countries.

In order to conduct focused and relevant capacity building activities, there is a need for a comprehensive assessment of the status of dry ports development in Mongolia, in line with the guiding principles for the development and operation of dry ports (Annex II to the Agreement) and of the ESCAP Regional Framework for the Development, Design, Planning and Operations of Dry Ports of International Importance (hereinafter – “the Regional Framework”), a regional guideline developed to facilitate the implementation of the Agreement.

The Regional Framework identifies fundamental issues related to both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ infrastructure of dry ports of international importance, and, along with the description of each issue, proposes a related target to be set when designing or operating dry ports of international importance, as well as process to follow to reach each target.

To this end, the consultant will undertake a comprehensive needs assessment study of dry ports development in Mongolia. Annex II to the Agreement and the Regional Framework will be the primary references in undertaking the assessment exercise. The conduct of the needs assessment study will include field visits to dry ports in Mongolia. The results of the assessment study will be used in designing the capacity building activities for officials and stakeholders in Mongolia involved in dry ports development.

Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: Solid knowledge and long work experience (including research) on transport and logistics. Experience: Minimum 10 years' professional work experience related to the assigned tasks, particularly, on conducting technical assessments and policy research work Language: Excellent command (spoken and written) of Mongolian and English languages

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.