THE INDUSTRIAL MODERNIZATION PROGRAMME


		Terms of Reference for 9 Executives of the IM Centre BACKGROUND The Industrial Modernisation Programme (IMP) was conceived jointly by the Government of Egypt and the private industrial sector including academia in 1997. The IMP’s overall objective is to promote GDP growth and competitiveness of the private enterprise sector in the context of continued economic liberalisation. Through the promotion of economic growth, the programme will foster employment, income and international integration, consistent with the goals of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. Specific programme objectives include the development of private enterprises, the strengthening of business associations, support institutions and services, and an improved sector policy framework. The IMP will provide a wide range of assistance to the private manufacturing and service sector focussed upon improving the efficiency and competitiveness of Egyptian industry. The EU provided technical assistance to help prepare the programme in late 1997-early 1998. The Specific Financing Agreement was approved in December 1998. The cost of the initial programme is ECU 430 million, comprising ECU 250 million from the EU (the largest EU funded project in the developing world), and the balance of ECU 180 million to be financed by the Government (ECU 106 million) and cost sharing contributions from private sector beneficiaries (ECU 74 million). Assistance from the EU is initially being provided over a four and one half-year period. The IMP requires the creation of a governing Council, a Centre and an Advisory Board which are being constituted by a Presidential Decree, and the establishment of a range of specific programmes to assist industry. It is anticipated the Council, Centre and Board will be operational by early 2000, and the range of 10 specific programmes of assistance will commence implementation through the second half of the following year. The programmes have been selected on the basis of the priority needs of the private sector and are focussed on providing mainly technical assistance services on a cost-sharing basis to small and medium sized enterprises. The Council will comprise members drawn from the government, and a majority from the private industrial and financial sector, and academia. The Minister of Industry will act as chairman and report to the Prime Minister and the President. The Centre will act primarily as an incubator of programmes of industrial assistance and once these are established and operational, they will be spun-off to outside management structures. In this way, new programmes can be introduced while keeping the Centre to a reasonable size. The Board will comprise donors and representatives from the public and private sectors and will provide advice to the Centre on work plans, procedures manuals, and donor requirements. INDUSTRIAL MODERNISATION PROGRAMME: ORGANIGRAM Programmes of assistance comprise: policy/enabling environment; trade promotion; foreign direct investment; business competitiveness and management upgrading; assistance to mobilise credit and financial resources; training; a national quality campaign; a national information system; business groupings support; a national network of business resource centres. Initial identification of these specific programmes of assistance is subject to detailed design prior to implementation. In order to implement the IMP, the Industrial Modernisation Centre will be established comprising highly qualified staff to help manage and implement the range of programmes and assistance. Initial recruitment of the nine designated senior executive positions is to be undertaken with the recruitment of other staff and the full establishment of the Centre to be undertaken subsequently. Preliminary work on identification of premises and support requirements will proceed in parallel with the recruitment of the executive team to reduce the time taken to achieve operational status. The nine executive positions comprise: Executive Director of the Centre; Programmes Coordinator; Financial Controller; Programme Monitor, and five Component Managers. Brief descriptions and required qualifications of the four executives and for the five Component Managers are: Executive Director of the IMC. This person will have overall responsibility for managing the activities, staff and budget of the Centre. In particular, the Executive Director will be expected to provide advice to the Council on the types of industrial support programmes most needed in the Egyptian context, and to help organise their formulation, establishment, and operations. He will be expected to provide a strategic view of industrial development in Egypt and how the sector should best expand over the medium and longer terms. The Executive Director will have at least 15 years experience in operating and managing programmes in business, providing policy advice at a national level, and demonstrated administrative experience of a high order. The Executive Director will report to the Industrial Modernisation Council chaired by the Minister of Industry. Programmes Coordinator. This person will be responsible for coordinating and overseeing the range of support programmes operated under the Centre. Ten such programmes are planned but programmes and numbers are flexible depending upon implementation experience and changing sector requirements. The Programmes Coordinator will help initially recruit individual programme staff and have component programme managers report to him/her. The Programmes Coordinator will report to the Executive Director. Fifteen years experience is required in managing industrial support programmes and/or business activities. Financial Controller. This person will be responsible for receiving funds allocated to the Centre and ensuring that they are dispersed in approved manner. The Controller will initially recruit a budget and staff manager to assist. The Controller will manage Centre funds according to the requirements of the financing parties, initially the EC and the Government of Egypt, and with the possibility of official bilateral and multilateral donors providing financing at a later date. The Controller will have a demonstrated track record in managing large budgets and observing different accounting procedures depending upon different financier’s requirements. Experience in contract supervision is essential. A thorough familiarity with international donor organisations’ financial procedures and disbursements is required. At least fifteen years experience is required in project finance management. The Controller will report to the Executive Director of the Centre. Programme Monitor. This person will be responsible for monitoring the implementation progress of the range of programmes under the Centre and providing regular feedback to the other executive staff and to financiers. The Monitor will be responsible for establishing and operating a quality control system to report on the fulfillment of the Centre’s objectives. The Monitor will work closely with the Programmes Director. The Monitor will be expected to also carry out evaluation exercises on the impact of the various programmes and their utility to beneficiaries. The Monitor will have a proven track record in project appraisal and post evaluation. At least fifteen years experience is required in project management and monitoring and reporting. The Monitor will report to the Executive Director. Component Managers. The five component managers will be responsible for directly supervising the implementation of a range of ten individual programmes of assistance to help upgrade and modernise Egyptian industry. It is envisaged the five Component Managers will respectively supervise the following programmes: Policy and Financial Reform Trade Promotion (exports), Foreign Direct Investment Competitiveness, Management, Training Business Resource Centres National Quality Campaign, Institutions and Clustering, Information Each Component Manager will have a primary expertise in one of the areas under his/her control and a demonstrated familiarity with the other (s) and would usually be expected to have at least fifteen years experience. The Component Managers will report directly to the Programmes Director. INDUSTRIAL MODERNISATION CENTRE: ORGANIGRAM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THE POSITION The position is for the Director who will head the Industrial Modernisation Centre. The Director will be instrumental in the establishment of the Centre and the recruitment of staff. Once this initial phase is complete, the Director will oversee the detailed design of the range of support programmes to be operated, and their subsequent establishment and implementation. The Executive Director will be assisted by three other executives and the five Component Managers. The Director will be expected to manage the Centre and all its activities, work closely with the Council in the setting of overall strategic directions, and work with the donor community and contributors on their requirements. The Executive Director will be assisted by an Advisory Board which will be responsible for ensuring donor and government financial contributions are utilised according to the respective procedures of the contributors. The Centre will act in the capacity as an incubator for such programmes by designing and establishing them, and subsequently running them for a limited period only, normally for no more than three years. Following this, it is expected the programmes will become independently self sustaining, or otherwise supported by private sector funding, if necessary in conjunction with public and other donor contributions. In this manner, the Centre will be able to respond to industry’s needs by developing additional assistance programmes and not become a permanent and large organisation for industrial dependence. An important feature of the Centre is that the Director, with the approval of the Council and clearance of the Board, will be given the flexibility to introduce/modify/ or even discontinue programmes of assistance in the light of implementation experience and changing circumstances. A number of initial programmes have been identified but these are subject to detailed design and final recommendations of the Director to the Council and donors. The Centre and its staff will be accorded the status of other foreign assisted programmes in Egypt with tax and duty free privileges. The Director will be answerable to the Council which in turn reports to the Prime Minister, Cabinet and the President. QUALIFICATIONS The candidate is expected to have a strong background in senior international management, capable of leading a team of highly professional staff with an initial budget of some ECU 430 million to be devoted to running industrial assistance programmes. The candidate will have a sound knowledge of the workings of the private industrial sector in other countries as well as strong familiarity with the Egyptian industrial situation. The candidate will have at least fifteen years experience in management with at least ten of that at a senior level and possess a higher degree preferably in business administration or an allied field. The candidate will have fluency in both English and Arabic, written and spoken. The candidate will have a demonstrated capability to plan and manage multiple programmes and address implementation problems as they arise. The candidate will be skilled at representing the needs of industry to financiers including the donor community, and to assist the Council in mobilising further funding for the Centre. The candidate will be expected to be able to dialogue with senior levels of industry and finance, government up to Cabinet level, and donor organisations. RESPONSIBILITIES The Executive Director will be responsible for: overseeing, the budget of the Centre, making requests for disbursements, and reporting to the Council, the European Union and any other contributory donor and the appropriate Egyptian authorities establishing and subsequently managing the operations of the Centre and its staff. A Manual of Procedures and Operations will be produced under the direction of the Director and in consultation with the Council and Advisory Board. overseeing the design, introduction, and running of the selected programmes of assistance to industry advising the Council and donors on the priority needs of industry, and where approved, bringing such programmes into fruition representing the needs of industry to the Council and appropriate areas of Government to help achieve changes in the policy/enabling environment advising the Council and donors on the implementation performance of the Centre’s programmes, and recommend in the light of this, where modifications are indicated introducing new programmes of assistance based on industry’s needs, and placing mature programmes to independent management outside the responsibility of the Centre REPORTING The Director will report to the Council, which is chaired by the Minister of Industry on all operations of the Centre and its business. A report of the Centre’s performance shall be made to the Council on a quarterly basis and the Director will be available to explain activities when the Council holds their quarterly meetings. One of these meetings will also constitute an annual meeting. The Director will also report to all donors providing assistance to the Centre on the conduct of the Centre and the implementation of assistance programmes. The Centre will be subject to usual auditing procedures of the respective funding contributors. 2. PROGRAMMES COORDINATOR (PC) THE POSITION The position of Programmes Coordinator is an important one in the IMC and the PC will deputise for the Executive Director in his absence. The PC will work closely with the two other senior colleagues, the Financial Controller and the Programme Monitor, to ensure the range of programmes are implemented as effectively and efficiently as possible. He will directly oversee the work of the five Component Managers and be responsible for all aspects of technical implementation of their programmes. QUALIFICATIONS The candidate will be expected to have an extensive knowledge of industrial assistance programmes in both developed and developing countries. This will include practical experience in implementing such forms of assistance in a developing country environment. The candidate will have experience in managing project staff and organising multi-programme projects. The candidate will be familiar with the formulation of national industrial policy and be able to represent industrial interests to national and international fora. The candidate will have strong inter-personal skills and the ability to dialogue with senior levels of industry, government and donor organisations. The candidate will be expected to possess a higher relevant degree and have at least 10 years experience in industry. The candidate will have fluency in English, both written and spoken, and a knowledge of Arabic would be an advantage. RESPONSIBILITIES The Programmes Coordinator will be responsible for: directly overseeing the work of the five Component Managers (CM) and their respective programmes. He/she will be able to provide guidance and assistance to the CMs in the management of their programmes. recommending new programmes of industrial assistance for the Centre based upon the priority needs of industry similarly, if existing programmes become less useful, for whatever reason, the PC will have the authority to recommend to the Executive Director their modification or cancellation recommending the optimal placement of programmes outside the responsibility of the Centre, once they have been successfully established and initially run by the Centre working closely with the Financial Controller and Programme Monitor to ensure funding requirements for programmes are met in a timely manner, and that all reporting requirements to the Council, public authorities, and donors are met providing the secretariat to the Council for its agendas and meetings the PC will be expected to deputise for the Executive Director in his absence. REPORTING The PC will report to the Executive Director and in his absence to the Chairman of the Council. FINANCIAL CONTROLLER (FC) THE POSITION The FC is the senior most person in the Centre charged with direct control of all funds. As this is approximately ECU 400 million, a well-developed system of financial control and reporting is required. The FC will establish such a system and ensure that funds are acquitted in a proper manner and accounting records are kept. The FC will be responsible for ensuring the relevant financial sections of the Centre’s Procedures Manual are implemented. As there will be various sources of funding for the Centre’s activities (Government, donors – bilateral and multilateral including the EU, private sector) individual reporting requirements will be observed. The use of funds will be closely monitored and the FC will ensure that all awarding of contracts and disbursements follows stipulated procedures. The FC will ensure all auditing procedures are observed. QUALIFICATIONS The FC will have an accounting background and possess a recognised professional qualification in accounting (chartered accountancy qualification). The candidate will be experienced in financial management of multi-programme projects and have experience of project management in developing countries. The candidate will have a demonstrated capacity to manage staff. The candidate should possess a detailed knowledge of at least one international donor organisation’s financial and disbursement procedures, and knowledge of EU contract procedures in particular would be an advantage. Experience in contract supervision is essential. The candidate will be thoroughly experienced with the preparation of annual financial accounts and auditing procedures to international standards. The candidate will have at least 10 years experience in a professional capacity. The candidate will have fluency in English, both written and spoken, and a knowledge of Arabic would be an advantage. RESPONSIBILITIES The Financial Controller will be responsible for: establishing an institutional accounting system within the Centre and operating all related procedures and keeping of records approving the financial aspects of all contracts made by the Centre and ensuring they are in accordance with international accounting standards providing all contributory financiers to the IMP with a detailed record of finances and the individual donor acquittals production of an annual financial report of the activities of the Centre and its assistance programmes providing all requested financial details for the purposes of annual audits ensuring all the assistance programmes supervised by the Centre adopt and observe standard accounting procedures for their respective programmes verifying and approving all the financial operations of each of the component assistance programmes REPORTING The FC will report to the Executive Director, and in his absence, the Programmes Coordinator. PROGRAMME MONITOR (PM) POSITION The PM is part of the top executive team of the Centre and is responsible for all programme monitoring and reporting. The PM will be responsible for establishing monitoring procedures in all of the component programmes as well as the work of the Centre itself. The position is an important part of the work of the Centre as it provides for on-going monitoring of the progress in implementing the range of assistance programmes. This information is used as the basis for determining which programmes should be changed/modified. Information will also be used by donors to help them determine their assistance to the Centre. The system of monitoring and reporting will be used by the private sector, through their representatives on the Council, to evaluate the effectiveness of the assistance programmes, and how well they serve the needs of industry. As the IMP is demand driven by the priority needs of industry, the work of the PM will help ensure that the Centre is providing only the assistance most needed, and in the most cost effective manner. QUALIFICATIONS The PM will possess a higher relevant degree and have at least 10 years experience in project work in developed and developing countries. The candidate will have experience in project management and monitoring and systems analysis and have expertise in establishing and operating management information systems. As there are expected to be some ten individual assistance programmes managed by the Centre, the PM will be expected to be able to establish a standardised monitoring and reporting system to cover all of them. The different contributory financiers of the IMP will also have their own reporting requirements, and the PM will be expected to be able to provide the aggregated information in a format acceptable to the requirements of each donor. The candidate will have fluency in English, both written and spoken, and a knowledge of Arabic would be an advantage. RESPONSIBILITIES The PM will be responsible for: establishing a standardised monitoring and reporting system through all levels of activities of the Centre monitoring and reporting on the implementation of all the activities of the Centre, in particular the range of component assistance programmes producing regular reports to all financial contributors to the IMP and quarterly and annual reports for the Centre. The PM will work closely with the Advisory Board on donor reporting requirements on the basis of information collected, provide regular assessments of the effectiveness and efficiency of the component programmes working closely with his co-executives on the implementation progress of the component programmes, and contributing to decisions on their design changes where justified act as a source of publicity for the activities of the Centre and its component programmes, and provide promotional material for information to the private sector REPORTING The PM will report to the Executive Director, and in his absence the Programmes Coordinator. 5. COMPONENT MANAGERS (CM) There are five such managers who will each have individual programmes to establish and oversee. Four of the managers will have substantial budgets and implementation units (see 5.2–5.5 below), and one, the Policy and Finance Manager (see 5.1 below), will require only a small number of staff with a relatively small budget which will be separately addressed under the operational costs of the Centre itself. The programmes are subject to detailed design following their identification and initial design in early 1998. The CMs will be responsible for the commissioning of the detailed design studies and the establishment and operations of their respective programmes. Eight of the ten programmes have been distributed under the four CMs according to apportioning of workloads, span of control, and complementarity of tasks. As a rough guide, the four CMs will have annual budgets to manage of approximately an average of ECU 20 million each over the four and one half years, but this could vary depending upon the detailed design study. The Director and executives have the flexibility to reassign programmes in the light of implementation experience. It is expected each of the four programmes will require a Project Management Unit (PMU) type structure for its implementation but the exact nature of each structure will be determined by the design study. The precise size of each programme has to be determined, within the overall financing paramaters which are as follows: INDICATIVE BUDGET: FOUR COMPONENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMMES Programme ECU (a) Technical Assistance to Enterprises (2 Component Mangers) 209 FDI Trade, Exports Competitiveness Management Training (b) BRCs (1 Component Manager) 106 (c) Institutional Development (1 Component Manager) 82 information (Egynet) clustering quality TOTAL 397 In keeping with the agreed structure of the Centre, each programme will have a finite time under the auspices of the Centre, with the exception of the Policy and Finance programmes which are expected to be on-going. The Centre will act as an incubator, and as such the CMs are expected to determine when industrial assistance programmes under their authority, have reached a stage that they can be placed to outside independent strucutures. An expected time for this would be within a three year time frame from achieving operational status. 5.1.-POLICY AND FINANCE ADVISER (PFA) POSITION The PFA position is a key one for the IMP and the success of implementing the other component programmes. The process of economic reform and liberalisation in Egypt through the course of this decade has been impressive and the Government’s efforts at macro-economic stability have won the support of the International Financial Institutions and bilateral donors alike. However, in the field of regulations, trade facilitation, the legal enabling environment, and creating a more business friendly environment, much still remains to be done. The PFA position will focus on the principal impediments in the field of government policies, laws and regulations, and infrastructure that most adversely impact upon private sector business growth. The PFA will act as the advocate of the business community to achieve a more free market, deregulated environment that encourages greater competition and efficiency. The other important area of focus for the PFA is the financial sector. The Egyptian financial sector has little experience in lending to SMEs, and this major gap needs to be urgently addressed. The FPA will examine all possibilities to encourage the greater provision of institutional financing to the sector, including term lending, credit guarantees, and venture capital. Efforts to improve and strengthen the operations of the banking sector will be undertaken. The PFA will have a small number of staff reporting to him, initially envisaged at three – two for policy activities, and one to focus on financial reform/mobilisation. The annual budget is estimated at approximately ECU 2-3 million, subject to detailed design. Included in this will be the provision of separate consultancy assistance to the Ministry of Industry. QUALIFICATIONS The candidate will have a strong background in addressing policy issues in developing countries, with a primary relationship to economic policies, trade liberalisation and market deregulation. The candidate is expected to have experience at ministerial level with policy dialogue issues, and have a demonstrated ability to work with the private business and financial sectors. An advanced degree in economics or a related field is required, and at least 10 years experience in international financial institutions, governmental agencies, and/or at a senior level in industry is expected. The candidate will have fluency in English, both written and spoken, and a knowledge of Arabic would be an advantage. RESPONSIBILITIES The PFA will be responsible for: establishing and managing a policy and financial advice unit within the Centre with staff and resources to be determined identifying the principal obstacles to private sector growth in the policy and regulatory fields producing detailed reports and recommendations on the identified obstacles working closely with the Ministry of Industry, the private sector, other key involved ministries, and external donor organisations, to improve the policy/legal enabling environment working closely with the team of advisers in the Ministry of Industry on the formulation of a comprehensive national industrial policy and its implementation. producing sector and sub-sector reports on principal industrial groupings, their levels of protection and other market distorting features, and suggestions through benchmarking exercises, of how best to achieve full competitiveness with special regard to the financial sector in Egypt, to identify structural shortcomings in the provision of finance to SMEs, and recommend ways these can be addressed including various forms of assistance to the banking sector to help mobilise capital availability and delivery REPORTING The PFA will report to the Programmes Coordinator and in his absence to the Executive Director. 5.2-TRADE PROMOTION and FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (TPFI) POSITION The position covers two areas of activity which the TPFI Manager will establish and oversee. The component programmes have been grouped together in related areas covering trade, (particularly export promotion) and foreign direct investment. In both areas, Egypt has under-performed many other middle income developing countries, with an export propensity around one third of faster growing developing economies, and a foreign direct investment ratio to GDP of a similar proportion or less. The position will require concerted action to be undertaken in the following areas: generic promotion targeted promotion match making activities implementation support strategic partnerships and alliances intelligence/Trade Point trades/exhibitions inward buyer/outward seller missions QUALIFICATIONS The candidate will have a strong background in assisting developing countries in export promotion activities and helping attract foreign direct investment. A higher degree in economics, business administration, marketing or a related field is required as well as at least 10 years experience in either direct or closely related activities. The candidate will have fluency in English, both written and spoken, and a knowledge of Arabic would be an advantage. RESPONSIBILITIES The TPFI Manager will be responsible for: establishing the programmes(s) to help promote exports and foreign investment in Egypt and ensuring the necessary budget requirements overseeing the performance of the consultants recruited to implement the programmes actively leading the programmes and representing the Centre in the course of programme implementation helping assess implementation performance and recommending (if necessary) modifications to the programmes formulating outplacement plans for the programmes after they have been successfully established and initially operated identifying possible new programmes of assistance that can be adopted by the Centre REPORTING The TPFI will report to the Programmes Coordinator and in his absence, the Executive Director. 5.3- COMPETITIVENESS, MANAGEMENT and TRAINING (CMT) POSITION The position focuses on three key areas for enterprise performance and is central to industry’s efforts to modernise and improve efficiency. The three programmes have been successfully run by the EU financed Private Sector Development Programme, albeit on a smaller scale, and which will be carried forward and adapted with the cessation of PSDP in 2001 and the advent of the IMP. Egyptian industry badly lags behind in terms of (i) product design, specifications and quality, (ii) marketing and management skills, (iii) training at all levels. Principal activities under the CMT Manager include: technology transfer, upgrading product design and development market research manufacturing methods and planning preventive maintenance productivity improvements business and financial planning management systems organisational development sales and marketing training schemes. These will include establishing in-country schemes for all levels of management, and some foreign placements in business courses. QUALIFICATIONS The candidate will have a strong background in at least one of the required three areas of activity, and a good knowledge of the remainder. The candidate will have worked on introducing and running such support programmes to industry in developing countries, with some experience in developed economies. A degree in business management or economics or engineering or a related field is required as well as at least 10 years experience in the area(s) of activity. The candidate will have fluency in English, both written and spoken, and a knowledge of Arabic would be an advantage. RESPONSIBILITIES The CMT Manager will be responsible for: establishment of the three programmes for upgrading business competitiveness, management and training, and ensuring the necessary budgetary requirements overseeing the performance of the consultants recruited to implement the programmes actively leading the programmes and representing the Centre in the course of programme implementation helping assess implementation performance and recommending (if necessary) modifications to the programmes formulating outplacement plans for the programmes after they have been successfully established and initially operated identifying possible new programmes of assistance that can be adopted by the Centre REPORTING The CMT Manager will report to the Programmes Coordinator and in his absence, the Executive Director 5.4- BUSINESS RESOURCE CENTRES (BRC) POSITION The BRC Manager will principally act to bring the full range of the Centre’s services to the notice of Egyptian industries throughout the country. Moreover, the BRCs will also provide an initial level of advice to enterprises in their respective locations covering the range of upgrading activities offered by the Centre. The BRC Manager will oversee the establishment of some 20 such centres throughout Egypt. Such centres will vary in size and types of expertise offered related to the principal features of their location. It is expected the first ones will be located in the major industrial areas such as Tenth of Ramadan, Twelfth of October, Sadat City, Alexandria, Mansour, Suez, Middle and Upper Egypt. Principal activities envisaged for the centres include four main areas; Counselling, Information, Delivery and Awareness. * Counselling will be one of two principal activities of the centres. Experienced counsellors will visit businesses on a regular basis to help with their needs and problems. The counsellors will also be available in the centres to deal selectively with visitors needing advice. The role of the counsellors will be to encourage activities necessary to achieve industrial growth; improve methods and technology, achieve better management and organisation, more efficient use of external resources and improved awareness both within the business and between businesses. Assessment of needs will be conducted and referral to specialised assistance will be carried out. An important aim will be to create a well-respected friend of the business who will act as a ‘bridge’ to the wider resources available nationally. * Information, the second main activity, will be a principal resource to help the counsellors and businesses directly, rather than duplicate resources which already exist, such as Tradepoint in Egypt and the European Business Network overseas. The aim will be to identify appropriate sources of information and to manage the resulting contact so that businesses get a beneficial result with the minimum of delay. A key to success in this respect will be ‘Egynet’ a proposed comprehensive electronic business information service. * The Delivery of programmes such as training, awareness and access to consultancy will be undertaken by the centres. This will be a natural progression from the counselling role, ensure that programmes are delivered professionally according to local needs and will extend the range of ‘tools’ which the counsellors have at their disposal. * Awareness activity will not only include publicity and promotion of the BRC network, but extend into raising business awareness. For example, a series of factory visits may be arranged to view particular pieces of equipment so that prospective buyers may not only see it working but, more importantly, discuss the business implications of its introduction. Initial advice on technology employed, production methods, and marketing will be offered. The provision of special key equipment under IMP will fall into this category. QUALIFICATIONS The BRC Manager will have a strong background in establishing and operating BRCs, in both developed and developing countries. He will have an extensive knowledge of the typical tasks BRCs perform, and the range of activities that can be operated, suited to individual locations and industrial groupings. The candidate will be expected to have practical experience in operating several typical component programmes of BRCs such as counselling and initial enterprise diagnostics, information and referral to specialised assistance programmes, and organising delivery of services. The candidate will also have demonstrated managerial experience fitted to supervising a national network of BRCs. The candidate will have a degree in business management or engineering or a related field At least 10 years experience in industry is required. The candidate will have fluency in English, both written and spoken, and a knowledge of Arabic would be an advantage. RESPONSIBILITIES The BRC Manager will be responsible for: establishing the national BRC programme, including its design and scheduled introduction, covering up to twenty such centres ensuring the accompanying budgetary provisions supervising the operations of the centres, including the appropriate staffing skills matched to each locality where they are to be located, and certain common demonstration equipment suited to the needs of industrial groupings e.g. measurement/cutting/finishing ensuring each centre meets the needs of the local industries in the best possible manner, and allocating the skills mix of staff and equipment in response to expressed needs of industry designing the outplacement of the BRCs to independent management and financing once they have been successfully introduced and operated by the Centre itself. A national approach will be formulated and BRCs will be progressively placed outside the responsibility of the Industrial Modernisation Centre depending upon the timing of their establishment and operational requirements. REPORTING The BRC Manager will report to the Programmes Coordinator and in his absence the Executive Director. NATIONAL QUALITY, INSTITUTIONAL AND CLUSTERING, INFORMATION (NQICI) POSITION The NQICI Manager position entails the provision of three vital services to industry covering (i) a national quality campaign and quality upgrading at enterprise level, (ii) institutional upgrading and promotion of clustering activities, and (iii) the introduction of a comprehensive national information service, ‘Egynet’. The range of activities under this position is extensive and it is envisaged the Manager will require significant assistance at the implementation level to handle the work. Principal activities under the NQICI Manager include: Quality For Egypt, much needs to be done to both establish a national system of MSTQ (Measurement, Standards, Testing, Quality), and to have industry adopt and incorporate such standards in products. These problems will be encompassed by the aims and objectives of this programme as follows; -To fund the establishment of a national accreditation body -To fund the setting up of a national certification body -The promotion of quality standards and quality in general -To encourage the adoption of international product standards -The creation of a national quality awards scheme and other promotional devices (ii) Institutional Upgrading and Clustering Egypt has a long history of scientific research, arguably longer than any other nation on earth. The network of public institutions, university research facilities and private sector business organisations have however fallen a long way behind the needs of industry through policies of industrial nationalisation and a consequent stagnation of innovation. The recent free market doctrines now command that these organisations become more relevant and accessible to businesses. Help is urgently needed to unlock their potential and make available what are very valuable, but latent, resources. This will be achieved by changing the institutions into commercial entities, a process which will need considerable support and encouragement from the Egyptian Government. It has been stated that there are 57 scientific institutions under public ownership in Egypt; three of these are currently scheduled for privatisation. In addition there are a number of business organisations ranging from Chambers of Commerce to development organisations in the new industrial cities. In all there are probably around one hundred potential candidate organisations, but perhaps only half of them would apply for help. The programme will begin by assisting a small number of particularly relevant organisations which would then be used as examples to persuade others to upgrade. There will be three stages to this programme; Preparatory, Consultancy and Implementation / Monitoring. The Preparatory phase will include the preparation of a small database of specialist consultants in this field. The programme will be particularly keen to list sectoral counterpart organisations from around the world so as to encourage and develop partnering. Other work will involve the preparation of a model Terms of Reference, publicity material and the initial recruitment of candidate organisations. Following this preparation, the Consultancy phase will be where the bulk of the work is done and will need to extend for the life of IMP. In the final Implementation and Monitoring phase the organisation will be assisted in the introduction of the changes set out in the plan and will be regularly monitored on progress. Clustering The three principal activities under this aspect of the programme will be; Cluster Formation, Development and Support and Promotion. Cluster Formation, the key initial activity, will take the form of identifying and encouraging businesses to participate. Typical clustering activities will include; Business Circles, Technology Clubs, Benchmark Groups, Quality Circles, and combined purchasing and marketing initiatives. Development will then build on the initial work, through support for project management and the provision of a secretariat. The training and operational activities of Network Brokers will be a feature of this aspect. Support and Promotion will provide financial underpinning for the clustering activities along with the internal and external publicity for the separate initiatives . Information Egynet, an electronic communication network for business, will be managed from a central unit located in Cairo, which will be accessed nationally on a toll free telephone number. Functions will fall into five main areas; Recruitment and Monitoring, Service Provision, Awareness and Training, Service Improvement and finally, Network Building. Recruitment and Monitoring work will include visiting potential providers to verify the scope and quality of advice/information which may be offered. Subsequent checks will be made to ensure that quality and delivery standards are being met; if providers fail on these aspects they may be removed from the network. At the verification stage the Egynet staff will also establish principal and secondary contacts who will then act as the provider’s link with the network. Service Provision - providing access to Egynet. Staff in the central unit will receive calls and ensure that questions are clear, valid and relevant. They will then identify the most appropriate source of help and advice from a central database of providers’ skills, then verify by telephone that the provider can help. The enquirer will then be contacted and the name of the provider given to them. The enquiry will subsequently be monitored to ensure that the user’s needs were satisfied. - Awareness and Training will consist of publicity and seminars about Egynet, often based on case studies of successful use. These activities will be designed to attract both users and providers and in many cases will be held on provider’s premises so that others in the network and potential users may see the facilities on offer. Another important role here is to raise the quality of existing and potential providers by giving training in ‘best practice’. As important customers, staff from BRCs will be trained in accessing Egynet. QUALIFICATIONS The candidate will have a strong background in at least one of the three areas under his authority – quality organisation and promotion, institutional reform/clustering activities, and information. A strong managerial background is required to address the extensive range of activities under this component and an ability to organise numerous diverse activities. The candidate will have a degree in business studies, or engineering or economics or related fields, and at least 10 years experience in developed and developing countries in managing at least on of the three principal activities. The candidate will have fluency in English, both written and spoken, and a knowledge of Arabic would be an advantage.] RESPONSIBILITIES The NQICI Manager will be responsible for: establishing the three programmes under his control and ensuring the adequacy of their funding overseeing the performance of the consultants recruited to implement the programmes actively leading the programmes and representing the Centre in the course of programme implementation helping assess implementation performance and recommending (if necessary) modifications to the programmes formulating outplacement plans for the programmes after they have been successfully established and initially operated identifying possible new programmes of assistance that can be adopted by the Centre REPORTING The NQICI Manager will report to the Programmes Coordinator and in his absence, the Executive Director.