About RT4D

The Regional Trade for Development (RT4D) initiative is funded by both the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. It assists ASEAN Member States (AMS) in meeting their commitments and realising the advantages offered by the Agreement establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area, or AANZFTA, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP.

Through the AANZFTA Implementation Support Program (AISP) and the RCEP Implementation Support Program (RISP), RT4D provides tailored support to enhance the capabilities of ASEAN Member States by strengthening skills, building networks, facilitating policy options and ensuring that trade benefits everyone, including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), women and people with disabilities.

The Governments of Australia and New Zealand have committed up to AUD 53.3 million to fund RT4D from 2020-21 to 2027-28.

Learn More

Project Summary

The AANZFTA Implementation Support Program (AISP), implemented RT4D Facility, aims to support AMS to realise the full benefits of AANZFTA through the provision of capacity-building support and access to technical expertise.

The following project is approved under AISP.

  • Project Name: Enhancing Competitiveness and Inclusiveness in Services Trade under the AANZFTA
  • Project Objectives: The project aims to strengthen the strategic implementation of the upgraded AANZFTA by generating robust, evidence-based analysis and practical design inputs that support the Sectoral Strategic Directions and Priorities (SSDP) for services (AANZFTA Committee on Trade in Services (CTS)). In line with SSDP priorities on improving regulatory transparency, enhancing the competitiveness of services sectors, and advancing inclusive participation in regional economic cooperation.

The Opportunity

RT4D is seeking a firm or individual (hereinafter referred to as “the Consultant”) to manage and deliver the abovementioned project, in close collaboration with the RT4D Facility and the Project Proponent. The final Project outputs will be subject to comments, amendments, and approval from the RT4D Facility Team, the Project Proponent and CTS. Event organisation support is not under the scope of this assignment and will be procured separately by the Facility.

Closing Date for Queries: 03 May 2026

Queries

Terms of Reference

  

The general competencies and qualifications that the Consultant should demonstrate include (but are not limited to):

  • Skilled and experienced expert/team of Experts with the technical expertise, bandwidth, and capabilities to support the RT4D Facility to deliver all outputs in alignment with the remit and timelines set within this Scope of Services.
  • Demonstrable technical and subject matter expertise in the field of analysing services sector competitiveness, benchmarking support measures, policy development, capacity building, public-private dialogue, and inclusive private sector engagement, especially women-led MSMEs in key export services.
  • Demonstrable experience developing program and project plans and designs that consider and incorporate the needs, priorities and concerns of diverse government stakeholders (i.e. stakeholders representing countries with different priorities and capacity constraints and agencies with different mandates and priorities).
  • Demonstrable experience designing, facilitating and delivering online and on-site consultations and workshops that effectively engage a diverse government audience.
  • Experience working and engaging ASEAN sectoral bodies, the ASEAN Secretariat, Australian and/or New Zealand officials is a distinct advantage. The consultant must be comfortable with ASEAN stakeholders and following ways of working (or comparable governance arrangements).
  • Proven excellent report drafting experience, with ability to incorporate comprehensive feedback at multiple stages.
  • Strong understanding of and ability to operationalise the Monitoring & Evaluation, GEDSI, Communications and Program Management considerations outlined in the above sections of the ToR.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Apply before 18 May 2026

Apply Now