Terms of Reference. PMO National Financial Advisor(NFA)

Transcription

1 Terms of Reference PMO National Financial Advisor(NFA) CRESP PMO July 0, 009

2 GENERAL BACKGROUND The China Renewable Energy Scale-up Program (CRESP) has been developed by the Government of China (GOC) in cooperation with the World Bank (WB) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to provide assistance with the implementation of a renewable energy policy development and investment program. It aims to: i) study the current renewable energy resources status; ii) learn from the experiences of developed countries in the development of renewable energy; iii) study and formulate renewable energy development policy in China; iv) implement renewable energy scale-up development v) provide cost-effective and commercial renewable energy electricity to the electric power market; and vi) replace coal-fired generation and reduce the local and global negative environmental impacts. The program implementation cycle will be divided into three different implementation phases. The phasing is intended to assist a gradual roll out of the policy and supporting measures, in step with the implementation capacity of administrative and regulatory bodies at the state and provincial levels, and of the commercial renewable energy industry. For Phase, the GEF Council has approved a GEF grant of $40. million to finance assistance to create an enabling environment for scaling-up renewable energy investments and to support the provincial demonstration projects. In the Phase, the focus is as follows:. Developing and setting up the necessary policy instruments including laws, regulations or both together, required to introduce an Mandated Market Policy (MMP) policy and other supporting measures on the national level;. Testing the proposed MMP policy framework in four pilot provinces;. Creating an enabling environment for renewable electricity investment by commercial enterprises, in particular those from the private sector; 4. At the national level, supporting improvements to the quality and performance of renewable energy equipment and strengthening the capability of service providers to help building and enlarging the renewable industry. The first phase would involve fewer investments in renewable electricity facilities than the second and the third phase, but would require considerable investment in capacity building. Building this capacity early would contribute to cost reduction in future phases. CRESP is a 0 to year program, implemented in three phases. Phase of CRESP has two components: Investment Component Institutional Development & Capacity Building Component The Institutional Development & Capacity Building component in turn has 4 sub-components:

3 National Level Institutional Development & Capacity Building Provincial Level Institutional Development & Capacity Building Capacity Building Investors & Scale-up Support Program Management The CRESP Institutional Development & Capacity Building Component will provide financial assistance to create an enabling environment for scaling-up renewable energy investments and to support the provincial demonstration projects. This will include support for the implementation of the Renewable Energy Law, capacity building and addressing barriers to scale-up renewable energy investments in the provinces. The GEF assistance provided under the sub-programs is being managed by the Project Management Office. SPECIFIC BACKGROUND 009 marks a critical year for CRESP project implementation while most of the GEF granted projects will be contracted and being implemented with total contract value of 0 million US dollars, or 50% of the total grants. According to CRESP regulation, all the grant supported projects will be implemented based on a cost sharing principle. By a conservative estimation, implementation of these sub-grant projects will bring in additional investment of nearly 50 million dollars. In the later part of the year, PMO will conduct a financial auditing activity on both GEF grants and recipients financial investments. This will be a critical and tough challenge since large amount of financial data will be evaluated. PMO financial manager can be responsible for this assignment. However as he has been involving many additional PMO activities, the financial manager may not be able to spend sufficient time and effort in auditing all the sub-grant projects. A national financial advisor (NFA) will be hired to assist PMO for this task. To assist in sub grant project completion evaluation, PMO has hired technical advisors to evaluate project implementation and results. Since most of the technical consultants have no sufficient knowledge on financial management, the hired financial advisor will work together with technical consultants to inspect financial wellbeing during the project implementation and prepare a complete project completion report. This is what CRESP required. Based on the national annual auditing plan in 009, the National Audit Office (NAO) will carry out a special audit on grant supported projects. CRESP PMO believes that it is important to hire an NFA, who is familiar with WB procedures and national audit policies, to assist PMO in sub-grant project audit activities. The NFA is required to prepare an auditing report for each inspected project and provide information for NAO formal audit process. This is what the national audit regulation required. Currently, there are about 4 grant projects need to be audited, which include: National Level WTTT WTTC WTCC WPEE WTDDCB Biomass Item Number Remark 5 0 CGF 4

4 Provincial Level Provincial CGF Zhejiang Jiangsu IN Mongolia Fujian CGF Total About 4 Projects TASKS The General and Specific Tasks and Responsibilities of the National Financial Advisor (NFA) are given below. General Tasks and Responsibilities: Assist CRESP in reviewing sub-grant project financial proposals and provide suggestions; Review financial performance data submitted by sub-grant recipients; For selected projects, conduct site visit inspections; Based on sub-grant project performance, provide suggestions to enable improved financial management; and Provide basic information for CRESP on grant disbursement. SPECIFIC TASKS The NFA will have the following specific tasks. Task : Review all the sub-grant (including CGF/) project financial proposals: Task.: Review the financial proposals submitted by those grant recipients, analyze the financial data and provide comments and suggestions to ensure a sound financial management procedures; Task.: Review and inspect all financial account data submitted by grant recipients, including invoices, disbursement records, procurement list, contracts, account data, and all income and payment evidences. Task : Conduct on-site financial examination for selective projects: Task.: On-site inspection and examination on grant recipient financial data, including original records, account data, invoices, and whether they following record keeping procedures; Task.: Review to see whether project expenditures follow auditing regulations; Task.: Provide suggestions on correct accounting procedures to ensure all expenditure are in line with national financial management regulations. Task : Prepare a financial examination report: Task.: According the PMO requirements, provide a financial examination report for each completed sub-grant project; Task.: Clearly indicate findings and provide correction suggestions; Task.: Provide basic information on CRESP grant disbursements and ensure all the spending in line with audit procedures. Task 4: Provide financial training and guidance: 5

5 Task 4.: Based on the review and examination, provide specific suggestions on recipient s project financial management; Task 4.: Provide necessary financial training and guidance for visited recipient company to improve their financial management. DELIVERABLES The NFA will have the following deliverables: Financial examination report on each sub-grant project, including data reviewed conclusions, and specific comments. SCHEDULE The contract is anticipated to required 80 working days commitment for calendar year. The majority of the contract will be completed within Beijing, but some aspects will require travel to other areas of China, potentially on a regular basis. TYPE OF CONTRACT It is anticipated this will be a time based contract covering the year of QUALIFICATIONS The National Financial Advisor is required to have the following qualifications: Own a title of certified public accountant or equivalent qualification; At least 0 years financial auditing experience; Past experience in auditing on WB projects; and Familiar with national audit procedures, tax policies, and related Chinese company laws and regulations. 6