This project is part of a wider British Embassy portfolio of projects which seek to strengthen links on the Economic Diplomacy agenda.

Objective

Plan, organise and manage a one-day conference at which best practice approaches in the fields of investor relations, shareholder management and transparency will be shared with Romanian business (public and private sector) by British financial services institutions and the business community to strengthen links and highlight funding opportunities.

Deliverables

• a one-day conference to be held in Romania which will bring together Public and Private Sector expertise from the UK and Romania. We anticipate that this conference will take place in early 2022

• a concise report on the conference, to include a plan for future activity and recommendations for actions

Target audience

• listed companies or companies looking to grow and seeking financing
• state owned companies looking to list
• law firms focused on corporate finance
• investment funds
• consulting companies
• the Bucharest Stock Exchange

Scope of work

The project will not be restricted to sector actors based in capitals. We are especially interested in achieving a nationwide reach, both throughout the UK and Romania.

Project approach

Bidders should submit a project proposal which will be approved by the British Embassy Bucharest and will form the basis for project planning. The proposal should set out how the implementing partner will deliver activities to support the objectives set out above with an implementation plan and supporting activity based budget. The British Embassy Bucharest will oversee the project planning and provide the necessary contacts to the implementers.

The project implementer will manage project logistics, including travel plans, lodging, car hiring etc. and is expected to consider the pandemic context and its possible impact on the project implementation when submitting the bid.

The Embassy will provide contact persons and focal points for UK institutions or experts that might be needed in the process.

How to bid

Our process will consist of a one-stage full bid proposal.

Bids should be completed in English using the Project Proposal Form for Implementers (ODT, 52.9KB) and Activity Based Budget Template (ODS, 10.2KB).

Activity Based Budgets should list the activities needed to deliver the outcomes (results) of the project and all costs should be in Romanian Lei (RON).

Please send all completed forms to rsvp.bucharest@fcdo.gov.uk and monica.matei@fcdo.gov.uk.

Please specify in the subject of the email: Name of implementing organisation and title of the project

Reporting

The reports to be produced during the course of this project are to be delivered in English:

• an Inception Note detailing approach and proposed activities. This should also set out key stakeholders who will be engaged, a proposed schedule of activities, risks, and any additional details, including a communications plan
• a draft report
• three monthly financial reports
• after a facilitated process of commenting, the Final Report

Composition of the project teams

The British Embassy Bucharest will nominate a Project Director, British Embassy Bucharest (Tanya Collingridge, Deputy Head of Mission)and a Project Manager (Monica Matei, Economic Diplomacy team) to oversee the project delivery.

Project proposals should demonstrate that the implementing partner’s staffing levels are appropriate to deliver the aims of the project and that the staff have relevant expertise and experience, as well as detailed knowledge of financial services in Romania.

Timing and scope of input

The bidding round is an open and competitive process, assessed by the British Embassy in Bucharest. Results will be issued by mid November. Once a bid is approved, a Grant Agreement will be signed with the successful bidder.

Your organisation will be expected to sign the contract within one week of the funds being awarded. Failure to do so may result in the funds being re-allocated. The implementing organisation will be required to submit report updates and a final evaluation of the project.

There are no pre-payments. Reimbursements will be completed once activities have taken place and all receipts submitted. Implementing organisations will request repayments using an invoice (including receipts and a financial report of spend) and the repayments will be carried out during those dates agreed upon in the respective contract.

The budget should be presented in RON. All payments will be made in RON to a bank account held in Romania.

Please send any questions regarding the call for bids to monica.matei@fcdo.gov.uk.

It is expected that the project will be carried out from November 2021 to February 2022. The crucial milestones will be the Conference; the submission of the Draft report (early March 2022) and the Final Report (April 2022).

Budget

Grant applications must include an estimated budget of up to 87,826 RON. Depending on the quality of the proposals, the British Embassy reserves the right not to grant all or part of the available funds. The Embassy also reserves the right to award a grant of less than the amount requested by the applicants. In such a case, applicants will be asked to increase the amount that they co-finance, to propose other co-financing means or to decrease the total costs without altering the substance of the proposal.

The Government Chemist’s vision is to provide world class measurement science to support an innovative and growing UK agrifood sector that trades sustainably on a global basis. This is achieved through the provision of impartial and unbiased technical advice and scientific measurement functions not just as a route of technical appeal for the UK Government and industry but also as a valued expert resource.

To support this vision the Government Chemist seeks to engage stakeholders through diverse events, including its webinar series.

Webinar: Impact of COVID-19 on agricultural sustainability – developing resilience for the future

The ultimate consequences of COVID-19 on communities, countries and the world has yet to be realised and may take years to understand fully. However, the revolution in technological innovation instigated by the research community for SARS-CoV-2 testing and in the development of a vaccine has catapulted novel approaches of use for wider human diagnostics. The pandemic has also highlighted the chasm that exists for food security in the least-developed countries, a situation which can be seen as an analogy for the agricultural sustainability challenges currently facing more developed countries.

Improvements in pathogen detection, soil analysis, genetic diversity and the utilisation of gene editing tools (such as CRISPR) for rapid modifications to plant varieties have a role to play in facilitating solutions for the future. However, there remains a disconnect between these high-level solutions and their realistic application on the ground. Accessibility to, and timeliness of delivery of, cost-effective technological advancements requires immediate action by the global agricultural community and is critical to enabling the breeders to respond to the changing demographics of their challenged communities.

This presentation will investigate how genomics, and in particular the application of novel technologies such as ultrahigh throughput (uHTP) workflows developed for diagnostic solutions to the pandemic, can play its part in providing resilience and future-proofing against climate change, population increases and possible further pandemics.

About Darshna Vyas

Darshna is a Senior Scientist at LGC specialising in plant genetics. She has been involved in a wide range of projects in the area of agricultural sustainability. She was the project manager for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – Generation Challenge Program which ensured the successful application of KASP assay genotyping as an advanced molecular marker tool for breeding programs in developing countries.

Darshna began her career at the James Hutton institute developing molecular markers for disease resistance in raspberries. Her crop development experience continued at Biogemma UK Ltd working primarily on cereal crops developing SSR methodology and SNP discovery for starch biosynthetic enzymes.

Darshna participated in the Artemisia Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at York University, an important step towards understanding breeders’ requirements for varietal development using molecular markers in MAS. Field trial management in Kenya, Uganda, China, India and Madagascar saw the development of successful commercial varieties of Artemisia for the sustainable supply of artemisinin for Artemisinin Combination Therapy (for the treatment of malaria) production.

Darshna will be introduced by the Government Chemist, Dr Julian Braybrook.

Thank you, Chair.

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of 46 partners.

Madame Special Rapporteur,

We welcome your most recent report and have taken careful note of its recommendations. Allow me further to express our unequivocal and full support for your mandate.

More than a year has passed since the people of Belarus saw their hopes to elect a democratically elected leader of the country brutally dashed

Since then, they have bravely stood up for their human rights and fundamental freedoms in the face of well-documented, violations and abuses of their rights, repression and intimidation. There are more than 800 political prisoners, over 1,500 reported cases of human rights violations and torture – including through sexual and gender-based violence -, and the headquarters of over 200 CSOs, independent media, and opposition parties have been liquidated. We condemn the recent escalation of violations of human rights law, including reprisals against civil society and human rights defenders.

The regime made serious attacks on international law and flouted international norms. We condemn the forced landing of Ryanair Flight 4978 in Minsk for the apparent purpose of arresting a Belarusian journalist and his companion, and we also condemn its, attempt to forcibly repatriate a Belarusian Olympian from Japan to Belarus and the instrumentalisation of migrants in vulnerable situations for political purposes. Belarus state-sponsored illegal crossings at EU external border deliberately puts at risk and endangers the lives of third country nationals. We are deeply concerned by the regime’s lack of cooperation with international human rights mechanisms and the total impunity of those having committed human rights violations.

We seize this opportunity to call on the Lukashenko regime to end its repressive practices, and to immediately and unconditionally release all those who have been arbitrarily detained. We further call on Belarusian authorities to stop instrumentalising migration for political purposes and other hybrid threats that put people’s lives in danger, including by blocking access to humanitarian aid. The only way to end the political crisis is through an inclusive national dialogue resulting in free and fair elections under international and impartial observation. We call on the Belarusian authorities to enter into genuine dialogue with representatives of civil society, in particular the Coordination Council.

We are steadfast in our support for the people of Belarus. We will continue to demand the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained in Belarus and to support international initiatives to hold all perpetrators to account, including through the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and its examination and accountability mechanism on Belarus and the International Accountability Platform for Belarus.

Lastly, Madame Special Rapporteur, we stand ready to assist you in your efforts and would welcome your comments on how Member States can better support the people of Belarus and your mandate?

Thank you.

*Albania, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America, Ukraine, and the European Union.