INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET CONCEPT STAGE Public Disclosure Copy Report No.: ISDSC2680 Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 13-Feb-2013 Date ISDS Approved/Disclosed: 09-Apr-2013 I. BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country: Middle East and North Africa Project ID: P143929 Project Name: Virtual Market Place for MENA SME Export Development (P143929) Task Team Laurent Gonnet Leader: Estimated 00-undefined-0000 Estimated 31-Oct-2013 Appraisal Date: Board Date: Managing Unit: MNSF1 Lending Specific Investment Loan Instrument: Sector(s): Other domestic and international trade (100%) Theme(s): Trade facilitation and market access (50%), Export development and competitiveness (50%) Financing (In USD Million) Total Project Cost: 8.50 Total Bank Financing: 0.00 Public Disclosure Copy Total Cofinancing: Financing Gap: 0.00 Financing Source Amount Borrower 0.00 MNA VPU Free-standing Trust Funds 8.50 Total 8.50 Environmental C - Not Required Category: Is this a No Repeater project? B. Project Objectives To improve export support services to SMEs in participating countries and facilitate their access to the global markets C. Project Description The project is articulated around three components: (i) a Virtual Market Place (VMP); (ii) a comprehensive and targeted capacity building program for Export Promotion Agencies (EPAs); and (iii) support to the Regional Implementation Agency (RIA). Component I: Establishment of a Virtual Market Place Public Disclosure Copy Under this component, a VMP will be implemented and made accessible to beneficiary SMEs and buyers. Basically, the VMP will look like an online catalog of all the goods and services sold by the transition countries’ SMEs, classified by category. Buyers (individuals, SMEs, large companies) from all over the world will have a free access to the VMP and be able to: i) browse the products, ii) consult the profile of the beneficiary SMEs, and iii) inquire about the beneficiary SMEs online (or to get the contact information of the beneficiary SMEs in order to contact them by phone or email). Component II: A comprehensive capacity building program for EPAs The VMP will be fed and operated in a decentralized manner by Export Promoting Agencies (EPAs) (one by transition country) which could be Chambers of Commerce or the relevant Department within Ministries of Commerce of the transition countries. The roles of these units would be, in particular, to: i. identify the beneficiary SMEs in their country, ii. register them in the VMP, iii. assist them in the posting of their products and contact information, iv. monitor the activity of the VMP (for example make sure that all buyers inquiries are answered in a timely manner by the beneficiary SMEs), v. assist the beneficiary SMEs in their first export transactions, vi. deliver training in export activities to beneficiary SMEs, vii. monitor on a regular basis and update the information made available online to the beneficiary SMEs, viii. deliver trustworthiness ratings to beneficiary SMEs, ix. provide beneficiary SMEs with Customer Relationship Management –CRM- services. Public Disclosure Copy Component III: Support to the Regional Implementing Agency To ensure neutrality of the project as well as its swift and coherent implementation across the transition countries, an RIA will be identified and assessed by the Bank. This RIA will be tasked with the following activities: i. It will procure the development of the VMP based on Terms of Reference jointly developed by the Bank and Microsoft; ii. The RIA will design training curriculum and capacity building programs to assist the EPAs; iii. The RIA will promote the VMP in search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo!), forums, blogs and all other relevant events. iv. At the request of the World Bank or the transition countries, the Business Desks could also conduct quick surveys and mine the database for research and policy recommendation purposes D. Project location and salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis (if known) This is a regional project with several transition countries as beneficiaries: Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Jordan. The Grant will be implemented by each country’s respective export promotion agencies. E. Borrowers Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies No major environmental issues are anticipated. Project activities are not expected to result in any potential large scale, significant and/or irreversible impacts. The project components have no Public Disclosure Copy safeguards implications. F. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists on the Team II. SAFEGUARD POLICIES THAT MIGHT APPLY Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) Environmental Assessment OP/ No BP 4.01 Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No Forests OP/BP 4.36 No Pest Management OP 4.09 No Physical Cultural Resources OP/ No BP 4.11 Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 No Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP No 4.12 Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No Projects on International No Waterways OP/BP 7.50 Public Disclosure Copy Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP No 7.60 III. SAFEGUARD PREPARATION PLAN A. Tentative target date for preparing the PAD Stage ISDS: 31-May-2013 B. Time frame for launching and completing the safeguard-related studies that may be needed. The specific studies and their timing1 should be specified in the PAD-stage ISDS: not applicable IV. APPROVALS Task Team Leader: Name: Laurent Gonnet Approved By: Regional Safeguards Name: Date: Coordinator: Sector Manager: Name: Simon C. Bell (SM) Date: 14-Feb-2013 1 Reminder: The Bank's Disclosure Policy requires that safeguard-related documents be disclosed before appraisal (i) at the InfoShop and (ii) in country, at publicly accessible locations and in a form and language that are accessible to potentially affected persons.