Tradeshow Support & Matchmaking Specialists/Experts

Chemonics seeks two Tradeshow Support & Matchmaking Specialist/Experts for the ongoing USAID Pakistan Investment Promotion Activity (IPA) in Pakistan. The goal of the project is to work closely with the Government of Pakistan (GoP) and the Provincial Governments to streamline their business practices, improve operational transparency and governance, promote regulatory reforms and competition with an aim to reducing the administrative burden on businesses, strengthening the investment climate for foreign investors in Pakistan and promoting opportunities for enhanced trade and investment between U.S. and Pakistani businesses. The Tradeshow Support & Matchmaking Specialists/Experts (ICT and Non-ICT) will work in tandem with Pakistan based consultants from each sector in scouting for potential trade partners in the U.S. (for the purpose of trade matchmaking) of trade ready businesses in the ICT sector and Manufacturing Sector (non-ICT) with intentions of either buying from or selling products and services to Pakistan businesses/markets and carrying out associated and necessary activities for creation of robust matchmaking pipeline, alongside tradeshow participation. These positions will be completed remotely, and the team is looking for two consultants to fill the roles- one in the ICT sector and one in the Manufacturing Sector (Non-ICT). We are looking for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world.

Responsibilities include:

• Meeting (online) with IPA Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party and/or his designee to understand the specific requirements of the scope of work and design and submit work plan and outreach strategy for execution of the activity.
• Reporting to Deputy Chief of Party and/or his designee.
• Study the database built by Pakistan STTAs to identify buyers and sellers from the U.S. and add to the matchmaking list; U.S. based firms who are willing to trade with the shortlisted Pakistani firms.
• Develop the matchmaking pipeline and facilitating B2B engagements for the purpose of lead generation. This will include matchmaking of U.S. based firms with shortlisted Pakistani pipeline firms, having a clear target of increasing bilateral trade between the U.S. and Pakistan through signed trade deals.
• Facilitate matchmaking efforts by acting as a conduit for creating partnerships with trading entities in the U.S. such as industry specific trade associations, buying houses, warehousing companies, trade shows, etc., resulting in a positive impact on the overall goal of enhanced bilateral trade through matchmaking and trade show participation.
• Devising a comprehensive outreach plan and carry out necessary preparations to develop material for outreach, which includes introductory emails including details from the program statement, project templates (offline and online) and other templates for various platforms necessary to promote:
  • U. S. – Pakistan trade matchmaking activity
  • Meetings of participants at trade shows with relevant target audience.
• Develop and execute an outreach plan both online and in-person to onboard companies that can be a part of the matchmaking efforts in the following categories:
  • Buyers from the U.S. (Pakistan Exports to U.S.)
  • Sellers from the U.S. (Imports to Pakistan)
• Facilitate the buyer-seller matchmaking process from the list of shortlisted companies, resulting in at least 200 online/in-person meetings. This includes preparing a matchmaking plan, scheduling meetings, facilitating and ensuring meetings between the companies (buyers and relevant sellers and vice versa) with approval and coordination of IPA and relevant team members.
• Facilitate trade deals to the tune of $ 10 million over baseline (reflected through new customers or additional trade with existing customers that can be attributed to intervention by USAID) collectively between ICT and non-ICT sectors, through the matchmaking activity.
• Create, propose and maintain an invite list of relevant officials, businesses and professionals in the U.S. that are specifically selected to meet the Pakistani pipeline firms participating in the U.S. trade shows.
• Ensure presence of at least 20 invitees (from manufacturing sector), and 5 (from ICT sector) to visit and meet the trade show participating firms through close follow-ups.
• Manage relevant event outreach in coordination with Pakistan STTAs, and support communication and advertisement efforts to ensure maximum engagement and response for the trade shows.
• Support trade deals with contract value of $ 2.5 million over baseline (reflected through new customers or additional trade with existing customers that can be attributed to intervention by USAID) collectively (between ICT and non-ICT sectors) for firms who participate in trade shows.
• Carry out the initial completion of information, logical and sanity errors check of the projects received using the broad data analysis, desk/secondary research, news checks, internal discussion/professional judgement, document check (if any), business offerings and/or requirements documentation, any other tool/analysis which the resource think fit for shortlisting process. This would be the initial screening process to be carried out for shortlisting for further processing to be included in the main pipeline for matchmaking efforts.
• Detailed evaluation of potential U.S. trade partners based on – but not limited to following:
• Evaluating the businesses in terms of availability of information, and also assessing the business offerings in light of their trade potential necessary for successfully executing trade deals.
• Evaluating businesses to assess the likelihood of generating repeat business through the trade deals.
• Evaluating the business and forming recommendations and subsequent justifications for the inclusion in the final buyer/seller matchmaking pipeline.
• Update and maintain the final buyer/seller matchmaking pipeline and its relevant data for use in matchmaking and any other related activities that may fall within the scope of this or any other future requirement by USAID – IPA. This entails, but is not limited to, maintaining company details, offerings or requirements, point of contact and relevant details etc.
• All these activities are to be carried out in coordination and collaboration of the Pakistan-based specialist/experts, both trading parties, and relevant IPA team members.
• Submit final report.

Qualifications (ICT Sector):

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in International Business or Trade/Business Administration/Economics or any other related field from a reputable University.
• Minimum 7 years or above experience in international business development, with at least 4 years’ experience in ICT industry.
• Strong knowledge of bilateral trade between Pakistan and the U.S.
• Strong network and connections with U.S.-based trade and industry associations, chambers of commerce, and relevant bodies associated with the industry.
• Strong network within the ICT industry of the U.S.
• Excellent written/oral presentation skills.
• Skilled in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power point.
• Excellent report writing skills.
• Knowledge of economic issues and prevalent economic trends of Pakistan and the U.S.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, performance oriented, team-based environment with minimal supervision.

Qualifications (Non-ICT Sector):

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in International Business or Trade/Business Administration/Economics or any other related field from a reputable University.
• Minimum 7 years or above experience in international business development.
• Strong knowledge of bilateral trade between Pakistan and the U.S.
• Strong network and connections with U.S.-based trade and industry associations, chambers of commerce and relevant bodies associated with the industry.
• Strong network within the U.S. goods manufacturing industry
• Excellent written/oral presentation skills.
• Skilled in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power point.
• Excellent report writing skills.
• Knowledge of economic issues and prevalent economic trends of Pakistan and the U.S.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, performance oriented, team-based environment with minimal supervision.