Call for Proposals Innovation for Firms in Suriname

Institution: Inter- American Development Bank
Country: Suriname
Project: Pilot Innovation for Firms in Suriname (IFS)
Advertisement number: 17
Reference numbers: SUBCIP (Suriname Business Climate and Innovation Program)
Deadline: January 30^th  2019
Sector: Business and Private Sector Development, Economic Diversification and Growth

Background
The Pilot Innovation for Firms in Suriname (IFS) is a sub-component of the Suriname Business Climate and Innovation Program (SUBCIP), which is a 4-year economic competitiveness enhancement project of the Government of Suriname, financed by the IDB. The objective of this program is to increase the value added of the private sector in the economy.
The specific objectives are: (i) to promote a productive policy for sustainable growth and diversification; (ii) to improve the business climate, legal, and institutional framework; (iii) to maintain and strengthen public-private sector dialogue; and (iv) to improve Competitiveness Unit of Suriname (CUS) capacity to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) productivity and innovation. The SUBCIP-I is structured as a programmatic policy-based loan and a Reimbursable Technical Cooperation (RTC). The RTC instrument is designed to support the implementation of reforms, the modernization of institutions, and strengthen SMEs capacity for innovation and linkages with value chains.

The main objective of the IFS program is to support innovation in local firms in Suriname –particularly Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) – by strengthening their integration into clusters and value chains and their linkages with firms and buyers and among themselves. It is expected that this will contribute to sales growth, increases in jobs, and greater connections between local firms and the global value chains in which they participate, and in doing so, will improve local firms’ productivity, competitiveness and capacity for innovation.

The Call for Proposals
We are looking for feasible and innovative business projects, especially in the tourism sector, that can be co-financed with a matching grant of up to US$ 250.000 to local firms, or groups of firms, that are planning on investing in new technology, innovation, products, processes, or in other activities to increase their linkages with global value chains. The applicant firms will share the financial costs of each project by an amount to be decided on a case-by-case basis, and which should not be less than 20% of the total cost of the project. Projects approved in the first or second round of IFS are not qualified to participate in this (third) round of the IFS. Strong project proposals in the tourism sector will be given priority, but proposals from other sectors are welcome as well. The deadline for submission of proposals is JANUARY 30^th, 2019, 24:00 hours.

Eligible Entities:
As requirements to participate in the program, the firms need to:
• to be legally registered,
• tax compliant,
• Cannot be default with financial institutions.

Eligibility Criteria: 

The eligibility criteria are:

1. The applicant must be an eligible entity (see previous section).
2. The applicant may not have legal issues with the Government of the Republic of Suriname.
3. The applicant must present documentation accrediting its legal status and validity.
4. The applicant must formally apply to IFS using forms specified and in accordance with the determined process and procedures.
5. Applicants who already received a matching grant in IFS cannot apply.
6. The applicant must present all required documentation.
7. The applicant must submit a written letter expressing their commitment to finance the business own contribution and accept the financial conditions of the contribution.
8. The applicant must be willing to provide all information required by IFS or parties assigned to executive the mentioned tasks, for its monitoring, evaluation and audit reporting.

Moreinfo: 

http://surinamecompete.org/news-and-activities/call-for-proposals-innovation-for-firms-in-suriname