Projects requesting technical assistance must fall within one of the four technology verticals financed by REIF. 

In turn, projects requesting technical assistance must present an element of innovation and/or technological risk that justifies the dedication of hours of expert assistance to study a new business model in a specific market, delve into available technologies and suppliers when they are scarce in the market, or incorporate new elements to the project that improve performance and can be replicated.

In this regard, technical assistance will not be granted to projects with technologies already proven in Uruguay that do not have a differential value with respect to existing projects in the country.

Applicant projects must be reasonably developed, have evaluated current and future operating conditions and identified available technologies and equipment and estimated investments and costs, thus enabling REIF's participation in the financing to be assessed.

Not necessarily. Technical assistance may be granted during the REIF's pre-application phase. 

The purpose of the pre-application technical assistance will be to support/deepen the analysis of the technology or business model of the project, which will allow the company to validate its suitability. If the analysis is positive and the company decides to execute the project, it will be able to use REIF as a source of co-financing. If the analysis concludes that it is not convenient, or the company decides not to execute the project, it will have no commitment with REIF. 

The implementation technical assistance will be associated with a credit granted by REIF as co-financier and will be aimed at supporting the company in the implementation of the technology, reducing the project's risk.

No, they have no monetary cost, but they do require in all cases the involvement of people from the company. It is necessary to have dedication on the part of the organization, so that there is an appropriation of the processes and knowledge transferred.

Technical assistance must be formally requested, via e-mail, by the company that will carry out the project/investment, attaching a request note signed by a representative. 

The request note must propose a consultant or consulting firm to carry out the technical assistance. To do so, it is suggested to visit the list of REIF consultants.

Ideally, the company will select the consultant at an early stage, allowing its involvement in the design of the project, the definition of the activities to be performed and products to be delivered.

Mail should be addressed to the following persons and addresses, copying the proposed consultant or consulting firm:

• Antonio Martínez, director of REIF - amartinez@reifuruguay.org.uy 
• Pablo Caldeiro, REIF's energy expert- pcaldeiro@reifuruguay.org.uy 

We suggest, prior to completing the note, to contact the members of the REIF Investment Committee indicated above for guidance and to outline the proposed activities.

Template TA request note from the company.

REIF has a registry of consultants and consulting firms authorized to provide technical assistance. The consultants proposed by the company must be registered and have a background in the technological area to be addressed. This information is available in the List of Qualified Consultants.

If the consultant or consulting firm that the company wishes to apply for is not already registered, it must complete the Application Form to join the consultant registry.

The evaluation will take into account the background information submitted, and will be included in the registry to provide technical assistance in the verticals and technologies where sufficient experience is accredited.

Once the request for technical assistance has been received, it will be evaluated by the members of the REIF Investment Committee, who will define its relevance, the consultant's suitability, the specific activities, the expected results, and the conditions in terms of hours effectively recognized and execution time.

The previous exchanges between the company, consultant and experts of the investment committee will be a particularly valued element in order to reach an agreement between the parties.

The result of the evaluation will be communicated via e-mail, and if positive, the contract will be signed to begin.

In case the REIF Investment Committee approves the technical assistance, a tripartite contract will be signed: Beneficiary company, Consultant or consulting company that will develop the TA and the entity that manages the TA on behalf of REIF (University of Montevideo).

Through an agreement, the Cleaner Production Center (CPmL) of the University of Montevideo will support REIF in the contracting and follow-up of technical assistance, in order to have an agile and efficient service.

The contract establishes the commitments of the parties, including the activities to be performed, estimated hours and amount assigned to the consultant, the time frame for execution and penalties in case of noncompliance.

Please refer to the model contract for technical assistance.

The term shall be agreed between the parties, with a maximum term of 90 days. An extension may only be granted for duly justified reasons. 

In all cases, the payment of fees to the consultant or consulting firm will be made by REIF through the UM Cleaner Production Center, for 100% of the agreed value, once the technical assistance is completed, with the approval of the REIF Investment Committee, the UM Cleaner Production Center and the beneficiary company.

Deliverables to validate the performance of the technical assistance will be defined in the contract. There is no specific format for the final report to be submitted by the consultant or consulting firm, however, the information should be sufficient to validate the correct execution of the activities.