Section 1: Instructions to Offerors

Introduction: USAID Clean Power Asia is a United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded program, implemented by Abt Associates, Inc. from its office in Bangkok, Thailand. The goal of USAID Clean Power Asia is to accelerate the regional transition to a high performing, low carbon power sector, and this goal is being accomplished through three outcomes: high renewable energy scenarios included in energy planning; an improved enabling policy, regulatory, and technical environment for renewable energy deployment; and increased investment in and deployment of grid-connected renewable energy projects. Abt Associates leads the implementation of the program, in collaboration with subcontractors and consultants.

Abt Associates Thailand is seeking qualified firms with personnel currently based in Laos to provide short-term, part-time technical services in Laos. These technical services, as described in the scope of work (SOW) in Attachment A, are required immediately and require an individual(s) with skill specialization to perform the activities indicated in the scope below. The firm and its assigned individual(s) is expected to carry out the work in Vientiane, Laos, under the supervision of the Bangkok-based RE Policy Expert, and the COP/DCOP or their designee, and in coordination with the Laos Country Coordinator and program staff in Bangkok. The individual assigned by the firm to perform these technical services must be eligible to work in Laos without sponsorship, and will not be paid allowances or relocation.

Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received by Abt Associates in accordance with the instructions, terms, and conditions described in this RFP. Failure to adhere to instructions described in this RFP may lead to disqualification of an offer from consideration.

Offer Deadline and Protocol: Offers must be received no later than 17.00 ICT on Wednesday, July 17, 2020, by email addressed to Ms. Thida Ruengsit, Finance & Administration Manager, at Thida_Ruengsit@abtassoc.com. Please reference RFP number CPA-20-002-Lao Technical Services in any response to this RFP. Offers received after the specified time and date will be considered late and will be considered only at the discretion of the procurement manager for this RFP.

Questions: Questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFP may be submitted no later than 17.00 ICT on Friday, July 3, 2020 by email to Thida_Ruengsit@abtassoc.com. Questions must be submitted in writing; phone calls will not be accepted. Questions and requests for clarification— and the responses thereto—that Abt Associates believes may be of interest to other offerors will be circulated to all RFP recipients who have indicated an interest in bidding. Only the written answers issued by Abt Associates will be considered official and carry weight in the RFP process and subsequent evaluation. Any verbal information received from employees of Abt Associates or any other entity should not be considered as an official response to any questions regarding this RFP.

Qualifications: The offeror must be able to demonstrate substantial experience in the areas delineated in the scope of work at the end of this document. The offeror must specify the proposed final price for all of the services outlined in the provided statement of work. The selected service provider must have excellent communication skills and methods, and be able to

communicate clearly at every step of development of work under contract in providing information to the USAID Clean Power Asia team as well as requesting, understanding, and closely following guidance.

Proposals/Quotations: Proposals in response to this RFP can be presented in Lao kip or in Thai baht and priced on a fixed-price, all-inclusive basis, including delivery and all other costs. Offers must remain valid for not less than thirty (30) calendar days after the offer deadline. Offerors are requested to provide quotations on their official quotation format or letterhead. In addition, offerors responding to this RFP are requested to submit the following according to the status of the bidder:

- Copy of official registration or business license if a business.

Delivery: The delivery location for the items described in this RFP is:

Abt Associates

Abdulrahim Place, Suite 501

990 Rama IV Road

Bangrak, Bangkok, 10500

As part of its response to this RFP, each offeror is expected to agree to the timelines and deliverables described in the scopes of work. The delivery presented in an offer in response to this RFP must be upheld in the performance of any resulting contract for the delivery of goods or services.

Source/Nationality/Manufacture: All goods and services offered in response to this RFP or supplied under any resulting award must meet USAID Geographic Code 937 in accordance with the United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 22 CFR §228. The cooperating country for this RFP is Thailand. Offerors may not offer or supply any commodities or services that are manufactured or assembled in, shipped from, transported through, or otherwise involving any of the following countries: Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.

Warranty: Warranty service and repair within the cooperating country is required for all commodities under this RFP. The warranty coverage must be valid on all commodities for a minimum of twelve (12) months after delivery and acceptance of the commodities, unless otherwise specified in the technical specifications.

Taxes and VAT: The agreement under which this procurement is financed is not exempt from the payment of taxes, VAT, tariffs, duties, or other levies imposed by any laws in effect in Thailand. Therefore, offerors must include taxes, VAT, charges, tariffs, duties, and levies in accordance with the laws of the Thailand.

Eligibility: By submitting an offer in response to this RFP, the offeror certifies that it and its principal officers are not debarred, suspended, or otherwise considered ineligible for an award by the U.S. government. Abt Associates will not award a contract to any firm that is debarred, suspended, or considered to be ineligible by the U.S. government.

Evaluation and Award: Responses to this RFP will be evaluated against several criteria,

including the following:

Response to RFP follows the specified instructions.
It meets the eligibility requirements.
Offeror provides sufficient proof of capabilities, as evidenced through past projects of a similar nature and may include reference checks of those or other clients of the offeror.

All of these factors being equal, the offeror whose response is deemed to provide the best value to the U.S. government is likely to be selected. Price is a key determinant, and offerors are encouraged to provide their best and final price for all services provided. Abt Associates reserves the right to make a selection without negotiation with any offeror. Offerors are required to provide sufficient budget detail in their response to allow Abt Associates to determine the reasonableness of overall costs proposed.

Please note that if there are significant deficiencies regarding responsiveness to the requirements of this RFP, an offer may be deemed “non-responsive” and thereby disqualified from consideration. Abt Associates reserves the right to waive immaterial deficiencies at its discretion.

Best and final offer quotations are requested and it is anticipated that an award will be made solely on the basis of these original quotations. However, Abt Associates reserves the right to any or all of the following:

- Abt Associates may conduct negotiations with and/or request clarifications from any offeror prior to award.
- While preference will be given to offerors who can address the full technical requirements of this RFP, Abt Associates may issue a partial award or split the award among various suppliers, if in the best interest of the USAID Clean Power Asia program.
- Abt Associates may cancel this RFP at any time.

Please note that in submitting a response to this RFP, the offeror understands that USAID is not a party to this solicitation and the offeror agrees that any protest hereunder must be presented—in writing with full explanations—to the USAID Clean Power Asia program for consideration, as USAID will not consider protests regarding procurements carried out by implementing partners. Abt Associates, at its sole discretion, will make all final decisions regarding this procurement.

Terms and Conditions: This is a request for a proposal only. Issuance of this RFP does not in any way obligate Abt Associates, the USAID Clean Power Asia program, or USAID to make an award or pay for costs incurred by potential offerors in the preparation and submission of an offer.

This solicitation is subject to Abt Associates’ standard terms and conditions. Offerors should note that these include U.S. government terms and conditions that flow down to Abt Associates as a U.S. government contractor and subsequently no changes or deviations from these terms and conditions is allowed. Offerors are advised not to propose any other terms and conditions as they will not be considered. Any resultant award will be governed by these terms and conditions; a copy of the full terms and conditions is available upon request. Please note the following terms and conditions will apply:

Abt Associates standard payment terms are net 30 days after receipt and acceptance

of any commodities or deliverables. Payment will only be issued to the entity submitting the offer in response to this RFP and identified in the resulting award; payment will not be issued to a third party.
Any award resulting from this RFP will be firm fixed price, in the form of a Purchase Order.
No commodities or services may be supplied that are manufactured or assembled in, shipped from, transported through, or otherwise involving any of the following countries: Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria.
Any international air or ocean transportation or shipping carried out under any award resulting from this RFP must take place on U.S.-flag carriers/vessels.
United States law prohibits transactions with, and the provision of resources and support to, individuals and organizations associated with terrorism. The supplier under any award resulting from this RFP must ensure compliance with these laws.
The title to any goods supplied under any award resulting from this RFP shall pass to Abt Associates following delivery and acceptance of the goods by Abt Associates. Risk of loss, injury, or destruction of the goods shall be borne by the offeror until title passes to Abt Associates.

Section 2: Offer Checklist

To assist offerors in the preparation of proposals, the following checklist summarizes the documentation to include in response to this RFP:

- Official quotation, including specifications as applicable (see Section 3).
- Copy of offeror’s registration or business license, work permit, as applicable.
- CV(s) of potential staff to provide these technical services indicating work/consulting history with examples of past work of a similar nature.
- Contact details (name, company, email, phone) of at least two references (firms, organizations, individuals) for whom the offeror has completed projects of a similar scope in the past two years. Abt Associates reserves the right to contact these references.