USAID Trade Central Asia Activity

To All Potential Offerors: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Regional Mission to Central Asia (USAID/CA), is seeking proposals from qualified organizations to implement an activity entitled - USAID Trade Central Asia Activity as detailed in the Statement of Objectives. The applicable geographic codes for this procurement are 937 and 110. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541990. This procurement will be conducted under full and open competition procedures, pursuant to Part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) (48 CFR Chapter 1). All types of organizations are eligible to compete. If your organization decides to submit a proposal in response to this solicitation, it must be submitted in accordance with Section L of this RFP. USAID Central Asia anticipates awarding one (1) Cost-Plus Fixed Fee type contract as a result of this solicitation covering a period of five (5) years. The estimated cost for this contract is between $17 and $19.8 million, subject to the availability of funds. Revealing the total estimated cost for the contract does not mean Offerors should propose a budget equal to the estimated cost. Offerors must propose costs that are necessary, realistic and reasonable for the scope of work. These costs may be lower, but in no case may they exceed the estimated cost. Cost proposals will be evaluated as part of a best value determination for contract award, including cost effective approaches to achieve the results and cost realism. Offerors should take note that this RFP does not contain a Statement of Work (SOW), rather, USAID is providing an outcomes-based Statement of Objectives (SOO). Offerors are requested to provide their own Performance Work Statement (PWS) to achieve the outcomes described in the SOO. If substantive questions are received that are likely to have a material effect on responses to the solicitation, or alter the closing date and time, as well as other aspects of the RFP, this solicitation may be amended. Any amendments to this solicitation will be issued and posted on an official website of the United States government at http://www.beta.sam.gov. Offerors are encouraged to check this website periodically and subscribe for automatic notifications. It is the responsibility of the recipient of this solicitation to ensure that the solicitation has been received from the beta.SAM page in its entirety. USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from download or conversion processes. If your organization decides to submit a proposal in response to this solicitation, it must be submitted by the designated date and time indicated above and in Block 9 of the RFP cover page (Standard Form 33). Proposals received after the closing date and time will be processed as late and handled in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. Proposals in response to this solicitation must be valid for 180 days and signed by an official who is authorized to bind the Offeror's organization. Please pay careful attention to and complete in full Section K - Representations, Certifications and Acknowledgements of the accompanying Request for Proposals. Offerors are expected to comply with FAR clause 52.204-7, and complete the annual representations and certifications electronically via the System for Award Management (SAM), www.sam.gov, a free website which consolidates Federal procurement systems and the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. Offerors should carefully consider Section L - Instructions to Offerors and Section M - Evaluation Factors for Award. Sections B through J of the solicitation will become a substantive part of the anticipated contract to be completed by the Contracting Officer upon award. Also, the Government intends to incorporate parts of the successful proposal into the negotiated contract award, in particular the proposed PWS. Issuance of an Award is subject to availability of funds and conclusion of successful negotiations. In order to ensure that the best value proposal is received, USAID reserves the right to award without discussions or establish a competitive range of proposals from all submissions for further discussions. USAID may request bidders in the competitive range to make presentations via digital video conference to present their technical approach and clarify why it presents the best value concept. Questions and comments related to this RFP must be submitted electronically to the attention of Ms. Tatyana Timoshenkova at ttimoshenkova@usaid.gov and AlmatyAAsolicitations@usaid.gov no later than January 30, 2021 at 10:00 am Almaty Time (UTC +6) using the following format for the email subject line: - 72011521R00002, USAID Trade Central Asia Activity - [Name of Organization] Questions/Comments. USAID may consolidate and/or not respond to questions/comments to each Offeror and will publicly post all responses as an amendment to this RFP. All amendments to this solicitation will be issued and posted on the beta.SAM website. Offerors are encouraged to check this website (http://www.beta.sam.gov) periodically. The Technical and Cost proposals must be separate and must be submitted according to Section L of this RFP. Only electronic proposals will be accepted in response to this RFP. The subject line for Technical and Cost Proposal submissions must follow the following format: - 72011521R00002, USAID Trade Central Asia Activity - [Name of Offeror] [Technical/Cost] Proposal, [Email _ of _]. Proposals must be signed by an official who is authorized to bind the offeror's organization. Proposals are due on March 25, 2021, 10:00 am Almaty Time (UTC +6). Proposals received after the closing date and time will be processed as late and handled in accordance with FAR 15.208. Issuance of this RFP in no way obligates the U.S. Government to award a contract nor does it commit the U.S. Government to pay any costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal. Furthermore, the Government reserves the right to reject any and all offers, if such action is considered to be in the best interest of the U.S. Government. Thank you for your interest in USAID programs.