Ram N. Gurung

Ram N. Gurung serves as an Acquisition Specialist at USAID/Nepal, where he plays a critical role in executing procurement strategies aligned with the agency’s mission of advancing sustainable development and institutional resilience. He manages the full lifecycle of acquisitions for technical assistance and capacity-building services, ensuring compliance with federal acquisition regulations and USAID’s development objectives. His work centers on securing expert services that strengthen health systems, support agricultural transformation, and enhance local governance—directly enabling USAID’s emphasis on locally led solutions and data-driven program design. Gurung collaborates with a diverse array of professional service providers, including international consultants, local Nepali firms, and technical experts in public sector reform and community development. His contracting patterns reflect a preference for performance-based, results-oriented engagements, often involving long-term advisory contracts and task orders under indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) mechanisms. He works closely with vendors who bring deep contextual expertise in Nepal’s socio-political landscape, prioritizing partners capable of delivering adaptive, evidence-based interventions. Gurung’s procurement portfolio is entirely non-set-aside, with 100% of acquisitions conducted under full and open competition. This reflects USAID/Nepal’s strategic emphasis on selecting the most qualified technical providers regardless of socioeconomic status, while still ensuring robust competition and value for U.S. taxpayer investment. Though no formal small business set-asides are utilized, his process maintains transparency and fairness to encourage broad participation from both domestic and international vendors. His primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services) and 541690 (Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services), reflecting his specialization in securing expertise in public administration, rural development, and educational support. He frequently procures services related to institutional capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, policy analysis, and community empowerment initiatives, demonstrating deep domain knowledge in development programming and technical assistance procurement.