Attachment A - Solicitation Q and As.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ENTERPRISE SERVICES

SOLICITATION – 1331L522R13500012 Amendment 0001

REGIONAL DEAL FLOW PROGRAM

Regional Deal Flow Program International Trade Department (ITA)

Questions and Answers (Q & A)

1. Is this a new requirement or is or was there an incumbent contractor providing these or very similar requirements previously? Page 1, paragraph 2 of the PWS.

Answer: This is a new requirement and no incumbent contractor.

2. If there is or was an incumbent contractor, please provide the contract number. Page 1, paragraph 2 of the PWS.

Answer: There is no incumbent contractor.

3. Are there any sectors that the Government is particularly interested in? If yes, what are they?

Page 4, paragraph 2 of the PWS.

Answer: No, part of the requirement is to do preliminary research to determine the sectors with the greatest opportunities for U.S. business. For example, the requirement does not include the energy sector but if an opportunity arises during the performance of the tasks, it should be brought to the attention of the COR.

4. Are there any sectors that the Government feels have been thoroughly assessed and found to have little opportunity for U.S. exports? If yes, what are they? Page 4, paragraph 2 of the PWS.

Answer: No, there have been no thorough assessments that have been done.

5. Does this program value broad-based market entry for U.S. firms in a particular sector for long term export growth or large/significant firm-level deals that produce immediate results more?

Page 4, paragraph 2 of the PWS.

Answer: The program values broad-based market entry for U.S. firms in a particular sector for long term export growth and large/significant firm-level deals that produce immediate results equally.

6. Are any key personnel required to be identified in the proposal? If yes, what positions are considered key personnel? Page 12, paragraph 1 of the RFP lists “Name (Position Title)” and “Name (Position Title)” as key personnel, which is unclear.

Answer: CAR 1352.237-75 Key Personnel has been removed from the solicitation. (See solicitation 1331L522R13500012 Amendment 0001) ” (See solicitation 1331L522R13500012 Amendment 0001)”. The government has not determined Key Personnel for this requirement.

If an offeror believes Key Personnel would better support its technical approach, Key Personnel can be proposed. Include why the person(s) should be considered Key Personnel, the relevant credentials and a copy of the resume(s).

7. Attachment 2, the LCAT Pricing Sheet, lists labor categories for personnel under this contract.

Are these the exact positions required or illustrative positions? If these are the key personnel positions required, can you please provide a description of the positions and the requirements needed to fill these positions, in terms of education, years of experience, and any other requirements.

Answer: The pricing template has been revised to reflect the desired firm-fixed price for tasks 4.2 through 4.5 in the PWS. (See Answer 6 (A6), CAR 1352.237-75 Key Personnel has been removed from the solicitation).

8. Are key personnel required to have a local language capability? Page 9, paragraph 7 of the PWS.

Answer: Presumably to perform the tasks under the requirement there may be the need to communicate with local entities where English may not be spoken. See A6, Key Personnel removed.

9. Are local national staff or expatriate staff acceptable in key personnel positions? Page 9, paragraph 7 of the PWS.

Answer: See A6.

10. The preparation instructions reference that CAR 1352.237-75 Key Personnel (April 2010) – RFP (page 13) should be completed in an unprotected pdf, but Page 13, paragraph 1, does not list any requirements that should be included with the proposal submission. What documentation is required for the key personnel in accordance with CAR 1352.237-75?

11. Should bidders assume that each labor category is a FTE for the 12 months of award? Page 9, paragraph 7 of the PWS.

Answer: The offeror should determine the number of staff and the amount of time needed to perform the tasks in the requirement. The pricing template has been revised to request fixed pricing by tasks.

12. Please provide an estimate of the anticipated interaction/correspondence levels that the

Contractor will have with the various parties involved over the life of the contract. Are Contractor staff expected to be available all the time during business hours? This will help to produce a realistic cost proposal. Page 9, paragraph 7 of the PWS.

Answer: The interaction between the Department of Commerce and the contractor will consist of periodic check-ins and reporting. There should be someone who can be reached during U.S.

Eastern Time (UTC -5 or -4) business hours if time sensitive questions/issues arise. There can be a main point of contact for this interaction.

13. The government indicated that the contractor shall assign key personnel to the contract but does not note which positions are considered key to the project. Should the contractor select two from the roles included in Attachment 0002, based on the placeholders included on p. 12 of the solicitation?

14. The PWS indicates that market assessment reports and other related work may be produced for

Bhutan. Will this determination to include or not include Bhutan be made before award? Or will USG and the awardee make this determination post-award during the project planning phase?

Answer: The determination to include Buhtan will be done during the post-award project planning phase.

15. The PWS indicates that this Regional Deal Flow Program will not include assessment of opportunities in India, given the existing USG commercial development efforts there. Is it possible that work under this project could include cross-border opportunities (e.g. between India and Bangladesh)?

Answer: Yes, the program will not include an assessment of India or focus on India but if opportunities arise during the performance of the requirement they should be pursued.

16. Does USG have an expectation that all four personnel included in Attachment 0002 are to be full-time for the one-year engagement?

17. Answer: The LCAT (attachment 0002) has been revised to reflect the tasks 4.2 through 4.5 in the PWS. “(See solicitation 1331L522R13500012 Amendment 0001)”

18. Are the labor categories included in Attachment 0002 the final LCATs to be used? Or are these illustrative?

Answer: The LCAT has been revised to reflect the tasks 4.2 through 4.5 in the PWS. “(See solicitation 1331L522R13500012 Amendment 0001)”

19. Does USG have an anticipated award size for this project?

Answer: Price will be evaluated separately from the Technical and other non-price factors; and will be evaluated to determine that the proposed price is fair and reasonable.

20. Is there an incumbent contractor for this contract or is this a new opportunity?

Answer: See A1 and A2

21. The solicitation states that the cover page should be submitted in Portable Document Format (PDF) and that the Volume I - Technical Approach should be submitted in MS Word 2007 or later. Typically, we submit these documents together in the same format. Can the cover page and Volume I be submitted in the same format?

Answer: The cover page and the Technical Approach have been changed to PDF formatting for proposal submission. ” (See solicitation 1331L522R13500012 Amendment 0001)”

22. Given the multiple bulleted criteria for the Market Assessment Reports and Screening, are some criteria ratings higher priority, or are all of equal value when assessing a potential opportunity?

Answer: All the criteria for a qualified lead should be considered to assess the opportunity. If this reply does not address the question, please restate, unclear of what “criteria ratings” are referenced.

23. Is there a percentage breakdown of the evaluation weight for each of the areas described in the

"Basis of Award/Evaluation of the Offeror" section? Specifically, is there a breakdown between the two non-price factors - (1) Technical Approach and (2) Past Performance - and is there an overall breakdown between the non-price factors and the price factor?

Answer: The following language has been revised to state, “ All non-price factors are approximately equal (technical approach and past performance). When combined, technical approach and past performance are significantly more important than price. The Government shall make award to the offeror who represents the overall best value to the Government.

” (See solicitation 1331L522R13500012 Amendment 0001)”

24. Would USG consider issuing a one-week extension for submission of proposals to accommodate for technical approach tweaks based on question responses?

Answer: A one week extension will be considered for proposals submission.