Meeting Minutes.pdf

RFP 19TC1024R0002

Inbound and Outbound Diplomatic Pouch Services

Pre-proposal Conference–Meeting Minutes

Date: April 1, 2024 Time: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm Venue: U.S. Embassy Abu Dhabi

Panel: Procurement and Contracting Supervisor Information Programs Officer DPO Mail Pouch Supervisor

IMS

Contracting Agent

Attendees: Five (5) representatives from three (3) companies as listed below:

Alpha Health Eco Freight Contract Resources Group Two (2) representatives from two (2) companies attended on TEAM as listed below:

Seventh Genius Hazem Courier

Introduction:

The Contracting Supervisor welcomed all interested offerors, explained the purpose of the meeting, and introduced the Embassy’s panel. Offeror’s representatives introduced by themselves to the panel.

Agenda and Sign-in sheet were distributed to all the attendees.

The due date for submitting questions concerning this meeting and RFP was set to 10:00 am on April 3, 2024, via email to AbuDhabiContracts@state.gov .

Note to Offerors:

The information contained within these questions and answers is provided for informational purposes and under no circumstances shall it be construed to change any terms and conditions or requirements within the solicitation. If any answer does address a change in the solicitation, it will reference an Amendment.

Overview:

The Contracting Supervisor explained the following:

• This is a firm-fixed price IDIQ contract for five years (base plus four option years). The contract will be awarded to the lowest price, technically acceptable Offeror.

• The Government intends to award a contract based on initial quotations, without holding discussions, although we may hold discussions with companies in the competitive range if there is a need to do so.

• VAT is not applicable currently for Inbound & Outbound Diplomatic Pouch Services; hence offerors should not include VAT in their offers or invoices. In case the local government law dictates VAT is applicable for Inbound and Outbound Pouch services during the contract period, then it shall be considered for payment through a modification to the contract.

• James Zadroga Act is applicable to this contract. i.e., two percent (2%) tax deduction on each invoice will be imposed, if the contract value exceeds USD 250K.

mailto:AbuDhabiContracts@state.gov

Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 2 Solicitation 19TC1023R0003-Group Life Insurance services

• Offeror must sign and submit Section 5 after checking the appropriate boxes to ensure that contractor complies with NDAA 889 provisions.

• DBA insurance estimate shall be provided. Refer pricing table provided for each year of the contract.

• The offer shall be submitted in AED. Do not use any other currencies.

The requesting Office IPC explained the Scope of Work (SOW) of the RFP in detail.

• The services requested under this solicitation is divided into 2 parts: Inbound and Outbound.

• The Diplomatic Pouch will be only in bags & there is no boxes and the pouch shouldn’t be scanned by the local authority.

• Contractors is not required to pack or unpack. For outbound, contractor should pick up from the Embassy and coordinate the shipment all the way to the DPM facility in Washington DC.

For inbound, contractor should pick up the shipment at AUH and deliver to the embassy.

Contractor is responsible for any applicable airport clearance processes.

• The Embassy will avail the labels printed with the full address for the outbound Pouch.

The Contracting Agent explained the following requirements of the solicitation and proposal submission:

• Proposals must be submitted with duly filled SF-1449, Pricing table under Section B and the relevant fields of Section 5.

• Follow instructions provided in Section 3 and 4.

• Offers must be submitted to the Embassy electronically via AbuDhabiContracts@state.gov marking the subject line "Proposal Enclosed – RFP 19TC1024R0002 – Inbound and Outbound Pouch services".

• File size restriction is 10 MBPS in one email. If there are more files to be attached, send separate email(s) within the stipulated file size restriction, following the abovementioned subject line marking instruction.

• Only pdf version of the attachments is the acceptable. Embassy cannot accept if the mode of proposal submission is hard copy, hyperlinks or any other form other than email.

• Submit Commercial and Technical proposals separately.

• Proposals will be evaluated in two phases, that are Technical and Commercial. Commercial evaluation will be done after technical evaluation is completed by the Technical Evaluation Panel. Hence do not include any pricing in the technical submission.

• Follow Evaluation factors specified in Section 4.

• All Offerors are required to have an active SAM registration. Registration is free. Link to www.SAM.gov has been provided through the solicitation. The contract shall not be awarded to a vendor who is not registered on SAM. Hence, prior registration will be beneficial. Offers without proof of registration will be marked as “technically unacceptable”.

• Submit all your contractual/technical questions in writing, including the ones raised during the conference, no later than 10 am on April 3 2024. The answers to the questions will be disseminated to all the interested offerors along with the meeting minutes.

• The RFP submission deadline is at 10:00 am (UAE time) on April 18, 2024.

• Late proposals shall not be considered for evaluation.

The conference adjourned at 12:00 pm.

(end of Meeting minutes) mailto:AbuDhabiContracts@state.gov http://www.sam.gov/