RFI_No._72011520R00001.pdf

USAID/Central Asia

RFI NO. 72011520R00001

USAID/Central Asia Bilateral Uzbekistan Value Add Program

Request for Information

I Purpose

USAID is in the process of designing its new agribusiness activity that will support an increasing role for Uzbekistan’s private sector, and enable the country to create jobs for its burgeoning workforce. This Request for Information (RFI) is a preliminary call for information offered by interested organizations and individuals to provide information, opinions, strategies and recommendations to achieve the objectives and results stated below. Interested parties should provide a short three-page submission addressing the issues and questions discussed in Section V below.

II Background

Following the December 2016 election of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan has undertaken a number of economic reforms with the potential to transition the country into a regional leadership role with a thriving private sector-led economy. Most notable among initial reforms, a managed float of the currency was introduced in 2017, and foreign currency controls were removed. This has laid the groundwork for more stable macroeconomic conditions including investment and private sector growth. The government is carrying out new diplomatic initiatives and reforms, and rethinking policies favoring state owned enterprises and protected industries.

Uzbekistan welcomes technical assistance in transiting into a private-sector led economy that can provide jobs for its growing workforce while serving as a reliable regional trading partner.

USAID can play an important role in this process, helping to guide this transition while building sound economic institutions. Nowhere is this more true than in the agricultural sector, which is a pillar of Uzbekistan’s economy and a source of income for millions of Uzbek citizens. USAID has a rich history of supporting the country’s agricultural sector, particularly in horticulture.

Horticulture is an area of the economy with a particularly strong presence of the local private sector. Horticulture is also less water-intensive than other crops such as wheat or cotton, and it has faced fewer challenges with forced labor practices. USAID has already helped to prove the model for success in horticulture production and export, and further assistance will enable the country to increase the amount of value that is added to products in-country in order to create more jobs and capture more value in Uzbekistan. Now is the time to capitalize on the receptiveness of the government of Uzbekistan and its enthusiasm for transformational reforms, and the new activity will be instrumental in this effort.

III Strategic Results

USAID Central Asia’s current and past agricultural activities continue to work towards achieving the following strategic objectives:

● Increasing the productivity and incomes of farmers, with special focus on job creation and empowerment of women and vulnerable communities;

● Promoting production of higher value horticulture through a transition away from water-intensive commodities;

● Investing in improved cold chain to improve the quality of goods both domestically and via export;

● Improving extension and government services, and academic curricula and training in agriculture.

These results will be further realized by building on successes and lessons learned from previous and current USAID activities and other donor funded projects, focusing on emerging challenges, and utilizing social and political opportunities to achieve objectives. Specifically, outside of marginalized and extreme-rural communities, a transition away from direct on-farm assistance into value added processing is the next step in agricultural development in Uzbekistan.

IV Related USAID Activities

The Agricultural Value Chain (AVC) activity serves as USAID/Uzbekistan’s principle agricultural development activity. The activity works to 1) improve the quality and volume of agricultural production; 2) improve post-harvest handling and production; 3) facilitate market linkages; and 4) link educational institutions with private sector demand. AVC is the most recent in a series of USAID-funded agriculture activities to assist the country’s horticulture sector.

AVC and USAID’s previous on-farm production assistance have helped to create a thriving private-sector-led horticultural base. This assistance has helped to show the way forward for the GOU, providing it with a proven model for how the country can transition away from Government dominated, water intensive cotton production, which has been plagued by forced labor issues. Transitioning to horticulture offers more opportunities for private sector development using fewer water resources. USAID has also played a pivotal role in developing Uzbekistan’s cold storage capacity, supporting small, medium and large facilities throughout the country, which are now able to provide a diverse array of offerings for different storage volumes and needs. While further assistance on cold storage operation and maintenance may be needed, cold chain infrastructure has now firmly taking hold and will enable the country to further increase horticultural exports. USAID’s success in facilitating a self-reliant horticulture sector, including cold storage infrastructure, is a notable achievement that should serve as a model for efforts elsewhere in the region. Future assistance efforts will build off of these successes by ensuring that additional value, beyond farm-level production, is added within Uzbekistan, while consulting services that were previously provided within USAID projects become engrained in sustainable local organizations.

The Competitiveness, Trade and Jobs (CTJ) activity works throughout Central Asia, and is focused on the sectors of horticulture, tourism, and transport and logistics. CTJ is the implementer of the C5+1 projects to support Transport Corridor Development and Central Asia Business Competitiveness. CTJ also supports reforms to trade legislation throughout the region, and is providing an adviser to support WTO accession in Uzbekistan.

The Future Growth Initiative (FGI), which began in the fall of 2019 will support high-growth industries in order to create jobs and improve incomes, stemming the flow of outward migration.

Notional sectors include information technology and light manufacturing.

V. Questions

USAID would like to gather information on the following questions:

1. What are the challenges to agricultural productivity and investment in the more remote regions of Uzbekistan, and how should those challenges be addressed?

2. What are the gaps in the capacity of public, research, and educational institutions responsible for addressing agricultural productivity in Uzbekistan, and how can they be filled?

3. What are the barriers to increasing post-harvest, value-added processing of horticultural products in Uzbekistan and how could they be overcome?

4. How could the agricultural sector in Uzbekistan more adequately provide quality employment and incomes for women, youth, and residents of marginalized areas?

5. In what ways could the educational system in Uzbekistan improve their ability to meet the demands of the private sector in business, trade, and agriculture?

6. What is needed to improve the policy and business environment in Uzbekistan? What further reforms would have the greatest positive impacts on the poorest, most vulnerable, or marginalized communities?

7. What opportunities and challenges exist to privatizing State Owned Enterprises (SOE) in the agricultural sector?

8. What is the capacity/experience of your organization to address agriculture, trade, and employment challenges in the region?

Please do not copy information from publicly available reports but you are free to include citations or references.

VI How to submit a response

All comments must be submitted electronically to AlmatyAASolicitations@usaid.gov with a copy to Gulzhanat Rysdauletova, Acquisition and Assistance Specialist, at grysdauletova@usaid.gov and Leona Sasinkova, Contracting Officer at lsasinkova@usaid.gov under the title: RFI No. 72011520R00001, USAID/Central Asia Bilateral Uzbekistan Value Add mailto:grysdauletova@usaid.gov mailto:lsasinkova@usaid.gov

Program. Responses to this RFI will be accepted through November 12, 2019, 05:00 pm (Almaty Time). You will receive only an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response but will not receive individualized feedback or suggestions. No basis for claims against the U.S.

Government shall arise as a result of a response to this request for information or from the U.S.

Government’s use of such information. Specific questions about this RFI should be directed only to the email addresses identified above. This office will not respond to any telephone or other inquiries regarding this notice.

The submitted response must not exceed 3 pages, including annexes/attachments, if needed and should include the following information:

Reference Number: RFI No. 72011520R00001, USAID/Central Asia Bilateral Uzbekistan Value Add Program Date:

Affiliation/ Organization:

Business Address:

Representative Name / Email:

A short technical narrative that includes responses to the Questions in the RFI

Please note that USAID is not seeking technical or cost proposals/applications at this time. Do not submit any proposal/application in response to this RFI. Issuance of this notice does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the U.S. Government, nor does it commit the Government to pay for any costs incurred in the preparation of comments.

Provision:

FAR 52.215-3 Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997)

(a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

(b) Although “proposal” and “offeror” are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.

(c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of seeking input from interested Offerors on the draft Statement of Work for the Enterprises, Employment, and Enabling Environments (E4) Activity in Central Asia and the associated Statement of Objectives for the first task order.

(End of provision)