Amendment 01_RFP_72011721R00001_Future Technologies Activity.pdf

5. PROJECT NO.

CODE

7. ADMINISTERED BY

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO.

CODE

6. ISSUED BY

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE

9B. DATED

PAGE OF PAGES

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

10B. DATED

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

FACILITY CODE CODE

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

E. IMPORTANT:

is extended,

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning __________ copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment of each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR AC- KNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

(REV. 10-83)

is required to sign this document and return ___________ copies to the issuing office. is not, A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

15C. DATE SIGNED

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER

Contractor

16C. DATE SIGNED

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER 16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

STANDARD FORM 30 STANDARD FORM 30

(Type or print) (Type or print)

(Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

(No., street, county, State and ZIP Code)

(If other than Item 6)

(Specify type of modification and authority)

(such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.)

(If required)

(If applicable)

(SEE ITEM 11)

(SEE ITEM 13)

(X)

(X)

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

01 See Block 16 C.

USAID/MOLDOVA USAID/Kyiv Regional Contract Office Dept. of State 5850 Kyiv Place Washington, D.C. 20521-5850 one

1 6

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

72011721R00001 TO ALL OFFERORS x

X

March 30, 2021

The purpose of this Amendment No. 01 is to:

1. Provide answers to the questions received in response to Request for Proposal(RFP) No.72011721R00001, Future Technologies Activity in Moldova; and

2. Revise Request for Proposal (RFP) No.72011721R00001. All changes made to the revised RFP are highlighted in yellow. All other terms of the RFP remain unchanged.

Maria Televantos Contracting Officer

BY 4/14/2021

X

/s/

REQ-117-21-000005

720117

RFP 72011721R00001, Amendment 1

USAID MOLDOVA FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES ACTIVITY

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

April 14, 2021

1. Page 20, F.6: In the instructions on the fee table, p. 20 states that up to 4 indicators may be added to Objective 1 and up to 2 for Objective 2. However, C.3.b., pg. 110 states that up to 2 indicators may be added for Objective 1 and up to 4 for Objective 2. Can USAID clarify the maximum number of additional indicators proposed per objective?

Answer: The information in Section F.6 is correct. Up to 4 indicators may be added to Objective 1 and up to 2 indicators may be added for Objective 2. The RFP has been revised to correct Section C.3.b of the SOO.

2. Page 20, F.6, Indicators/Targets Table and Page 110: The language for Objective 1 Expected Result 2, both in table F.6. and on Page 110 within the PWS is inconsistent and implies that 70%of all private sector enterprises must report improvement in service provision, rather than only members of those associations. Can USAID confirm that the language in F.6. should read “Share of private sector members of business associations reporting improved advocacy and service provision capacity of the USG-supported business associations,” and Page 110 should read “At least 70 percent of association members reporting improved advocacy and service provision capacity of the USG supported business associations?”

Answer: The RFP has been revised to clarify the indicator in the SOO as follows: “At least 70 percent of private sector enterprises, which are members of their respective business associations, reporting improved advocacy and service provision capacity of the USG supported business associations”. The indicator in Section F.6 has been clarified, as follows: “Share of private sector enterprises, which are members of their respective business associations, reporting improved advocacy and service provision capacity of the USG-supported business associations.”

3. Page 105: USAID writes: “The purpose of the Future Technologies Activity (FTA) is to enhance the competitiveness of Moldovan transformative sectors, including, but not limited to, light manufacturing, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), precision engineering, creative industries, and digital media production …” (emphasis ours). Can USAID confirm that offerors should anticipate that additional sectors will be integrated into FTA’s scope of work during implementation?

Answer: These are the core sectors that USAD intends to target under the FTA contract. That said, USAID understands that over the five year period of performance, the landscape may change and other relevant sectors may need to be considered. Offerors should review Section C.4.f of the SOO and build in appropriate flexibility and adaptive management into their PWS.

4. Page 105-106: In Section c2.a, USAID provides very helpful short summaries of each of the FTA priority sectors with the notable exception of precision engineering. Can USAID consider providing a similar sector summary for precision engineering that includes how USAID defines the sector and a brief summary of USAID support to date?

Answer: Thank you for the question. The SOO has been updated in the revised RFP to provide a sector summary for precision engineering. More information on the Creative and Precision engineering sectors can be found in the “Assisting Moldova’s Competitiveness Champions:

Selecting Two Further Industries” Report which has been included as Attachment J.7 in the revised RFP.

5. Page 109: USAID writes: “Access to affordable finance to implement these initiatives is already available through various USAID supported activities, and their utilization is highly recommended under FTA.” Can USAID provide additional information on these activities?

Answer: While USAID has supported access to finance in the past through targeted mechanisms, USAID does not currently have a substantial program to promote access to finance in Moldova. The RFP has been revised to clarify this by updating this language to the following: “Offerors are encouraged to promote sustainable access to finance to implement these initiatives”

6. USAID currently provides significant direct funding to ATIC and, through it, to Tekwill. Does USAID anticipate that it will continue to provide similar funding throughout FTA implementation, or will USAID’s financial support to those institutions be channeled through

FTA?

Answer: USAID’s current cooperative agreement with ATIC is scheduled to end in June of 2022, and USAID has not made decisions on future activities at this time. Support may also be provided to Tekwill programs through FTA. USAID does not see direct support and support through FTA as mutually exclusive.

7. Page 26, H.3.b: Can USAID kindly provide offerors with the most recent Local Compensation Plan to inform personnel salaries and ensure cost realism in the budget?

Answer: As identified in Section L.10, CCN and TCN (without an approved waiver) salaries must not exceed the thresholds in the US Embassy’s local employee compensation plan (LCP) at $71,896/year. Offerors are expected to conduct their own market research and use their established policies to propose justified CCN salaries.

8. Page 27, H.3.e: Would USAID consider raising the maximum annual salary increase from “5% for CCNs and 3% for US/TCNs” to up to 5% for all staff?

Answer: No, but as stated in Section H.3, annual salary increases of any kind exceeding these limitations may be granted with the advance written approval of the Contracting Officer.

9. Page 91, Personnel, and Page 92, Consultants: USAID states, “Biographical Data Sheets must be submitted in PDF format, duly signed by both the employee and the contractor and must be put in alphabetical order.” Given that Page 88, Section L.(b) specifies that personnel are not to be named, can USAID confirm that Offerors do not need to submit biographical data sheets?

Answer: As stated in Section L.10 of the RFP, completed biographical data sheets must be provided for positions with named staff . While Key Personnel should not be named, the offeror may name other personnel in the budget, in which case, biodatas should be provided. Key Personnel biodatas will be collected for approval upon award.

10. Page 91, Personnel: USAID refers to the Contractor Salary Threshold (CST) as $183,000/year.

Would USAID kindly confirm that offerors may propose up to the 2021 CST of $183,300?

Answer: Thank you. The RFP has been revised to correct the Contractor Salary Threshold (CST) to $183,300.

11. Page 94, Indirect Costs: The RFP states, “The Offeror and each proposed subcontractor must include a complete copy of its most current Negotiated Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) or other documentation from your cognizant U.S. Government audit agency, if any, stating the most recent provisional indirect cost rates.” Can USAID confirm that NICRA information and cost breakdown is only required for major subcontractors?

Answer: As noted in Section L.10, the Offeror must provide information sufficient to determine the reasonableness of the cost of each proposed subcontract. While only major Subcontract budgets must include the same cost element break‐downs in their budget as the prime’s, it is still the prime offeror’s responsibility to provide sufficient information to USAID to determine that the costs proposed are reasonable. Therefore, it is recommended that if applicable, NICRAs should be submitted for subcontractors.

12. The QASP template included as Attachment J.3 is seven pages long, which results in a monitoring subsection that would be nearly 25% of the technical volume’s page limit.

Would USAID consider exempting the QASP from the page limit?

Answer: Section L.9 of the RFP has been revised to clarify that the QASP template (Attachment J.3) does not need to be filled in and submitted as part of the proposal, but rather it should be used as a guide to inform development of the Offeror’s QASP. In addition, the RFP has been revised to increase the total technical proposal page limit from 45 to 50 pages.

13. The targets listed in Table F.6 on page 20 of the RFP appear to be life-of-project targets.

At startup, would USAID consider allowing offerors to propose annual or mid-project targets to even out the pace of fee collection throughout implementation and allow offerors to recoup the cost of borrowing?

Answer: Since USAID’s goal is to achieve the life of project targets, a portion of the fixed fee is tied to fully achieving the life of contract targets. After taking your question into consideration, we have reduced the amount of fixed fee tied to the life of project targets from 70% to 60%. This change is reflected in the revised RFP. As noted in Section B.7 of the revised RFP, 40% of the fixed fee payment shall be allocated based upon the proportion of the invoiced amount in the period covered by the invoice to the total estimated cost of the periods of the contract not including fixed fee.

14. Sections B.5 and L.10 of the RFP states that fee may not be taken on GUCs. This appears to be inconsistent with FAR 15.404-4 and ADS 302.3.6.9, which state, inter alia, that pre-negotiation fee objectives must be determined according to a structured approach that considers contractor effort, risk, and other special factors. Grants require significant effort to administer and carry risks for the contractor, including the cost of financing grants, which must be recouped through fee. Additionally, the statutory underpinnings of fixed fee at 10 USC 2306(d) and 41 USC 254(b) discuss fee definitions and limitations in terms of total estimated cost, which would include grants in this case. Given this, we respectfully request that USAID reconsider its agency pre-negotiation fee objective of 0% on grants and allow offerors to charge a fee that is reasonable and consistent with federal regulations.

Answer: The Contractor’s effort as it relates to grant management should be taken into consideration in its structured approach, but fee may not be charged on grants under contract.

15. The targets set in Table F.6 of the RFP for Objective 2 do not match those listed on page 110 of the Statement of Objectives. Would USAID please confirm that offerors should use table F.6 during proposal preparation?

Answer: The information in F.6 is correct. We apologize for the error in the SOO. The RFP has been revised to correct the targets in the SOO.

16. Would USAID consider moving the Performance in Using Small Business (SB) Concerns narrative in the past performance section to an annex excluded from the page limits to give equal page allocation to offerors of different sizes?

Answer: No, all past performance information must be included in the body of the technical proposal and counts towards the page limit.

17. L.10.2 includes instructions for submitting biodatas for named personnel, but Section L.9.1. states “The Offeror must not propose individuals to fill these roles.” Could USAID please confirm that biodatas for proposed staff may be submitted and staff may be named in the cost proposal?

Answer: As stated in Section L.10 of the RFP, completed biographical data sheets must be provided for positions with named staff . While Key Personnel should not be named, the offeror may name other personnel in the budget, in which case, biodatas should be provided. Key Personnel biodatas will be collected for approval upon award.

18. The cover page states that the estimated cost of this procurement is between $30 and $40 million.

Since the provided range is very large, could USAID provide a narrower cost range for offerors?

Answer: No, USAID believes this range is appropriate as it provides Offerors with adequate flexibility to develop their PWS while signaling the approximate magnitude of the requirement.

19. Section L.10 Part 2 (p. 91) references a Contractor Salary Threshold (CST) of $183,000. Could USAID please confirm that the bidders should use the 2021 CST, which is $183,300?

Answer: Thank you. The RFP has been revised to correct the Contractor Salary Threshold (CST) to $183,300.

20. I request you to provide us the following details before we buy the document:

a) List of Items, Schedule of Requirements, Scope of Work, Terms of Reference, Bill of Materials required.

Answer: Please review the RFP, specifically, Attachment J.1 “Statement of Objectives”.

b) Soft Copy of the Tender Document through email.

Answer: The RFP is available to the public on beta.sam.gov.

c) Names of countries that will be eligible to participate in this tender.

Answer: The geographic code for this RFP is 937 and 110. Definitions of these geographic codes are provided below, and further information can be found in 22 CFR 228:

937: the United States, the recipient country, and developing countries other than advanced developing countries, but excluding any country that is a prohibited source 110: the United States, the independent states of the former Soviet Union, or a developing country, but excluding any country that is a prohibited source

d) Information about the Tendering Procedure and Guidelines Answer: Please review the RFP, which provides this information

e) Estimated Budget for this Purchase Answer: As noted on the cover page, the overall estimated cost of this procurement is between$30 million and $40 million.

f) Any Extension of Bidding Deadline?

Answer: The deadline has not changed.

g) Any Addendum or Pre Bid meeting Minutes?

Answer: There was no pre-bid meeting.

[End of Amendment # 1]

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