06 - Questions and Answers.pdf

Questions and Answers

95332420R0001

No.

Solicitation

Section Page Solicitation Language Reference Question Response

1 C.6 23 Referenced section recites very specific Arabic fluency requirements across a wide range of labor categories.

When combined with English and French fluency requirements, the cumulative language requirements render the solicitation very restrictive in terms of specific, literal responsiveness, most especially with regard to Arabic fluency requirements.

Questions:

1. Would MCC consider as responsive proposals that demonstrate a staff that includes credible Arabic fluency and comprehension while not meeting the specific

Arabic fluency requirements for each labor category with such requirements?

2. Assuming MCC is amenable to a relaxation in Arabic fluency requirements as outlined in Question 1 above, are there specific labor categories for which MCC believes it is necessary to continue the requirement that Arabic fluency be

“required” or “highly preferred”?

The language requirements for individual candidates are the minimum;

"preference" or "highly preferred" is not a requirement, rather a preference for this additional qualification. The required Arabic requirements were limited to positions where needed, for example the Legal Expert needs Arabic fluency to read many local documents and texts. MCC can reduce the C.6.2.11

PPP expert language requirement to "fluency in French and English required with additional fluency in Arabic highly desired," and the C.6.2.12 Institutional Reform

Advisor to Fluency in French and English required, fluency in Arabic preferred.

L.6.7 and

L.10.1.1.13 and L.10.2

69, 72, 73

"Throughout these instructions, a "principal subcontractor" is defined as a subcontractor who provides at least 10% of the proposed total price/cost

(excluding the Offeror's profit/fee), for the contract. "Team member" is defined as those entities that make up a joint venture or any other partnership or teaming arrangement formed for the purpose of responding to this solicitation. "Critical team member" is defined as those entities of the Offeror that perform a critical function in the performance of the resulting contract, whether it is technical or financial, and/or that have important roles in any high or medium risk areas identified in the Offeror's proposal.” AND “In the event that the Offeror is planning to propose a teaming, mentor/protégée, or a subcontracting relationship, narrative statements must also be included for the additional organizations, as well as a clear delineation of the type of work that they will be expected to perform”.

AND “Offeror Summary Table: The Offeror shall complete the table below. The

Offeror should include all subcontractors and team members who will be involved with the performance or management of the program work and should list all sites where the work will be performed. If a teaming or subcontracting arrangement is proposed, identify the work share distribution elements, and ratios that each contractor will perform using the table below.”

What is the purpose/distinction of identifying a subcontractor or team member as a

"principal subcontractor" or "Critical team member" when various sections refer to all subcontractors?

In accordance with section L.6.7, a “principal subcontractor” is defined as a subcontractor who provides at least 10% of the proposed total price/cost

(excluding the Offeror’s profit/fee), for the contract. “Team member” is defined as those entities that make up a joint venture or any other partnership or teaming arrangement formed for the purpose of responding to this solicitation. “Critical team member” is defined as those entities of the Offeror that perform a critical function in the performance of the resulting contract, whether it is technical or financial, and/or that have important roles in any high or medium risk areas identified in the Offeror’s proposal. Both Critical team members are entities that perform a critical functions as part of a joint venture or any other partnership or teaming arrangement formed for the purpose of responding to this solicitation, not as a subcontractor.

3 1449 1 of 82 Block 9. Offer Due Date Local Time Request a four week time extension of bid date, due to the pandemic and the impact on our coordination and bid development effort.

The solicitation has been extended 2 additional weeks per Amendment 0001.

4 C.5.1.5 23

At section C.5.1.5, it is indicated: “For all proposed Key and Non-Key Personnel, the contractor shall provide the following: C.5.1.5.1. At least one (1) qualified CV for each proposed replacement; C.5.1.5.2. For each replacement, the contractor will provide an additional table showing the required qualification outlined under the Statement of Work (SOW) with a summary of experience from the proposed

CV showing the candidates meeting the requirement"

Can MCC confirm that in the proposal, it is requesting bidders to propose 1 alternate candidate for all key and non-key positions?

This is in the event of a replacement of an accepted personnel and not for the evaluation.

5 L.10.1.1 71 TRANSMITTAL AND COVER LETTER

In the case of a Joint Venture, can only the lead firm be registered in SAM at the time of submittal or do all members of the Joint Venture need to be registered in

SAM at the time of submittal?

The Joint Venture shall be registered in SAM as a separate business entity. Under the SBA’s regulations, the joint venture must be a separate legal entity that is unpopulated—in other words, the joint venture will not actually employ the workers that will perform the substantive work under the contract (though it may have employees who perform administrative functions). Because it is a separate legal entity, the joint venture must be registered and identified as a joint venture in

SAM.gov (prior to the bid submission deadline).

6 id. id. id.

In the case of a Joint Venture, can only the lead firm have DUNS, CAGE and TIN numbers at the time of submittal, or do all members of the Joint Venture need to have DUNS, CAGE and TIN numbers at the time of submittal?

See #5

7 L.10.2.1 73

At section L.10.2.1. CRITERION 1: PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS, it is indicated: “The Offeror shall provide information on proposed staff experience identical to, similar to, or related to the Federal Sector, and less applicable, the private sector to be assigned to the Contract, including information about background and experience, and the positions they will fill.

Can MCC clarify what is meant by “identical to, similar to, or related to the

Federal Sector, and less applicable, the private sector”?

Provide information identical to, similar to, or related to the Federal Sector means work completed or on-going that is the same as, comparable to, or associated with the work described in the SOW for the Federal Government,and less applicable, the private sector.

8 id. id. id.

Can MCC confirm that according to Sub-factor 1, the maximum length to present the key personnel will be 15 pages (i.e. 3 pages/key personnel X 5 key personnel) including the letters of commitment

In accordance with section L.8.2, resumes and Letters or commitment do not have a page limit. However, the individual resumes are limited to 3 pages including the letter of commitment. The number of resumes is unlimited, but the page count for each resume and letter of commitment is limited to 3 pages.

Questions and Answers

95332420R0001

No.

Solicitation

Section Page Solicitation Language Reference Question Response

9 L.11.3 76

At Sections L.11.3 it is indicated: “A maximum of five (5) performance references shall be submitted for contracts performed or completed within the past ten (10) years (…)”. At section L.11.4 it is indicated “ Each performance reference is limited to two (2) pages and shall include the following information (…)”

Do we therefore understand that Volume 2 is limited to 10 pages (5 past performance X 2 pages/past performance)?

No more than five (5) references will be accepted and each reference is limited to two (2) pages.

10 L.12.5 78 Standard Form LLL « Disclosure of Lobbying Activities » There is a problem to retreive the form from the GSA Forms Library. Can MCC provide us with this form?

Yes. The form is only required if Lobbying Activites are being disclosed. If no

Lobbying Activity occurred, then the form is not required.

Could you please tell me if the Combined Synopsis/Solicitation posted as solicitation number 95332420R0001 on FBO contains requirements similar to any work performed currently or in the past, or will this be a new requirement?

If possible, can you please provide the most recent contract or task order number?

This is a new requirement.

12 L.12.7 Page 78 of

ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST

DISCLOSURE/MITIGATION

Can the firm that completed the Tunisia – RADES PORT AND LOGISTICS

ZONE AND SFAX/GARGOUR LOGISTICS ZONE STUDIES (Order No.

95332419F0133) submit a proposal for this present RFP?

That information is considered Source Selection Sensitive. The firm should contact the CO and specialist directly to discuss eligibility.

Trade and

Transport

Project

13 C.2.4.1

Can the Government provide an exhaustive description of the Trade and Transport

Project, particularly the description of the Infrastructure Investments in the Port of

Rades as well as logistics zones at Rades and Sfax. As developed by the Due

Diligence team.

This information can not be distributed publicly at this time.

Conflict of

Interest 28 C.9

Would the contractor who completed the Due diligence studies be conflicted from bidding to this contract?

That information is considered Source Selection Sensitive. The firm should contact the CO and specialist directly to discuss eligibility.

I was wondering, is there currently an incumbent that is fulfilling these services?

If so, would you be able to provide me with the Contract ID number and the vendor name?

Or would this be considered a new requirement?

This is a new requirement.