A02.12 PWS revised 20221129 for SVP Webtool Roadshow workshop.docx

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

SHARED VISION PLANNING WEBTOOL

ROADSHOW WORKSHOP

1. BACKGROUND

Institute for Water Resources (IWR) is a United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Field Operating Activity (FOA) located within the Washington, DC National Capital Region (NCR), in Alexandria, VA and with satellite centers in New Orleans, LA, Davis, CA, Golden, CO, and Pittsburgh, PA. IWR was created in 1969 to analyze and anticipate changing water resources management conditions, and to develop planning methods and analytical tools to address economic, social, institutional, and environmental needs in water resources planning and policy. IWR is currently responsible for a number water resources activities or programs, including evaluation of Civil Works (CW) strategic plans, CW policies and programs, investment and financial analysis, performance measurements and evaluations, infrastructure analysis, climate change and other water related activities. IWR provides technical assistance to Corps divisions, districts, laboratories, Federal agencies, international organizations, financial institutions and other countries, in encompassing a broad range of topic areas related to levee and dam safety, risk assessment, dredging requirements, port/waterway transport, aquatic ecosystem restoration, environmental stewardship, flood and drought risk management, emergency preparedness, watershed planning, regulatory, multipurpose water resources including hydroelectric power, water supply and reallocation, recreation, and other water and related land resources issues.

IWR seeks services and support supporting the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in the development of a Shared Vision Planning (SVP) webtool. This effort is being funded by the U.S. Department of State as a means for diplomacy through technical and scientific exchange.

The MRC is an intergovernmental organization for regional dialogue and cooperation in the Lower Mekong River Basin, established in 1995 based on the Mekong Agreement between member countries - Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. The organization serves as a regional platform for water diplomacy and a knowledge hub of water resources management for the sustainable development of the region. USACE currently has a formalized agreement with the MRC to collaborate on a wide range of water resources management efforts. The MRC regional office is headquartered in Laos and each member country has their own committee office within their countries’ borders.

SVP is a process that requires the collaborative development of a decision support tool – herein referred to as the SVP tool. The SVP tool is designed to support the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Basin Development Strategy (BDS) 2021-2030 at both the national and regional levels. The tool is being designed to enhance the ability by member countries to integrate and examine data from various MRC databases. The purpose is to provide access to data that facilitates dialogues across sectors and countries and serve as part of the MRC toolkit in support of the Basin Development Plan outcomes. As a result, it is very important to facilitate a collaborative development process of the SVP tool, which ensures the tool is designed for the user needs.

This contract will facilitate member country feedback into a review of the SVP tool for 1-day workshop event in four countries spanning no more than 2 weeks. The contractor is expected to support logistics in executing these workshops, facilitating, and providing summary of meetings. All workshops will be contacted in English.

2. SCOPE

The contractor shall coordinate with the Mekong River Commission Secretariat (MRCS) planning division team. IWR will the make the connections to establish a working relationship between the contractor and the MRCS. This will involve 2-3 one-hour biweekly calls at around 09:00 am Vientiane, Lao time with the MRCS.

Specific duties will include the following:

i. Coordinate with designated POCs assigned by the MRCS for the execution of the ‘roadshow’ workshops in Cambodia, Lao, Thailand and Vietnam.

ii. Coordinate with the MRCS on funding a formal ‘meeting package’ for conference space within each country’s committee offices for 20 twenty people with coffee and lunch. The conference rooms will be coordinated with the MRCS. The workshops will likely be held in Phnom Penh, Vientiane, Bangkok, and Hanoi for each of the countries. The MRCS meeting package for 20 people costs $1400 for workshops in Thailand, Lao PDR, and Cambodia, and costs $2,200 in Vietnam.

iii. Develop a banner and provide stationary (for twenty participants) for each event based using official format as directed by the USACE POC and use MRCS and U.S. State Department logos.

iv. Provide Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) based on UN rates to about 15 participants from each country. One 100% DSA for attendance plus 88% DSA for travel time.

v. Coordinate with MRCS and the various country POC for van rental and driver during workshop at each country.

vi. Coordinate with MRCS to reimburse miscellaneous expenses for one or two VIPs per country, such as chairperson of the National Mekong Committee. This will be reimbursement to include $30 honorariums, gasoline reimbursement (no greater than $150), or taxi (no greater than $100).

vii. Purchase airfare for two participants flying roundtrip from Saigon to Hanoi.

viii. Print hard copies of agenda and summary of tool (<10-page package)

ix. Subcontract simultaneous translation service at each of the workshops.

x. Develop concise (less than 5 page) pages report for each of the four events summarizing feedback from workshop participants about their thoughts and suggestions on the webtool development and capabilities.

The contractor will provide an estimate of their labor and travel expenses necessary to support the execution of these logistics and costs. The series of workshops will span a period of two weeks in Bangkok, Hanoi, Phnom Penh, and Vientiane. The specific schedule will be determined in consultation with the MRCS, but it is targeted to be realized in mid-February pending member country approvals.

The contractor is expected to upfront expenses incurred by items ii-ix. USACE will reimburse the contractor for all these expenses with vouchers / receipts. These expenses will be coordinated with USACE and will not exceed a total budget $48,000. The contractor will work with MRCS and USACE to keep expenses within budget. Any additional expenses over the $48,000 maximum will need to be approved by USACE.

The contractor shall have knowledge and experience working with government and non-governmental organizations and universities; however, USACE will introduce the contractor to MRC and be involved in all logistically planning.

The contractor will also have excellent communication skills to facilitate workshop planning activities with the MRC. All correspondence is in English, so there is no need for additional languages, although experience working with Southeast Asian agencies is preferred.

3. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The following sub-sections provide details of various general requirements for this effort.

3.1. Non-Personal Services

The contractor shall provide strictly non-personal services and contractor employees are not subject to direct supervision and control by the Government. The contractor shall advise and support the Government but shall not make final decisions or certifications on behalf of the Government nor perform any inherently governmental functions. The contractor and its employees shall not represent the Government nor appear to represent the Government in performance of these contract services. Contractor personnel shall clearly identify themselves as contractor employees in all interactions during contract performance.

3.2. Place of Performance

Work will be performed at the contractor’s site and at workshop locations as needed.

3.3. Period of Performance

The period of performance for this task order is 6 months.

3.4. Materials

All materials, minus expendable supplies, purchased by the contractor with funds from this task order and used under this task order, become, and remain the property of the Government.

3.5. Travel

The contractor shall provide services necessary to plan and schedule travel and travel shall be reimbursed in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 31.205-46. The contractor shall be reimbursed for actual allowable costs and not to exceed the amount allowed in the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR). No profit/fee is allowable on travel costs.

3.6. Funding of each Task

The contractor must be able to fund each task as it requested. Reimbursement of contractor labor and logistics support is provided upon completion of each task. This means that the contractor must show capability to have the access to funds necessary to support activities in each task. The US Government will not provide a loan before delivering a task. The contractor will only be reimbursed for financing of logistics and labor after the task is completed.

4. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS (TASK AREAS)

Task 1 – In coordination with MRCS and USACE, provide cost estimate for logistical support, and secure any time sensitive bookings for workshops in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam.

Task 2 - Complete execution of four 1-day workshops. Successful execution of this task requires completion of the duties described in the scope. Payment for labor, travel and reimbursement is following completion of workshops and delivery of concise summary reports.

5. DELIVERABLES AND DELIVERY SCHEDULE

The table below identifies a set of deliverables that are required under this task order.

2. Invoices for time-sensitive bookings for any initial reimbursements.

No later than one week before first workshop.

4. Concise summary report on participant feedback about webtool (less than 20 pages).

5. Final invoices for workshop logistics

6. Any invoices of honorariums, gasoline, taxis, DSA, etc. provided to participants NLT 4 weeks upon completion of all four workshops.

6. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY (PRS)

Any additional cost in logistics due to contractor negligence could be borne by the contractor.

7. SECURITY

The work will be UNCLASSIFIED and network or facility access is not required. The contractor(s) will not require a Common Access Card (CAC).

8. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

Attached is a copy of the USACE-DOS Interagency Agreement (IAA) on “USACE Support to the DOS in the Mekong”. Funding for this contract comes through the IAA.

9. CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE AND/OR TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT (TPOC)

A contracting officer representative (COR) and/or technical point of contact (TPOC) will be appointed on each task order. The COR and TPOC have no authority to direct the contractor in any way to alter the contractual obligation. The contracting officer is the only individual authorized to make changes to the contract.

10. EVALUATION CRITERIA

APPENDIX 1 outlines evaluation criteria for contract award.

11. INVOICING

The contractor is authorized to invoice as frequently as monthly; for work performed. The contractor shall append the final invoice with an “F” to indicate final.

Invoices should be sent to the following email addresses. Which ensures that a copy goes to the USACE finance office and a copy to the IWR budget officer:

Kenneth.n.book@usace.army.mil CEFC-Q0Invoices@usace.army.mil DLL-CEIWRCONTRACT@usace.army.mil

APPENDIX 1:

CONTRACT EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

“SHARED VISION PLANNING WORKSHOPS TO SUPPORT THE MEKONG RIVER COMMISSION”

1. Technical Understanding and Approach (20%): The contractor must illustrate how well do they understand the requirement and how would they execute it. It will be important to understand how the contractor will engage POCs in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. USACE will provide introductions to points of contact (POCs) for each National Mekong Committee and the MRC Secretariat, but the contractor needs to show how they will continue to engage with POCs and local venders (if necessary).

2. Staff Approach (20%): The contractor must demonstrate how they will staff the requirements for a cost-effective execution of tasks.

3. Past Performance (20%): The contractor must demonstrate that they have completed similar work in the past. Higher ratings will be given to contractors that have performed similar work in an international setting.

4. Financial Robustness (40%): The contractor must demonstrate how it will finance logistical requirements before reimbursement. In other words, the contractor must show it has the financial ability to execute tasks before reimbursement.