PFP NOFO Questions Programs.docx

PFP NOFO FAQs

1. Given the fluctuation of hotel and airfare prices, can you please confirm the preferred month and timing for the conference for budgeting purposes? Applicants should target the months of May (preferably) for an approximately 3–4-day conference. Exact dates and time will be discussed and confirmed with Quad partners.

2. Can you please confirm whether the conference is required to be at a hotel or if another venue, such as a corporate office or educational institution, would be acceptable? There conference location is not required to be located at a hotel; however, the applicant should ensure the proposed conference space can reasonably accommodate up-to 200-300 participants.

3. Given the fluctuation of hotel and airfare prices, can you please confirm the preferred month and timing for the conference for budgeting purposes? Applicants should target the months of May or early June for an approximately 3–4-day conference. Exact dates and time will be discussed and confirmed with Quad partners.

4. Can you please confirm if the grantee is responsible for arranging flights and transportation for any of the attendees, and if so for how many and from which countries? Yes, the applicant should arrange and budget for travel, lodging, and per diem for approximately 10-15 delegates per eligible country, including country participants from both public and private sector.

5. Can you please confirm if the grantee should budget for speaker travel costs for U.S. Government speakers? If yes, for how many speakers should the grantee budget for? Yes, the applicant should budget travel, lodging, and per diem for all anticipated speakers. Applicant should determine the number of speakers based on needs.

6. Can you please confirm whether the grantee would be responsible for paying for the facility and venue taxes issued by the Government of India or if there is an exemption associated with working with the U.S. Consulate? The grantee is responsible for paying all taxes and should budget for these expenses.

7. Can you please confirm if the grantee is able to solicit corporate sponsorship for the conference to offset some of the conference and facility fees? Yes, but corporate sponsorships or cost shares are not required.

8. Can you please confirm the number of attendees expected at the conference? Up-to 200-300 participants, including sponsored country delegations and public participants that have registered to attend.

9. Can you please confirm if representatives from the U.S. industry are able to serve as speakers at the conference? Yes, we encourage applicants to engage U.S. industry and experts as speakers and attendees.

10. For personnel, can you please confirm if there is a preference for the grantee to provide rates for labor categories or rates for individuals? For example, for event coordinator or report writer, these roles may be filled by several staff members and therefore the rate for that position would be an average of the staff salaries. Rates and level of effort should be provided per individual.

11. Can you please confirm if there is a preference to provide annual salaries or daily rates for personnel? Salaries should be provided on a monthly basis.

12. Can you please confirm if the conference will be held entirely in English or if interpretation will be necessary, and, if interpretation will be necessary, into which language(s) interpretation will need to occur? Yes, the conference will be held in English. Languages for interpretation to be determined.

13. Can you please confirm what role, if any, other Quad country governments will play in organizing the conference? The applicant will be required to coordinate closely with the United States Government and Quad country government representatives in organizing the conference. The role of Quad country governments will be confirmed upon further discussion with partners, which may include providing subject matter experts and speakers, leading on technical trainings and workshops, and/or hosting roundtable and panel discussions.

14. Can you please confirm that DoS expects Activity 2.1 to be limited to the priority region countries listed on page 5 of the NOFO? Yes, the applicant should include priority countries in Activity 2.1 and potential opportunities to expand broader engagement across the Indo-Pacific region.

15. Can you please confirm if the grantee will be expected to travel to perform site visits at any ports or other sites in any priority region countries as part of Activity 2.1? Yes, the applicant may perform site visits.

16. Regarding Activity 1.1:

a. Please confirm if SCA has a preferred or expected range for the number of participants at the conference. Approximately 200-300 participants.

b. Please clarify whether the travel costs for conference attendees are expected to be covered within the funding ceiling for this opportunity, or will these costs be borne by the attendees? The applicant should arrange and budget for travel, lodging, and per diem for approximately 10-15 delegates per eligible country, including country participants from both public and private sector. The conference should allow for a certain number of interested public participants; however, travel and lodging costs should only be budgeted for delegates, not public participants.

c. Please clarify whether the travel costs for speakers, panelists and moderators are expected to be covered within the funding ceiling for this opportunity. Yes, travel costs should be budgeted within the funding ceiling for speakers, panelists, moderators, and experts.

17. Objective 3 on page 6 of the NOFO states “Support the adoption and standardization of smart technology, infrastructure modernization, and environmental planning in the transportation sector to advance cost-effective, sustainable, and climate resilient maritime trade.” Please confirm that the reference to “transportation sector” is limited to the maritime sector. Yes, the applicant should primarily focus on the maritime sector but should integrate various modes of transportation (inland waterways, rail, road) as it pertains to improving multimodal / intermodal connectivity as well as other cross-cutting issues (cybersecurity, cargo risk) if relevant for both seaports and air/land ports.

18. Page 12 of the NOFO states that third-party in-kind contributions are allowed. Do the proposers need to identify third-party contributions, such as potential sponsors, at the proposal stage? No. Additionally, are third-party contributions limited to in-kind donations, or do they include other types of support, such as monetary or event specific items? There are no restrictions on the type of third-party, in-kind contributions.

19. Page 13 of the NOFO states “All documents are single-spaced, 14-point Calibri font, with 1-inch margins”. Could you please confirm that all documents should be formatted in 12-point Calibri, rather than 14-point Calibri? All documents should be single-spaced, 14-point Calibri font.

20. Please confirm that the Racial Equity and Underserved Community Analysis should be included in the Attachments and is not considered part of the page. Yes, the Racial Equity and Underserved Community Analysis should be included as an attachment (not to exceed two pages, preferably as a Word document)

21. Please confirm whether applicants may include short biographies of the non-key experts as an attachment. Short biographies of non-key personnel are not required.

22. The level of effort may be in person days but must be consistent for all personnel.

23. Is there a page limitation for the Narrative (component 1)? Yes, as indicated in the NOFO - preferably a one-page Word document, the narrative outlines how a project’s M&E system will be carried out and by whom.

24. Please confirm that the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan/Tracker should be submitted as a separate Excel document. Yes

25. Page 30 of the NOFO assigns 10 points for financial capacity and cost effectiveness. However, please confirm that the proposal cost itself will not be a factor in the evaluation given the funding ceiling. All proposals at or below the funding ceiling will be considered and the budgeted amount will not be a factor in the evaluation.

26. Is there an order of preference/priority in terms of who could be a lead in the consortium from the list of eligible applicants? No preference or priority in terms of eligible applicants.

27. Who will be the relevant agencies within Quad Partners? Participating Quad partner agencies to be discussed at a later date.

28. What is the budget for the conference? Please provide the high-level breakup of the budget for the conference. There are 10 topics listed in RFP for conference. The budget is dependent on the applicant to include, but not limited to approximately 200-300 participants food and beverage costs, venues costs, promotional and outreach costs, and other associated costs.

29. Will SCA provide final approvals for setting up the agenda, schedules etc. For the conference will be? Kindly confirm. Yes, SCA will provide final approvals.

30. Activity 2.1will start after completion of activity 1.1 or will it be in parallel to 1.1. Applicant should come up with an implementation plan

31. Are there any standard methodology used by SCA for Monitoring and Evaluation of Expected Outcome. As per NOFO, an applicant should submit their own M&E plan

32. How many ports are in the scope for study? Applicant should identify a list of potential maritime ports that will be confirmed upon further consultation with partners.

33. Will SCA facilitate the interactions with the different port authorities, terminal operators, customs and allied service providers within the port/terminals Applicant should have access to established networks of port experts in the region; however, SCA can help facilitate interactions where necessary.

34. Is there any order of preference to study the port? If yes, pls share. The applicant should propose a scope of work and plan for the study.

35. Are there any specific ports that are identified by SCA for benchmarking/best practices? No, the applicant should identify the specific port based on international recognized best practices and benchmarking.

36. How many ports will be under consideration for cyber capacity-building and advisory services? The applicant should determine the appropriate ports for capacity building and advisory services based on research and consultation with partners.

37. To support the adaptation and standardization of smart technology, infrastructure modernization, and environmental planning in the transportation sector: what will be the output expected? The output will be determined based on the activity proposed by the applicant.

38. Is 'United States Department of State Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Office of Security and Transnational Affairs' the funding agency for this project? Yes

39. December is a festive month in India. We work with lean staff during the month as most officers take their annual leaves. We request extension of time till first week of January to submit response. Dec 16 is the deadline for all applications

40. For Expertise we assume that CVs are to be shared as mentioned in Section D. Please confirm. Yes

41. We request you to give guidance on “How to demonstrate Experience”. Applicants should demonstrate expertise and experience in the following areas: U.S. policy priorities in the Indo-Pacific Region; Developing and implementing ports and infrastructure related projects; Managing and monitoring sub-recipients and/or direct assistance projects (if applicable); Conducting risk assessments and monitoring and evaluating programs and sub-recipients in order to document and assess the short- and long-term outcomes of proposed projects. Please provide examples and detailed reference to previous experience in the related sectors mentioned above.

42. On page 19 of the NOFO, there is reference to a “Sample Monitoring Indicator Tracker” included as an attachment to the NOFO. However, there doesn’t appear to be a separate attachment. Is this a standalone file or is this the "Sample Tracker" screenshot under A.6. Performance Indicators on Page 8 of the NOFO? Please refer to page 50 under Section 4: Manage Performance” in the attached Program Design and Performance Toolkit.

43. On page 19 of the NOFO, there is reference to a "Sample Timeline" included as an attachment. However, we did not find the attachment in the provided materials. Could you kindly share it with us? Please see attached.

44. What is the expected number of attendees or the anticipated turnout for conferences in Mumbai? Will India serve as the host for the conference? Yes. If so, what resources or support will they be providing (i.e. visas, venue etc.), and what contributions will be expected from the implementing organization? The applicant will be responsible for implementing all aspects. of the conference. Please see Question 12 for further details.

45. Is the bid also opened to all entities in the Quad countries as long as they can obtain a SAM registration? Yes. It is open globally to anyone who falls under the eligibility requirements.

46. Do the technology vendors to be considered need to be originated from the Quad partners only? No.

47. Is there a specific time frame envisioned for the conference or is it up to the consultant to suggest (e.g., 1 day vs. 2 days)? The applicant may propose a reasonable time frame, but we anticipate approximately 3 days to adequately cover the topics listed in the NOFO. We are tentatively looking to hold the conference in May, but exact dates will be confirmed with Quad partners.

48. Please confirm that foreign, for-profit organizations are eligible as sub-consultants. Yes

49. The RFP states -The Ports of the Future program will coordinate closely with Quad partners to hold the inaugural Quad Ports of the Future Partnership Regional Ports and Transportation Conference in Mumbai, India in 2025. Please advise if the budget is to include all associated costs for the conference, or only the manhours for supporting the conference are to be included. For example, venue costs etc. are to be excluded. The applicant should budget for all associated costs at this time.

50. Please advise if it is envisaged that the conference will be free for attendees. Yes, the conference will be free for all participants, including for country delegates and public participants that are registered and approved in advance. The applicant should budget travel, per diem, and lodging for official delegates only.

51. It is noted that the conference in Mumbai has already been announced. How much support is required from the consultant? The applicant is expected to plan and manage all aspects of the conference in coordination with the U.S government and Quad governments.