RFI 72018224RFI00001_USAID Albania_Revised SOO_Accelerating Albania EU Accession through Improved Competitiveness.pdf

Subject: Accelerating Albania’s EU Accession through Improved Competitiveness

Reference Number: Request for Information No. 72018224RFI00001

Issuance Date: Monday, December 26, 2023

Closing Date: Friday, January 12, 2024

Closing Time: 16:00 Central European Time

Responses to: Tea Kaceli at tkaceli@usaid.gov and Urime Abdyli at uabdyli@usaid.gov

Dear Interested Parties:

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), appreciates the feedback and recommendation received in response to the Request for Information No.72018223RFI00002 on October 20, 2023.

The purpose of issuing this second Request for Information is solely to inform interested organizations on the most recent revised Statement of Objectives based on the feedback received from the Government of Albania and other stakeholders. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is preparing and planning to issue a Request for Proposal by early 2024.

USAID is not necessarily expecting any feedback to this RFI, but will welcome any recommendations, in case the interested parties believe there are critical issues to be addressed in the revised Statement of Objectives.

This is not a Request for Proposals (RFP) and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S.

Government (USG) to issue a Solicitation, or ultimately award a contract, or to pay for any information voluntarily submitted as a result of this RFI.

Responses to this RFI shall not be portrayed as proposals, and will not be accepted by the USG to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. It should be noted that responding to or providing comment on this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent procurement or funding.

Submission is strictly voluntary. USAID will not provide feedback or responses to questions submitted in response to this RFI and no proposals or resumes will be accepted or considered. Respondents are not required to respond to this RFI but may choose to do so.

Thank you.

Annexes:

Annex A: Section I - Request for Information Section II - Response Submission Instructions

Annex B: Revised Draft Statement of Objectives (SOO)

ANNEX A:

Section I - Request for Information

USAID/Albania is not necessarily requesting any feedback to this RFI but would accept any responses to the following question:

1. Are there any critical issues that need to be addressed in the revised Statement of Objectives (SOO)?

Section II - Response Submission Instructions

The recommendations, if any, must be submitted electronically in English to Tea Kaceli via email at tkaceli@usaid.gov and Urime Abdyli via email uabdyli@usaid.gov with the subject line: RFI No.

No.72018223RFI00002-01 - Supporting Albania's EU Accession through Market Competitiveness by the date listed on the cover letter. All responses must be submitted by Friday, January 12, 2024 at 16:00 Central European Time. All documents submitted must be .pdf or .doc format. The submitted information must not exceed 1-2 pages, including annexes/attachments. Do not send zip files.

The submitted response, if any, must include the following information:

● Reference: RFI No. 72018224RFI00001

● Date:

● Affiliation/ Organization (if any):

● Entity’s Address:

● Representative Name / Email Address / Telephone Number:

● Size and type of organization, including U.S. small businesses or other status if applicable

(optional, when applicable)

● Legal registration status in Albania (optional, when applicable)

The collected information will not be released publicly. By responding to this notice, there will be no advantage to any entity or organization.

The submitted documentation and content thereof becomes the property of USAID and will not be returned.

This announcement is not to be construed as a Request for Proposals. It does not commit USAID to reply to information received, or to later publish a request for proposals, or to award a contract based on this information. Furthermore, it does not commit USAID to pay for any costs incurred in response to this RFI.

Only the information requested above will be considered.

[End of Annex A]

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government (USG). All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary, and the USG will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the USG.

ANNEX B

USAID’s Accelerating Albania’s EU Accession through Improved Competitiveness Revised Draft Statement of Objectives (SOO)

TITLE

Accelerating Albania’s EU Accession through Improved Competitiveness

PURPOSE

The purpose of this Activity is to accelerate Albania’s accession to the European Union (EU) through improved competitiveness and EU market integration. Specifically, this Activity will enable Albania to demonstrate progress towards meeting the Copenhagen economic criteria for EU accession, which states that countries must have a functioning market economy and the capability to cope with the competitive pressures within the EU. Through leveraging USAID’s brand and expertise, while co-creating with the EU, host government counterparts, other donors, and the private sector, the Activity will ensure that approximation needed to align with the EU acquis is impactfully modeled through support to agri-food value chain(s) and lessons learned through this implementation meaningfully informs the approximation process. The Activity’s interventions will leverage and complement USAID’s Europe and Eurasia (E&E) Bureau regional economic growth initiatives and other donors’ EU accession support to Albania.

BACKGROUND

General context and development challenge Albania has continued to maintain overall focus on EU accession, even though a series of economic and social challenges, including earthquakes, the Covid-19 pandemic and more recently the war in Ukraine, have considerably impacted its macroeconomic stability. Albania is still a relatively poor country with low per capita income, high poverty, and a small, uncompetitive export sector.

Albania is working toward its declared objective of EU accession, a milestone supported by an overwhelming majority of its citizens. As of late 2023, Albania has made significant progress in its EU negotiations, having completed approximately 67 screenings across 33 chapters and 3 criteria. As Albania pivots to screening reports for clusters, this process will identify gaps and conditions for opening negotiations. However, as countries approximate legislation and align acts with the EU acquis, the most critical step is the implementation and rollout of the reforms in a manner that supports business, academia, and civil society. An effective, transparent, and effective consultation process in Albania’s ambitious reform agenda is critical to the successful adoption of this legislative and policy reform.

The recent Albania 2023 Report by the European Commission released on November 8, 2023 states Albania’s competitiveness is hindered by: “…weak diversification of exports and a high dependency on imports. Businesses also face obstacles due to a lack of skilled workers and access to finance. They in turn need to adjust to modernisation and green process, digitalisation, innovation, and to e-commerce.”

Albania is poised to position itself in the global market as a producer of high-value, processed food products. As compared to its European Mediterranean country neighbors, Albanian food products do not have high visibility in the EU, however, which hinders export success. Data shows processors and producers do not meet EU standards, which leads to squandered opportunities to capitalize on gaps in the market.

Although Albania’s agriculture industry is a main driver of the economy, food processing is an underutilized part of the value chain with potential for growth. Albanian food products are almost entirely distributed through informal domestic distribution channels (small shops, farms, green markets, etc.)

without any significant presence in the existing retail distribution network. Exports of processed food products from Albania, especially to the EU, are significantly below their potential. Research shows that https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-11/SWD_2023_690%20Albania%20report.pdf

Albania has not yet sufficiently leveraged its proximity to EU markets and membership in the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA). For example, Kosovo, Montenegro, and North Macedonia export to CEFTA at least twice as many goods as Albania.

Under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), the EU is supporting Albania through their IPA rural development programme (IPARD). EU IPARD III funds, however, have been suspended since July 2023 due to an ongoing corruption investigation of the use of IPARD II funds. As a result, there is a gap in investment and access to finance in Albania’s agriculture sector—in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Relationship to Relevant Strategies Integrated Country Strategy (ICS) for Albania: The proposed Activity will contribute to Mission Goal 3:

Albania deepens economic reforms and trade, investment and energy cooperation, and Mission Objective 3.1: Create conditions for broad based, sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

EUR-E&E Joint Regional Strategy (November 2022): The proposed Activity aligns with JRS Bureau Objective 3.1: Enhance economic cooperation with Europe and Eurasia to promote trade and investment in pre-accession countries with both the EU and the United States; to develop stronger, more resilient supply chains; and to build back better from the global pandemic and the damage caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

USAID Anti-Corruption Policy (December 2022): The proposed Activity aligns with the USAID Anti-Corruption Policy to support activities that create positive inducements for controlling corruption and improving governance in the public and private sectors.

The Government of Albania’s Draft National Strategy for Development and European Integration 2021-2030 (NSDEI): The proposed Activity aligns with the NSDEI’s rural development priorities by focusing on strengthening a sustainable and competitive agri-food sector.

THEORY OF CHANGE:

If the Albanian government’s economic reform consultation process is inclusive and incorporates changes into legislation and policy that reflect the needs of agri-food industry stakeholders, And If the Albanian government’s reform of the agri-food business enabling environment, legislation, and policies is data-driven and aligned with the requirements of the EU acquis and supports a functioning market economy, And if an agri-food value chain demonstrates Albania’s ability to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the EU, Then Albania will accelerate its EU accession and demonstrate a workable model for EU acquis alignment and economic reform that Albania can apply to other sectors.

DESCRIPTION OF OBJECTIVES

Successful agri-food product(s)’ penetration into the EU common market will serve as proof of concept that concrete support to value chain actors at the implementation level combined with an improved, evidence-based policy reform process will accelerate EU accession. This model will demonstrate how combining these two approaches yields greater results towards EU accession versus stand-alone value chain support or stand-alone economic policy reform activities.

USAID/Albania expects that the Activity achieves the below stated objectives. The Offeror must include illustrative results and indicators linked to its proposed approach.

https://ipard.gov.al/ https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/ICS_EUR_Albania_Public.pdf https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/JRS_EUR-EE_18NOV2022_PUBLIC.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/anti-corruption/policy https://konsultimipublik.gov.al/Konsultime/Detaje/538 https://konsultimipublik.gov.al/Konsultime/Detaje/538

Objective 1 will be mutually reinforcing with Objective 2, which will provide tested evidence of reform implementation to meet EU standards in advance of legislative approximation and/or economic policy changes. The Offeror will liaise directly with value chain actors to facilitate increased feedback to GoA institutions and other relevant stakeholders working towards approximation/economic reform. Likewise, the Offeror will coordinate extensively with relevant GoA EU negotiation bodies (e.g., the Chief Negotiator’s Office and the Parliamentary Committee on EU Integration), relevant GoA ministries and local governments to pilot potential reforms with industry and provide feedback.

Objective 1

Economic reforms to align with the EU acquis are designed in a manner that is inclusive, transparent, and responsive to Albanian private sector needs to strengthen their competitiveness and reduce actual and perceived corruption.

USAID/Albania will strengthen the consultation process for GoA institutions and other stakeholders to adopt necessary legislative changes needed to enhance transparency, reduce corruption, and increase competitiveness of the high-value, processed food industry in Albania and ultimately meet EU acquis requirements. This consultation process will be inclusive of the Albanian private sector to ensure that reforms--including approximation of laws, rules, and procedures with the EU requirements under the acquis for accession--are responding to their needs and supporting their growth and competitiveness.

Approximation is defined as the alignment of national laws, rules and procedures in order to give effect to the entire body of EU law contained in the acquis communautaire for countries, such as Albania, aspiring to join the European Union.

The Offeror will work closely with the GoA, EU, and other major stakeholders to initiate and track approximation efforts. The Offeror will co-create new, or improve existing, sustainable, highly efficient, transparent, and inclusive consultation processes/mechanisms. These processes/mechanisms will increase stakeholder participation (e.g., private sector, academia, civil society) into the economic reform decision-making process to ensure reforms truly support business and reduce avenues for corruption.

The Offeror will identify additional entry points in the economic reform and approximation process to increase competitiveness. This will include partnering with the full range of actors supporting Albania’s EU accession process in the relevant sector(s), chapters, and cluster(s). Further, to inform and course-correct Activity interventions, the Offeror will thoroughly review EU findings and recommendations of the pre-accession phase, closely track the reports and the ongoing screening phase, and ensure responsiveness to emerging GoA and private sector needs for timely and conducive economic reforms.

Objective 2

Selected value chain actors within the food industry apply compliant EU policies, operations, and business practices to demonstrate that producers have the capability to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the EU.

The Offeror must select no more than three high-value processed food product value chains. Each proposed value chain must be clearly justified to ensure that Activity resources are sufficient to achieve realistic and meaningful results. The Offeror, when selecting the value chain, will prioritize options which will directly benefit underserved/underdeveloped regions of Albania. Value chains include input suppliers, producers, processors, packagers, transporters, traders, buyers, and retailers, as well as the support services, workforce, and enabling environments that form a dynamic market system. The Offeror must demonstrate a clear demand signal and product marketing path in the EU for the proposed product value chain(s).

This proposal must include the full range of interventions and services required to strengthen the value chain(s) to enter and successfully compete in the EU market. The proposal will enable value chain actors to identify and mitigate corruptive practices and to meet the business, quality and safety standards of the

EU. The proposal will identify and incorporate climate-smart approaches, promote innovation, and include digital solutions to streamline and increase competitiveness of all value chain actors. The proposal will spur economic development that counters youth outmigration, increases gender equity and equality in the value chain(s), and ideally reaches underserved populations. The proposal will utilize the necessary financial and business development services to facilitate sustainable and enduring growth in the target value chain(s).

Although the ultimate goal of this objective is to demonstrate a successful value chain model that can enter the EU common market, this support could also support increased domestic and regional (i.e., non-EU) trade that helps improve the overall competitiveness for the target value chain(s) in Albania. The value chain(s) model will improve transparency, equity, and accountability standards and principles to minimize gaps for any potential corruptive practices.

SUCCESS

Success of this Activity will be measured, at a minimum, by the following:

● Accelerated compliance with and achievement of milestones towards Albania’s EU accession process;

● An enduring consultation mechanism(s) and/or process(es) that increase(s) informed decision-making for GoA economic reforms for EU accession;

● Improvements to business owners’ and GoA perceptions of the GoA’s consultative process for EU integration in target value chain(s) as transparent, responsive, fair, and equitable;

● Increased awareness and understanding of compliance requirements for businesses in target value chain(s) for approximation of laws, rules, and procedures;

● Increased gender equality in leadership, income, and employment opportunities in target value chain(s);

● Increased volume and value of domestically and internationally traded Albanian agri-food product(s) in the targeted value chain(s), disaggregated by country and to the EU common market;

● Improved business practices for target value chain(s) actors that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or mitigate climate change;

● Increased employment opportunities for Albanian youth in target value chain(s);

● Increased investment mobilized for target value chain(s) actors.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

In addition to the objectives as detailed above, USAID/Albania prioritizes and expects Offerors will address the below guiding principles in their technical approach.

Concrete deliverables/results over information gathering/analysis USAID/Albania prioritizes cost-effective stewardship of U.S. taxpayer dollars to implement activities that yield concrete results and tangible, measurable deliverables. Given that Albania currently has an abundance of assessments and reports that are publicly available and recommendations yet to be implemented, the Offeror is expected to build off existing information to minimize redundant workshops, policy papers, reports, roundtables, assessments, lists of recommendations, roadmaps, conferences, and analyses. The Offeror will use existing research and reports as above to the greatest extent possible to minimize start up time and duplicative action of previous or current USAID or other donor activities.

Progress Beyond Programs The Activity must prioritize sustainability and accountability. To this end, it will contribute to advancing USAID’s “Progress Beyond Programs” framework to embrace new partnerships, by 1) engaging in development diplomacy, 2) deepening engagement with private companies and organizations, and 3) supporting locally led development. In the context of this Activity, the Offeror will propose a partnering approach with USAID to utilize the full range of U.S. Embassy Tirana’s resources, connections and convening power. The Offeror will engage with private companies and organizations aligned with USAID’s https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2023-03/Policy%20Framework%2003-23-2023.pdf

Private Sector Engagement Policy to boost financing, catalyze public-private partnerships and effectively tap into diaspora resources. This engagement is critical to creating an approach that recognizes the outsized potential of foreign direct investment and remittances compared to donor contributions.

USAID/Albania understands that catalyzing adequate access to finance for viable value chain participants is an important element to the overall objective of the Activity, thus the offeror must identify adequate approaches to include private sector support to increasing financing opportunities, including leveraging other USAID, U.S. government, international finance institution or other donor activities. Finally, the Offeror must put local private sector, governments and civil society organizations firmly in the driver’s seat of this Activity’s economic reform and approximation efforts. This specifically means that local actors must lead all Activity interventions. For those instances, where an international organization is uniquely qualified to undertake an intervention, the offeror should articulate how capacity building for local ownership and capacity to perform this intervention will be implemented (with a corresponding budget) in this project.

Innovation and Digitalization Innovation includes new technologies or processes that improve the cost-effectiveness or timeliness of production, processing, certification/testing, grading, packaging, transporting, and marketing of agri-food products. It may also include new ways of delivering or financing goods and services, more cost-effective adaptations to existing solutions, new ways of increasing implementation of existing proven solutions or policy changes. Likewise digitalization will always be prioritized when it is deemed a cost-effective deterrent or solution to corruption, waste, or fraud. The Offeror will consider existing technical and human capacity in Albania to build on its comparative advantage, strengthen skills, and complement GoA and other donor innovation initiatives to ensure sustainable adoption.

Gender Integration The Offeror will not only ensure that gender issues are not exacerbated through support to the selected value chain, but will improve gender equity and equality within the sector in which it operates. Within the context of this Activity, the Offeror will ensure that voices of women, particularly women-owned and -led businesses, are integrated into the design and implementation of interventions early on. Moreover, the offeror must ensure that these groups are equal activity stakeholders and beneficiaries, and play a leading role conducting research on issues that might impact them the most.

Youth and Outmigration Given the extremely high rates of youth outmigration in Albania, the Offeror will target drivers of youth outmigration and adopt a “brain-gain” approach to design and implementation. The Offeror will propose an approach that not only creates employment opportunities for youth, but also partners with local organizations (e.g., GoA ministries, Chambers of Commerce, industry associations) to implement a marketing and communications approach to build awareness of these opportunities. In Albania, food and hospitality industries are engines of economic development and have the potential to attract skilled young professionals/investors.

Climate and Environmental Considerations Climate risk management (CRM) will be incorporated by the Offeror to mitigate potential for negative consequences on activity objectives and/or outcomes due to changing climatic conditions. The CRM process will also identify potential development opportunities associated with current and expected climatic and meteorological changes, including chances to achieve additional development objectives as well as increasing climate resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this Activity, the Offeror will select a value chain(s) based upon these considerations, factoring in climate risk associated with the value chain(s) and also identifying approaches to mitigate and reduce climate risk through Activity interventions.

Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/usaid_psepolicy_final.pdf

This Activity will employ a robust CLA approach to improve effectiveness, advance the aforementioned proof of concept modeling, promote learning around improved methods for approximation to EU acquis, and encourage Activity adaptation based on contextual input. The Offeror will ensure the staffing plan, workplan, and cost proposal incorporate sufficient resources for CLA. Under “collaborating,” this Activity will leverage, utilize, and build upon other EU accession and agri-food value chain efforts in Albania and other countries to ensure collaboration with the right partners at the right time to promote synergy over stove-piping. Under “learning,” this Activity will ask the most important questions and find answers that are relevant to decision making for this Activity and similar efforts. And under “adapting,” this Activity will use information that it gathers through collaboration and learning activities to make better decisions and adjustments as necessary. Although changes to scope must be approved by the CO and the technical approach by the COR, USAID commits to considering any and all proposed Activity changes based on evidence and learning. Lastly, the Activity will create an organizational environment that supports CLA as a guiding principle, rather than solely as a contractual requirement to be met.

[End of Annex B]

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government (USG). All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary, and the USG will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the USG.

https://usaidlearninglab.org/cla/cla-toolkit/understanding-cla