SOW.pdf

CLDP/Iraq Draft of 1/24/18

STATEMENT OF WORK

SECTION A – BACKGROUND

The Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP), part of the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC), provides technical assistance to transitioning countries to create an enabling environment for increased trade and investment. CLDP does so at the behest of US embassies located in these countries.

Working at the behest of the US embassy in Iraq, CLDP has provided technical assistance to different branches of the Government of Iraq (GoI) since 2008. A key focus of CLDP’s work in Iraq has been technical assistance to help modernize Iraq’s economy.

In light of the recent developments in Iraq’s fight against external threats and of the stand-by agreement between Iraq and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank, the Government of Iraq (GoI) now intends to launch a series of economic reforms. In order to help ensuring that these reforms will be efficient, CLDP, acting at the behest of the US embassy in Iraq, plans to make available to the GoI a part-time advisor. This advisor will provide advice to the GOI on reforms desirable to modernize Iraq’s economy and on the best ways to implement such reforms through legislation and regulations based upon GoI inter-agency coordination, and with support from the IMF and the World Bank.

CLDP will do so, through the award of a competitive commercial item services contract to a contractor that will: a) provide a qualified advisor; b) take full and sole responsibility for the advisor’s security when the advisor performs duties under this contract; and, c) take full and sole responsibility for providing the logistical support (e.g., transportation, office support including translation, …) needed by the advisor to perform duties under this contract.

SECTION B – PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The base period is from date of award through (1) one year, with option to extend services for one more year.

Base Year 12 months from date of contract award Option Year I 12 months

SECTION C- PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The work will be performed in the International Zone of Baghdad, Iraq, hereafter referred to as the “Green Zone”. This is the area where key GoI ministries are located, as well as the US embassy

SECTION D – DESCRIPTION OF WORK AND SERVICES

This is a solicitation for a contract under which the Contractor will provide an Advisor qualified to provide advice to GoI officials, on potential economic reforms. These GoI officials will be designated by CLDP, acting at the behest of the US embassy in Iraq.

The Contractor will be an organization with a permanent office in Baghdad, in the “Green Zone”, the secure part of the city where key GOI ministries, as well as the US embassy, are located, and the Advisor will have constant access to the “Green Zone” . The Advisor provided by the Contractor will work in close coordination both with the CLDP Senior Counsel who oversees CLDP’s activities in Iraq, and with the US embassy in Iraq.

The CLDP Senior Counsel who oversees CLDP’s activities in Iraq is located in Washington, D.C. Once a week, the Advisor shall have a teleconference with this Senior Counsel to plan future activities and to report on the past week’s activities.

In addition, the Advisor will report twice a month to the Economic Officer, who, at the US embassy in Iraq, follows matters related to economic reform. Such reporting can take place through meetings or through telephone calls.

Mutual coordination is essential to the success of this contractual relationship, as well as to the completion of the mandate received by USDOC/CLDP from the US Embassy in Iraq. Therefore, reporting meetings or telephone calls between the Advisor and the Economic Officer mentioned above will be scheduled at days and times when CLDP can join, by teleconference, such meetings or telephone conversations.

The Advisor provided by the Contractor will spend an average of 16 (sixteen) hours per week discharging the duties listed in section E. The Advisor will do so for 38 weeks per year.

The bulk of the Advisor’s time shall be spent in face-to face interactions between the Advisor and the GoI officials to whom the Advisor will provide advice. Such interactions will take place at the offices of these GoI officials. The time not spent by the Advisor in face-to-face interactions with GoI officials shall be spent preparing written documents for these officials, as explained in section E, and coordinating with CLDP and with the US embassy in Iraq.

While 16 hours per week is an average, the actual number of hours worked per week by the Advisor under the contract is likely to vary from week to week and from month to month, depending on such events as the dates of Iraq’s Parliament sessions or of Iraq’s Council of Ministers meetings. On a bi-monthly basis, CLDP and the Advisor will agree on a tentative schedule for the Advisor for the following two weeks.

SECTION E– PERFORMANCE DUTIES

In the performance of the services under this Contract, the Contractor and the Advisor provided by the Contractor shall perform the following:

1/ Duties to Be Performed by the Advisor

a. The Advisor will provide advice, to GoI officials designated by CLDP.

Such advice will be focused: a) on the legislation and/or regulations required for economic reforms in Iraq; b) on the necessary inter-agency cooperation for such legislation and/or regulations to be enacted; and, c) , on interactions with multilateral or national development financial institutions that may support economic reforms in Iraq.

b. The Advisor will do so an average of 16 hours a week, for 38 weeks per year .

c. While 16 hours per week is an average, the actual number of hours worked per week by the Advisor under the contract is likely to vary from week to week and from month to month, depending on such events as the dates of Iraq’s Parliament sessions or of Iraq’s Council of Ministers meetings. On a bi-monthly basis, CLDP and the Advisor will agree on a tentative schedule for the Advisor for the following two weeks.

d. The bulk of the Advisor’s time will be spent in face-to face-interactions with GoI officials to whom the Advisor will provide advice. Such interactions will usually take place at the GoI officials’offices.

e. Whenever the Advisor provides advice to GoI officials under the Contract, the Advisor will prepare, for these officials, memoranda detailing and explaining the Advisor’s recommendations.

f. Whenever the memoranda mentioned in e) above are prepared in Arabic, the Advisor will provide the US embassy in Baghdad and CLDP with a translation into English. This translation will be provided on the day when the memoranda mentioned in e) above, are transmitted by the Advisor to the GoI officials.

g. Once a week, the Advisor will take part in a teleconference with CLDP on a day and time agreed upon by CLDP and the Advisor. During this teleconference, the Advisor will give CLDP a report on the Advisor’s activities.

h. The US embassy in Iraq will designate an Economic Officer who will be a point of contact for the Advisor. Twice a month, the Advisor will give to this point of contact, through meetings or telephone calls, a report on the Advisor’s activities. Such reporting meetings or telephone conversations will be scheduled at days and times when CLDP can join, by teleconference.

i. Once a month, within a week of the end of the previous month, the Advisor will send to CLDP and to the point of contact at the embassy, a report on the Advisor’s activities for the previous month.

2/ Security and Logistical Duties To Be Performed by the Contractor

a. Neither the GoI nor the US embassy will provide security for the Advisor.

Therefore, the Contractor will be fully and solely responsible for ensuring the Advisor’s security in Baghdad, while the Advisor performs the duties listed in paragraph 1 above.

b. Neither the GoI nor the US embassy will provide transportation for the Advisor. Therefore, the Contractor will be fully and solely responsible for providing transportation needed for the Advisor to attend meetings with GoI officials and/or with the US embassy in Iraq, under the Contract.

c. The Contractor will be fully and solely responsible for providing the Advisor with adequate office space in Baghdad’s Green Zone, and with office support and clerical services support (including translation services), while the Advisor performs the duties listed in paragraph 1 above.

d. The Contractor will be fully and solely responsible for providing the Advisor with adequate lodging in Baghdad, while the Advisor performs the duties listed in paragraph 1 above.

3/ Invoicing

The Contractor shall submit monthly invoices to USDOC/CLDP. In order for any invoice to be “properly payable by the Government,” such invoices must detail the tasks performed by the Advisor during the month (with particularity, precision, and sufficient description to enable Government payment) and the number of hours spent in performing each task and subtask.

To be properly reimbursable, all amounts claimed by the Contractor must be based upon the comprehensive price per hour quoted by the Contractor as part of its Offer submitted to the Government under Section U.5.6 of the present Solicitation.

SECTION F– QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

The Offeror shall demonstrate that it meets the qualifications listed below both for the Contractor and for the Advisor provided by the Contractor.

1/ Qualifications Requirements To Be Met by the Contractor

F.1 The Contractor shall be a firm (law firm or consulting firm) that has had an office located in Baghdad’s International Zone (“Green Zone”) for at least two years. This will ensure that the Contractor has the experience and the resources necessary to fully and solely discharge all of the duties listed in C-2/ above.

2/ Qualifications Requirements To Be Met by the Advisor

F.2 The Advisor shall be an attorney licensed to practice law in Iraq.

F.3 The Advisor shall have a degree (JD or LLM) from an accredited US law school.

F. 4. The Advisor shall have served as a GoI official, at a level of Chief of Staff, or of Deputy Chief of Staff to a minister or deputy minister, during which service the Advisor shall have held high-level advisory and coordinating responsibilities for GOI economic reform projects requiring inter-agency coordination, as well as interaction with international funding organizations such as IMF or the World Bank.

3/ Qualification Requirements to Be Met by the Contractor or the Advisor

F.5 The Advisor currently has, or shall have by XX, 2018, the permit or badge required to have permanent access to Baghdad’s Green Zone.

F.6 The Advisor is currently, or shall be by XX 2018, a named insured under a life and disability insurance policy that does not include exclusions for the type of duties listed in section C1 above.