Increased accountability in the legal system (ials) program

Presolicitation Notice - Draft Sri Lanka Justice Sector RFP No. SOL-383-11-000001

INCREASED ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM (IALS) PROGRAM

To all interested parties:

The United States Government, as represented by the United States Agency for International Development Mission to Sri Lanka, (USAID/Sri Lanka) intends to issue a competitive request for proposals in order to select a contractor to provide Justice Sector technical assistance services that lead to increased accountability in Sri Lanka's legal system.

This procurement will be conducted through full and open competition for which the procedures set forth in FAR Part 15 shall apply. The purpose of this notice is to comply with the synopses and presolicitation notice requirements of FAR 5.2 - Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions. This notice and any subsequent solicitation will be handled using electronic commerce.

USAID plans to award a performance based, cost-plus-fixed-fee, completion-type contract. The total cost estimated for this program requirement is in the range of $4.3 to $4.5 million, covering a thirty month period of performance.

1. Comments on Draft RFP (only via email)

USAID/Sri Lanka expects interested parties to raise any questions that will enable us to identify and resolve concerns regarding the acquisition strategy, the feasibility of the requirement, the suitability of the evaluation criteria, the availability of other reference documents, and any other concerns.

To assist in the efficiency of this process, please consider the following in preparation:

•-      -Please ensure comments are concise and specific to information included within the draft RFP; and

•-       -Please ensure submitted comments make specific reference to page and section numbers.

Reference material will be posted to the final solicitation document as it becomes available.

2. Capability Statements (via email - Small Businesses only)

USAID is also seeking capability statements from qualified small businesses for market research purposes only. At this time this solicitation is not restricted to small business participation, but USAID is interested in collecting information on the capabilities of qualified small businesses (including 8(a) firms) to complete the work as described in the attached draft RFP. Interested small businesses who have and can demonstrate the capacity and expertise needed to complete the work may submit a tailored capability statement for this requirement not to exceed four (4) single sided pages including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc. (single spaced, 11 point font minimum) that clearly details the firm's ability to carry out all terms and conditions of the draft RFP attached.

Tailored capability statements should also include an indication of current certified small business status. This indication should be clearly marked on the first page of your capability statement (preferably placed under the eligible small business concern's name and address) as well as the eligible small business concern's name, point of contact, address and DUNS number. The applicable NAICS code for this acquisition is 541990, and the small business threshold is $7 Million.

3. Subcontracting Opportunities

Any organization interested in potential subcontract or grants under contract awards that may be issued during project implementation should send an expression of that interest to the Mission email address listed below with information about your organization, point-of-contact and email address, along with a brief paragraph on the area of interest and services/products that can be provided to a prime.

Any such expression of interest will be listed in a separate document and attached to the final RFP solicitation release so that potential offerors can see what organizations are interested. USAID will not vet the list or recommend any particular organization, but will facilitate the gathering and sharing of information submitted by others.

4. Expressions of Interest in and Comments on the draft RFP

We encourage interested parties to notify us of their intent to participate.  Please carefully review the attached draft solicitation document and submit all expressions of interest, comments, questions and capability statements regarding this presolicitation notice no later than May 13, 2011 18:00 EST.

All exchanges of information relating to this notice should be sent electronically and directed by email to: usaidsrilankaprocurement@usaid.gov

In the interest of fairness to all potential offerors, we request that interested parties do not contact the RCO or Mission personnel to discuss this presolicitation notice and no presolicitation conference is planned.

USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. Further, be aware that the final RFP will be posted at the www.fbo.gov (fedbizopps) under the USAID agency notices section. You are therefore advised to regularly check the site for future information.

Sincerely,

/s/

William Reynolds

(A) Regional Contracting Officer

USAID India & Sri Lanka

Attachment:  Draft Sri Lanka Justice Sector RFP SOL-383-11-000001