NYS Worldwide Consultancy, RFP

Empire State Development is requesting proposals for a single worldwide consultancy contractor to deliver foreign direct investment and export-promotion services for New York State companies across 16 designated global regions, with proposals due August 3, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET. No MWBE or SDVOB set-asides or goals apply.

The scope requires full-service coverage across Africa, ASEAN, Canada, the Caribbean, China, Europe, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, the Middle East, Oceania, Singapore, South Korea, South America, and Taiwan, with physical office presence preferred but not required if one office can operationally cover multiple countries or regions. The contractor must conduct 6–8 trade missions annually, 1–2 joint trade and FDI missions per year, participate in 1–4 high-level government official missions annually with the Commissioner, deliver export assistance services at specified minimum volumes per region, generate FDI leads ranging from 12 to 30 annually depending on region, maintain detailed CRM records, and provide monthly and annual performance reports. Subcontractors must be named at proposal submission and meet the same compliance and conflict-of-interest requirements as the prime. All proposals must demonstrate comprehensive coverage across all 16 markets; partial-coverage proposals are non-responsive.

The contract runs three years beginning October 1, 2026, with two optional renewal years. Compensation is structured as a monthly fee equal to one-twelfth of an annual all-inclusive budget; ESD permits up to 3% annual escalation after Year 1, with any increases exceeding this threshold rendering proposals non-responsive. Trade-show and mission costs (flights, hotel venue space, receptions, translators, printed materials, gifts) are separately reimbursable by ESD; all other costs are covered within the annual fee. ESD has established no budget ceiling or target range. The contractor must comply with ISO Standards 27001, 27005, and 27035; GDPR; and NYS and Federal cybersecurity policies. Proposals are evaluated on firm experience (20 points), staff qualifications (10 points), project plan and approach (20 points), cost (25 points), language ability (10 points), knowledge of New York State (10 points), trade and investment mission experience (5 points), and up to 25 optional points for finalist interviews. Technical proposals may not exceed 75 pages and must include the completed RFP Intake Form (Appendix D); failure to complete the intake form results in non-consideration. Contact: Ralph Volcy (primary) or Shanah Jack (secondary) at GlobalNY2026RFP@esd.ny.gov. A restricted lobbying period prohibits contact with any NYS employee other than designated contacts.