Single Stage Open Competition Selection – Request for Proposals
Project Description: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ("the EBRD" or the "Bank") has recently approved the Inclusive Tourism Framework in the Eastern Mediterranean ("ITFW") to bring together a sufficient number of regional tourism operators to jointly work on stronger backward linkages. The ITFW focuses on Croatia, Greece, Turkey and Montenegro. This Framework will use the Bank’s client relationships to support stronger backward linkages into the local economies, and notably to agribusiness suppliers.
The overall objective of this Framework and its technical cooperation component is to support a stronger impact of tourism operations in the EBRD’s countries of operation, and notably to increase the share of locally sourced products in hotels. The project’s primary focus will be the food and beverages products for daily consumption in hotels, but may also include beauty products or accessories, as well as handicraft products. Other relevant local producers of goods (and services) may be considered as appropriate. The project shall involve a range of clients in all four countries, including smaller family-owned operators with a limited number of hotels, as well as large-scale operators owning various hotels and resorts.
Assignment Description: EBRD intends to select and contract one individual expert or a consultancy company interested in nominating one expert (the "Consultant") for the Assignment to work closely with select tourism companies and coordinate with the Bank’s Property & Tourism departments to systematically evaluate the potential for the Bank’s clients for local procurement in their daily operations. The Assignment is fully aligned with the Bank’s property and tourism strategy and the country strategies for all target countries.
The selected Consultant is expected to provide the following services:
• Review and categorise products typically used in tourism operations in the Mediterranean region and target countries (Croatia, Greece, Turkey and Montenegro), including food & beverage products (primary and processed) that could be supplied locally in the target countries (given climatic constraints etc.) as well as cosmetic, textile and other products. This should include flagging of key or landmark products for local/regional branding and marketing.
• Conduct a mapping of local/regional supply-side potential of relevant products, taking into account (1) the current supply capacity given seasonality patterns and existing limitations in terms of processed (vs. primary) products) as well as the (2) the potential to upgrade towards improved quality and standards and more processed products.
• Cooperate with each of the ITFW’s hotel clients in order to develop a "demand-side" mapping of tourism procurement operations (i.e. the extent of current local procurement as well as the potential future local procurement, given local and regional supply side constraints) and develop baseline for local sourcing (e.g. quantitative % of total purchase). Where hotel operators are already advanced with their local procurement efforts, the consultant may alternatively provide guidance on how to better promote landmark food products in the hotel’s operations.
The Assignment will be conducted in two phases. The initial phase of the Assignment is to commence with 3 sub-projects/clients. The Assignment may be extended up to 10 sub-projects/clients within target countries at Bank’s discretion subject to satisfactory progress, performance and the business needs.
For the performance of the services, the Consultant is expected to visit the Bank’s hotel clients. The visits will aim to understand the current procurement policies and supplier base, and how local procurement could be expanded with reference to local markets and conditions. The Consultant is also be expected to provide guidance on marketing of local (food) products in the hotels’ operations, e.g. through restaurants/kitchen services, offering day trips to culinary destinations in the vicinity of the hotel etc.
The terms of reference for the Assignment can be accessed by clicking on the following link: http://www.ebrd.com/documents/oce/mapping-supply-and-demand-potential-for-tourism.docx
Consultant Selection Procedure: Single stage open competitive selection. Interested individual experts or individual experts proposed through firms are invited to submit a Technical and Financial Proposal.
Assignment Start Date and Duration: The initial phase of the Assignment is expected to start in October 2018 and has an estimated duration of 6 months. The Assignment may be extended at Bank’s discretion for an additional 32 months.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment: The overall budget of the entire Assignment is up to EUR 70,000 for the 38 month period.
The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the special status of the Bank as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a Consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purchased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.
Funding Source: It is expected that the Assignment will be funded by the Taiwanese Business EBRD Technical Corporation Fund. Please note selection and contracting will be subject to the availability of funding.
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions based on the Consultant’s nationality.
Consultant Profile: Individual services are required (the Consultant shall be an individual expert or an expert nominated by a firm (see note 4).
The successful candidate is expected to have:
- Experience in the hospitality and tourism industry
- Experience in working with local producers and suppliers of hotels, notably in agribusiness sector
- Knowledge of working in the Bank’s countries of operation will be considered an advantage
- Fluency in English
Submission Requirements: Consultants are now invited to submit a completed Technical and Financial Proposal as per the standard templates and instructions available at this link: http://www.ebrd.com/documents/procurement/single-stage-package.docx
Interested Consultant should make themselves familiar with these Standard templates, Standard Instructions and Conditions of Contract in preparation of their proposals.
1. The Technical Proposal shall be submitted in English electronically via eSelection not later than the Closing Date, as one single PDF file. The technical proposal should not exceed 15 pages excluding the Declaration Form and CVs (Form 1 – TP1 and Form 1 – TP6).
2. The Individual Consultants are NOT expected to complete the following forms:
Form 1- TP.2 A – Consultants Organisation
Form 1 – TP.4 – Work Schedule And Planning for Deliverables
Form 1 – TP.5 – Team Composition and Experts Inputs
3. The Financial Proposal (Form 2 – FP 1 and FP2) shall be submitted in English separately by email only to the Bank Contact Person. Financial proposal should ONLY indicate the Consultant’s Daily Fee Rate in Euros. Any other breakdown of costs should not be included. Consultants are reminded of the requirement to ensure the confidentiality of Financial Proposals. A Technical Proposal that contains elements of a financial proposal shall be declared non-responsive.
Bank Contact Person:
Vivienne Headlam
Procurement Operations and Delivery Department
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
e-mail: lewishev@ebrd.com (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)
Deadline to Submit Clarification Questions: Via e-mail to the Bank Contact Person by 23 August 2018.
Selection Method and Evaluation Criteria:
1. Technical Proposal Evaluation Criteria
(a) CV of the Individual Expert (40%)
(b) Individual's previous project experience in conducting similar assignments preferably in EBRD’s countries of operation (30%)
(c) Quality of the technical proposal and methodology proposed for the Assignment (30%)
The minimum technical score (St) required to pass is 70.
2. Opening of Financial Proposals
After the technical evaluation is completed, only the submissions which score 70 or above of the total marks available for the technical criteria will be eligible to have their financial proposals opened.
3. Combined Technical and Financial Evaluation
The lowest evaluated Financial Proposal (Fm) is given the maximum financial score (Sf) of 100. The formula for determining the financial scores (Sf) of all other Proposals is calculated as follows:
Sf = 100 x Fm/ F, in which "Sf" is the financial score, "Fm" is the lowest evaluated Financial Proposal, and "F" the price of the Proposal under consideration.
Proposals are then ranked according to their combined technical (St) and financial (Sf) scores using the weights (T = 80; F = 20) T + F = 100 as follows: S = St x T% + Sf x F%.
Important Notes:
1. The proposal validity period is 120 days from the deadline date for the receipt of submissions. During this period, the Consultant shall maintain its original Proposal without any change, including the availability of the Experts, the proposed rates and the total price.
2. The selection will be made from the Proposals received in response to this notification only, on the basis of the submission requirements and selection criteria set out in this Procurement Notice. The highest-ranked Consultant will be selected and invited to negotiate the contract, subject to availability of funding.
3. Any updates of and clarifications on this procurement notice shall be announced as updates on this notice, without any other notification. In the event of changes consultants will need to download the updated versions. Consultants are required to periodically check the notice for updates. Failure to take the updates into account while preparing the Proposal may result in disqualification or penalties to the scores in the evaluation.
4. Consulting firms nominating an individual expert and individuals may apply for this Assignment. Consulting firms may nominate more than one expert for the assignment; however they must submit one complete individual application for each expert via eSelection. If a firm nominating more than one expert submits multiple CVs through a single application via eselection; the submission will be disqualified and rejected for all concerned experts.
