NINGBO NEW COUNTRYSIDE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

LOAN Nº: Loan No. 7849-CHA, Project ID P106956

TITLE: Consulting services for capacity building and implementation support for rural wastewater management/capacity building and implementation support to fenghua city investment corporation (fcic)

Borrower/Bid No: Expression of interest; RWTA-A,CHTA-E

(1) Capacity Building and Implementation Support for Rural Wastewater Management
(2) Capacity Building and Implementation Support to Fenghua City Investment Corporation (FCIC)

This request for expression of interest follows the general procurement notice for this project that appeared in UN Development Business No. 769 of 28 February 2010.

The Government of the People’s Republic of China has received a loan of US$ 50 million from the World Bank to implement the Ningbo New Countryside Development Project, and it intends to apply a part of the loan proceeds to eligible payments under the contract for consulting services for a broad range of services in project management and implementation support.

China’s New Countryside Development (NCD) Strategy.

China has a rural population of about 727 million (2007 data) which comprises 55% of its total population. Despite the economic development that China has achieved in its rural areas since its economic reform, the Chinese countryside is lagging far behind its urban counterpart. This is reflected as follows: (i) a large difference in rural household incomes compared to urban households (3.33:1 in 2007); (ii) fewer economic opportunities in rural areas leading to rural-urban migration; and (iii) underdeveloped basic infrastructure and poor standards of living. The Chinese government has prioritized NCD as one of the key tasks of the nation’s 11th Five-Year Plan. The NCD strategy aims at reducing the urban-rural disparity, balancing urban and rural development, and promoting human-centered, quality-based, resource-saving and eco-friendly growth in the countryside. In doing so, an emphasis is placed on the responsibility of developed, urban areas, to actively commit resources to the development of the countryside.

Physical components of the project include:

Rural Wastewater Management: Appropriate and sustainable technology and institutional options for rural wastewater management in about 150 selected villages in six Counties/Cities/Districts in Ningbo Municipality using a program-based approach and participation of village communities.

Chunhu Town Infrastructure Development: (i) Chunhu-Fenghua Access Road: Construction of a four-lane Class 1 road connecting Fenghua City with Chunhu Town; (ii) Fenghua Coastal Water Supply: Construction of transmission mains from Fenghua City to Chunhu Town, including rehabilitation and expansion of the Chunhu Town water distribution network; and (iii) Chunhu Town Wastewater Management: Construction of trunk and collection sewers, and a wastewater treatment plant to service Chunhu Town

Consultant Services Required

(1) Capacity Building and Implementation Support for Rural Wastewater Management: (i) project management and implementation support; (ii) monitoring and reporting; (iii) design and bid document review; (iv) village-level education and awareness-raising; and (v) training and study tours.

(2) Capacity Building and Implementation Support to Fenghua City Investment Company Limited (FCIC): (i) project management and implementation support; (ii) monitoring and reporting; (iii) design and bid document review; (iv) development of a business plan; (v) risk and liability management; (vi) financing models; (vii) training and study tours; and (viii) dissemination of the outputs of the technical assistance activities.

Ningbo Water and Environment Project Management Office (NWEPMO) invite eligible consultants to submit their expressions of interest to provide consultancy services for one or both assignments. Because of the similarity of services to be provided under the two assignments, the preference of the NPMO is to engage one consultant for both assignments. Interested consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (brochures, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate skills among staff, etc.). Consultants may associate to enhance their qualifications and capacity.

The consultant assignment is expected to commence about July, 2010, and the duration is expected to be about 54 months.

Interested consultants may obtain further information at the address below from 08:30 to 11:00 and 13:30 to 17:30 Monday to Friday. Expressions of Interest must be received by NWEPMO at the address below not later than 11:30 a.m. (Beijing time) on April 5, 2010.

Consultants will be selected in accordance with the procedures set out in the World Bank’s Guidelines:
Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers (May 2004, revised October 2006).

Ningbo Water and Environment Project Management Office.
Contacts: Mr. Li Zhibo/Mr. Yang Xiaoming.
1510/R, 15/F, Tianning Tower, 138 West Zhongshan Road, Ningbo.
Zhejiang Province, P.R. China, PC: 315000.
Tel: (86-574) 8736-7370, 8727-7906.
Fax: (86-574)87280430.
E-mail: zhibo@nbnet.com.cn; yxmpmo@nbnet.com.cn