Request for Proposal (RFP) - Consultancy Service for Formulation of the Bangsamoro Sustainable Energy Master Plan in Philippines

New amendment added #3: This amendment is to extend the deadline for the submission to 15/Mar./2024

New clarification added: QUESTIONIn Form E: Format for Resume of Proposed Key Personnel, could you please clarify if "Years with firm" means years with current employer?Equally, in form Form E, the "Position base for this assignment" line does not include a [Insert] tag. Is this to be left blank for UNOPS use or should it be populated by the offeror?ANSWER"Years with firm" means years with current employer. "Position base for this assignment" should be populated by the offeror.

New clarification added: QUESTION  What country will the contract be signed with? Example: Is this signed with UNOPS Philippines, UNOPS Geneva, etc.ANSWERThe contract will be signed with "UNOPS South East Asia and Pacific Multi-Country Office (EAPMCO), Bangkok,Thailand".

New clarification added: QUESTION  In the Qualification criteria (Under the Evaluation criteria tab) of UNOPS' website we can read the following:"Offeror must provide a minimum of two (2) customer references from which similar services have been successfully provided, within any of the last 3 years."I am assuming the above is reffering to the Performance Statement Form found in Section III of the Returnable Bidding Forms. The table title of that form mentions the following:"Past performance with similar servces in the last 10 years". Could you please clarify whether it is 3 years or 10 years?ANSWERPlease provide a minimum of two (2) customer references from which similar services have been successfully provided, within any of the last 3 years. as per the requirements in Terms of References. Performance Statement in Form F is standard form. However, we would highly appreciated if you could provide the reference of past performance more than the last 3 years.

New clarification added: QUESTION Does UNOPS use an "UN Cost Norm for Financing of Local Costs in Development Cooperation with The Philippines" to be followed by the Applicants in the implementation of this Project? And if yes, can we receive a copy of these "UN Cost Norms for the Philippines"?ANSWERPlease note that UN Cost Norms for Financing of Local Costs in Development Cooperation with the Philippines is not available. The bidders are encouraged to use the (https://icsc.un.org/) for UN Cost of Norms in Philippines (DSA).

New clarification added: QUESTION  Does the Final Monthly Progress Report referred to in the ToR (article 50 on page 13) correspond to the Final Completion Report referred to in the ToR (article 17 on page 7), or are they two separate reports?ANSWERThe Final Completion Report under item 17 is the same as the Final Monthly Progress Report under item 50. 

New clarification added: QUESTIONThe ToR requires the formation of a TWG with a minimum of 35 participants, and that group should meet at least six times. It is clear that the TWG will be a multi-stakeholders, multi-agency group that could support the development of the master plan. However, 35 participants is a significant number for a "TWG", and it is unclear what is the reason or justification for the minimum of six meetings. What are the expectations of ETP and MENRE insofar as the work or tasks to be implemented by the TWG and the outputs of these TWG meetings?ANSWERThe number was based on previous meetings held with MENRE and the number of potential ministries to be invited as part of the TWG. Please note that the assumption is that the interested bidder is aware of the local context in BARMM. As such, the bidder is aware that every ministry sends at least two staff in meetings and that the relevant BTA member may invited to be part of the TWG. The number of TWG particpants should already include the winning Bidder's team attending the meeting. The Bidder may propose a lower number of participants to the TWG and reduced number of TWG meetiings as they see fit. These changes to the workplan will be considered during technical evaluation.The Bidder should refer to items 42 to 47 of the ToR for the expected tasks related to TWG meetings. The expected outputs the TWG meetings include Meeting agenda, Meeting HIghlights with emphasis on action items andagreements, signed attendance sheets with gender-disaggregated data, photo documentation.

New clarification added: QUESTIONAs we could not participate to yesterday's pre-bid meeting, will UNOPS publish the questions asked by the Potential Applicants and the UNOPS/ETP answers given during this pre-bid meeting? ANSWERYes, the minutes of Pre-Bid meeting will be shared.

New clarification added: QUESTIONIn the ToR (page 5), the target delivery of the Inception report is 1 month. It is unrealistic as it should include or contain the stakeholders' analysis, monitoring and evaluation framework and the communication plan. Can the target delivery of the Inception report be of 3 months?ANSWERThe Bidder may proposed a different timeline of project implementation. The changes in the timeline should be well aligned and consistent with the methodology and work plan that you will present. These will be considered during the technical evaluation.

New clarification added: QUESTIONIn the technical proposal should we embed in the form the tables for monitoring and evaluation and risk mitigation plans (which could be large tables) as part of the quality assurance (section 2.2) as well as a picture file of the implmentation plan (section 2.3) or could we attach them as separate files?ANSWERThe bidder may attach them as annex. Ensure that these are consistent with your methodology and work plan.

New clarification added: QUESTIONWill the contract be signed with a Philippine entity? TCS Philippines only covers contracts that are signed in the same country.ANSWERThe Contract is not exclusive to a Philippines-based entity. However, the work entails on-the ground coordination and meetings, at times, to ensure effectivity of the project. 

New amendment added #2: This amendment is to upload the minutes of the Pre-bid meeting and revision of TOR.

New clarification added: QUESTIONHello Team, Good Day! I would like to ask regarding the requirement for a master's degree. 1. Would certifications/fellowships be considered as equivalent for a master's degree? 2. Does the  "additional years of experience" equivalent to a master's degree  on top of the required years of experience?Thank you. ANSWER1. No, certifications / fellowships cannot be considered as equivalent to the master's degree. Nevertheless, the certifications/ fellowships will be considered as the personnel's credentials during the technical assessment2. Yes. Please be advised that as a general rule of thumb an additional 2 years of experience with masters degree can be accepted in lieu of the masters degree.  

New amendment added #1: This is to amend the Pre-Bid meeting date to 12/Feb.