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COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY ISSUE OF JULY 16,1998 PSA#2138

Contact: Mario L. de Leon, Director, CORATEL, MIS Division, Department of Foreign Affairs (632) 551-0843/834-4000, ext. 3161, (632) 832-3793 fax.

D -- PHILIPPINES -- MACHINE READABLE PASSPORT AND VISA (MRP/V) PROJECT POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009. Machine Readable Passport and Visa (MRP/V) Project. The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study for a Machine Readable Passport and Visa (MRP/V) Project. The Philippines DFA issues passports to Filipino nationals and visas to visitors traveling to the Philippines. Four years ago the Department began a project to upgrade the quality of the documents it issues, streamline and modernize the issuance process to improve service to the citizens of the Philippines, and comply with international standards that govern travel document formats. The project was to be done in two phases: first, the implementation of a Machine Readable Ready Passport; and second, the creation of a sophisticated automated system to issue Machine Readable Passports and Machine Readable Visas (MRP/V). The first phase, completed in April 1995, was quickly followed by the issuance of a request for proposal that sought the assistance of the private sector to implement the second phase under a Build-Operate-Transfer scheme. The second phase was however stalled in 1996 when the Office of the President ordered a review of the bidding of government IT projects. For the MRP/V, the Office of the President decided that issues surrounding the key components of the BOT project and technical requirements of the RFP needed to be worked out. Meanwhile, prospective consortiums weighed in with concerns about the scope of the project and questioned whether the sources of revenue to cover costs and provide a return on investment were adequately identified. The internal concerns have since been resolved and the DFA has been instructed to re-bid the project and amend the RFP. The DFA now plans to issue an RFP that calls for the system to be implemented on a variant of the BOT scheme that is intended to have the Government of the Philippines adequately address security and market risks issues. Before the RFP can be released, however, several critical tasks must be performed to prepare the existing infrastructure for the new system, and to refine the assumptions that will be relied upon by the consortiums to prepare their bids. The DFA is prepared to accept the services of a foreign information technology consultant who would handle these tasks and will oversee the selection process of a contractor. The success of the MRP/V RFP process will heavily depend on the ability of those providing services under the technical assistance package to resolve important technical, financial and operational matters that are not fully developed in the existing documentation on the project. The technical assistance will provide a systems analysis of passport processing; update the cost estimates of the project and develop costs requirements; formulate Terms of Reference/Request for Proposals and technical specifications to be given to prospective bidders; develop a comprehensive list of U.S. suppliers and service providers that should receive the RFP; and, assist in the evaluation of the submitted technical proposals. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $245,000 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission/desk study report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firms name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFPshould allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English directly to the Grantee by 4PM, August 24, 1998 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals. Posted 07/14/98 (I-SN223160). (0195)

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