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COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY ISSUE OF JULY 16,1998 PSA#2138Contact: 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) Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0039 19980716\D-0005.SOL)
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