USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131

A -- POLAND: MINISTRY OF FINANCE CHANGE MANAGEMENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE DUE 030100 POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009. 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 provide technical assistance for phase one of its change management project. The Grantee is soliciting technical proposals from qualified U.S. management consulting firms to provide expert consulting services to carry out the Technical Assistance. The Ministry wants to streamline its apparatus and introduce modern techniques of management and contracting, an updated approach to personnel management, and the adoption of new information systems to improve the flow of data internally and externally. TDA is assisting in the effort by funding phase one -- the technical assistance that is the subject of this RFP. Phase two will follow this technical assistance and will be financed through funds arranged by the Ministry. In phase two, a management consultant will be competitively selected to implement the recommendations of phase one. The firm that contracts to perform phase one is eligible to compete for phase two. For this technical assistance, the contractor would conduct an initial review of internal institutional processes, identify priority areas for reform, and develop a tentative action plan for the execution of the complete restructuring activity in phase two. This "institutional audit" will focus on the following elements: organizational structure; information systems; management and decision-making processes; patterns of information sharing and access; disbursement and internal financial monitoring processes; possibilities for outsourcing; and comparative benchmarking of the effectiveness and quality of individual and department output. Priority areas for reform identified in the institutional audit will then form the framework for an action plan for implementation of the complete restructuring activity. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $189,000 grant to the Granteefrom 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 expanded desk study report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, 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 firm's 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 RFP should 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 4:00 PM, March 1, 2000 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. A bidders' conference will be organized at the Ministry of Finance so that potential bidders can have the opportunity to receive a brief presentation about the project from the cognizant Ministry officials and to ask questions. This bidders' conference will be organized to take place on February 17, 2000 at 1:30 PM (Warsaw time) at the Ministry of Finance in the Sala Kolumnowa, Floor II. English will be the working language of the bidders' conference. Bidders interested in participating in the bidders' conference should send a fax expressing their interest and a list with the names of the participants from their firm for the bidders' conference to the following contact at the Ministry: Pawel Sztwiertnia, Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Finance, Ul Swietokrzyska 12, 00-916 Warsaw, Poland, Phone: (48-22) 694-41-66, Fax: (48-22) 694-54-14. Bidders should note that expressing an interest in participating in the bidders' conference or actual participation will not result in receipt of this RFP. Bidders must separately request the RFP from TDA as per usual procedures. Posted 01/10/00 (W-SN414595). (0010)

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