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

B -- FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR RETAIL BANKING SYSTEM IN THAI FARMERS BANK DUE 031400 POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009. The Grantee invites submission of Prequalification Statements from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study for an information technology (IT) upgrade for the Thai Farmers Bank in Thailand that may be used for international competitive bidding purposes. The Thai Farmers Bank is the third largest bank in Thailand with $2.1 billion of total assets. The Bank has a total of 533 branches nationwide with 156 branches in Bangkok. In an effort to improve efficiency and competitiveness, Thai Farmers Bank is planning a major expansion of its IT infrastructure. The project will have two primary thrusts: (a) to develop a retail banking system which supports new banking concepts, including customer relationship management, customer profitability, and channel integration; and (b) to create an integrated enterprise resource planning system which will combine all of the information from the Thai Farmer's Bank back office systems. The feasibilitystudy is needed to develop a system design and to determine the cost of implementing the system. The study will also develop a financial plan, which matches the procurement of technology with the Bank's investment schedule. The tasks that would be provided by the U.S. firm for the Thai Farmers Bank include the following: (1) Analyze optimum methods of implementation of planned information technology developments; (2) Establish the design of required hardware, software, organizational, and training systems; and (3) Make appropriate recommendations which will lead to detailed specifications and a well-defined budget / financial plan. Based upon the Prequalification Statements, the Grantee will develop a short list of qualified firms which will be invited in writing to submit a formal Technical Proposal to carry out the study. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $395,000 grant to the Grantees from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes the requirements for submission of the Prequalification Statements and the Technical Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background 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 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 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 Prequalification Statements as outlined in the RFP in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00pm, March 14, 2000 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Prequalification Statements and the Technical Proposals 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 Prequalification Statements or Technical 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 02/24/00 (W-SN428382). (0055)

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