Request for Quotations (RFQ) IT and relevant IT Equipment

RFQ Number:              VET II-2016-002

Issuance Date:            02.11.2016

Deadline for Offers:   16.11.2016

Description:                Delivery of ICT Equipment

For:                              Partnerships for quality and relevance in ICT vocational education in Moldova

Funded By:                 Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Grant Agreement nr. 8295-00/2015

Issued by:                    Educational Center Pro Didactica and National Association of ICT Companies (ATIC)

ATIC Point of Contact: executive@ict.md, contact person Ana Chirita, project coordinator

Section 1: Instructions to Offerors

Introduction: The National Association of ICT Companies (ATIC) is soliciting proposals from eligible and responsible firms regarding delivery of ICT equipment, as described below in Section 1 (Instruction to Offerors). The Partnerships for quality and relevance in ICT vocational education in Moldova (VET II) Project is a project implemented by the Educational Centre Pro-Didactica, in collaboration with the National Association of ICT Companies funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation under the Grant Agreement nr. 8295-00/2015, and is being carried out in Republic of Moldova.

The project Partnerships for quality and relevance in ICT vocational education in Moldova aims at assuring the quality and relevance of ICT vocational education for local, regional and national economy in Moldova, through the support in launching and in qualitative functioning of the Centre of Excellence for the VET ICT education thus advancing the harmonization of ICT education in Moldova with labour market demands, and to support the initial activity and functioning of the National Agency For Quality Assurance in Professional Education as an independent, functional and professional body.

Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received by ATIC in accordance with the instructions, terms, and conditions described in this RFQ. Failure to comply with the instructions described in this RFQ may lead to the disqualification of an offer.

Offer Deadline and Protocol: Offers must be received no later than 17:00, local Chisinau time, on November 16, 2016 electronically and/or in hard-copy at the National Association of ICT Companies office.

Any email offers must be sent to the following address:

In attention of Mrs. Ana Chirita,

Executive Director/ ICT Component Coordinator

cceban@ict.md.

Any hard copy offers must be stamped and signed by the offeror’s authorized representative and delivered to the following address:

In attention of Mrs. Ana Chirita,

Executive Director/ ICT Component Coordinator

Partnerships for quality and relevance in ICT vocational education in Moldova

Str. Maria Cibotari 28, of 1B

Please reference the RFQ number in any response to this RFQ. Offers received after the specified time and date will be considered late and will be reviewed only at ATIC discretion.

1. Questions: Questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFQ may be submitted no later than 17:00, local Chisinau time on November 10, 2016, by email to ncrivoliubic@ict.md. Questions must be submitted in writing; phone calls will not be accepted. Questions and requests for clarification—and the responses thereto—that ATIC believes may be of interest to other offerors will be circulated to all RFQ recipients who have indicated an interest in bidding.

Only the written answers issued by ATIC will be considered official and carry weight in the RFQ process and subsequent evaluation. Any verbal information received from employees of ATIC or any other entity should not be considered as an official response to any questions regarding this RFQ.

2. Specifications: Section 4 contains the technical specifications of the required items. All commodities offered in response to this RFQ must be new and unused. In addition, all electrical commodities (if applicable), must operate on 240V, 50Hz.

Please note that, unless otherwise indicated, stated brand names or models are for illustrative description only. An equivalent substitute, as determined by the specifications, is acceptable.

3. Quotations: Quotations in response to this RFQ must be set on a fixed-price, all-inclusive basis, including delivery and all other costs. Pricing must be presented in MDL. Offers must remain valid for no less than thirty (30) calendar days after the offer deadline. Offerors are requested to provide quotations on their official quotation format or letterhead; in the event this is not possible, offerors may complete the table in Section 3.

All quotations and offerors packages should be submitted in 3 copies (in case of hard copy submission).

In addition, offerors responding to this RFQ are requested to submit a copy of their official registration or business license.

4. Delivery: The delivery location for the items described in this RFQ is Maria Cebotari 28, of 1B str., Chisinau. As part of its response to this RFQ, each offerors is expected to provide an estimate (in calendar days) of the execution timeframe (after order receipt). The delivery estimate presented in an offer in response to this RFQ must be upheld in the performance of any resulting contract.

5. Warranty: The warranty coverage must be valid on all services/works for a minimum of ten (10) years after delivery/execution and acceptance of the services/works, unless otherwise specified in the technical specifications (Section 4).

6. Taxes and VAT: The agreement under which this procurement is financed does not permit the financing of any taxes, VAT, tariffs, duties, or other levies imposed by any laws in effect in the Cooperating Country.  No such Cooperating Country taxes, VAT, charges, tariffs, duties or levies will be paid under an order resulting from this RFQ. In the event that any exempt charges are paid by the Subcontractor, they will not be reimbursed to the Subcontractor by ATIC.  The Subcontractor shall immediately notify ATIC if any such taxes are assessed against the Subcontractor or its subcontractors/suppliers at any tier. The Subcontractor is responsible for payment of all applicable taxes, as prescribed under the applicable laws, associated with wages/salaries/compensation for services rendered by individuals employed by the Subcontractor and who are directed to work as required under this Subcontract.  The Subcontractor is liable for payment of all applicable taxes associated with revenues (profit), and other such taxes, fees, or dues for which Subcontractor is normally responsible as a result of operating its business.

7. Eligibility: By submitting an offer in response to this RFQ, the offeror certifies that it and its principal officers are not debarred, suspended, or otherwise considered ineligible for an award.

8. Evaluation and Award: The award will be made to a responsible offeror whose offer follows the RFQ instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, and meets or exceeds the minimum required technical specifications, and is judged to be the best value based on a lowest-price, technically-acceptable basis, business experience, the visual aspect of the work to be performed, similar objects in the past and short production and installation terms.

Please note that if there are significant deficiencies regarding responsiveness to the requirements of this RFQ, an offer may be deemed “non-responsive” and thereby disqualified from consideration. ATIC reserves the right to waive immaterial deficiencies at its discretion.

Best-offer quotations are requested. It is anticipated that award will be made solely on the basis of these original quotations. However, ATIC reserves the right to conduct any of the following:

• ATIC may conduct negotiations with and/or request clarifications from any offeror prior to award.
• While preference will be given to offerors who can address the full technical requirements of this RFQ, ATIC may issue a partial award or split the award among various suppliers, if in the best interest of the Project.
• ATIC may cancel this RFQ at any time.

Please note that in submitting a response to this RFQ, the offeror understands that ADCis not a party to this solicitation and the offeror agrees that any protest hereunder must be presented – in writing with full explanations – to the VET II Project for consideration, as ADC will not consider protests regarding procurements carried out by implementing partners. ATIC, at its sole discretion, will make a final decision on the protest for this procurement.

9. Terms and Conditions: This is a Request for Quotations only. Issuance of this RFQ does not in any way obligate ATIC or the VET II Project to make an award or pay for costs incurred by potential offerors in the preparation and submission of an offer.

This solicitation is subject to ATIC’s standard terms and conditions. Any resultant award will be governed by these terms and conditions; a copy of the full terms and conditions is available upon request. Please note that the following terms and conditions will apply:

a)

b) Payment will be made in MDL, via wire transfer to the account specified in the Subcontractor’s invoice. Payment of unpaid balances will be made upon completion and final acceptance of all works and deliverables by ATIC. Any invoices for services rendered and deliverables submitted – but not accepted by ATIC – will not be paid until the Subcontractor makes sufficient revisions to the deliverables such that ATIC may approve the deliverables and thus the invoice.

c) Payment will only be issued to the entity submitting the offer in response to this RFQ and identified in the resulting award; payment will not be issued to a third party.

d) Any award resulting from this RFQ will be firm fixed price, in the form of a purchase order.

e) The title to any goods supplied under any award resulting from this RFQ shall pass to ATIC following delivery and acceptance of the goods by ATIC. Risk of loss, injury, or destruction of the goods shall be borne by the offeror until title passes to ATIC.

Section 2: Offer Checklist

To assist offerors in preparation of proposals, the following checklist summarizes the documentation to include an offer in response to this RFQ:

o Cover letter, signed by an authorized representative of the offeror (see Section 3 for template);

o Official quotation, including detailed specifications of each piece of the equipment (see Section 4 for example format);

o Copy of offeror’s official registration and business license;

o Bank Account Award Certificate – copy – issued by the bank holding the account;

o Certificate of regular payment of taxes – copy – or certificate issued by the Tax Inspectorate on double taxation records;

o Warranty Certificate (min 3 years)

o Previous reference of min 3 similar size projects (deliveries) in the past which will include the Name of the Customer, Amount of the Contract, Contacts of the Person in Charge

o Contract with an authorized service Center

o The financial report for the 3 last years – copy – confirmed by the signature and seal of the offeror.

o Bank guarantee in amount of 10% for any offer exceeding 50,000 EUR.

SECTION 3:  LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

The following cover letter must be placed on letterhead and completed/signed/stamped by a representative authorized to sign on behalf of the offeror:

To: Partnerships for quality and relevance in ICT vocational education in Moldova

Str. Maria Cibotari 28, of 1B

Reference: RFQ No. VETII-2016-002

To Whom It May Concern:

We, the undersigned, hereby provide the attached offer to perform all work required to complete the activities and requirements as described in the above-referenced RFP. Please find our offer attached.

We hereby acknowledge and agree to all terms, conditions, special provisions, and instructions included in the above-referenced RFQ. We further certify that the below-named firm—as well as the firm’s principal officers and all commodities and services offered in response to this RFQ—are eligible to participate in this procurement under the terms of this solicitation.

Furthermore, we hereby certify that, to the best of our knowledge and belief:

• We have no close, familial, or financial relationships with any ATIC or VETII project staff members;

• We have no close, familial, or financial relationships with any other offerors submitting proposals in response to the above-referenced RFQ; and

• The prices in our offer have been arrived at independently, without any consultation, communication, or agreement with any other offeror or competitor for the purpose of restricting competition.

• All information in our proposal and all supporting documentation is authentic and accurate.

• We understand and agree to ATIC’ prohibitions against fraud, bribery, and kickbacks.

We hereby certify that the enclosed representations, certifications, and other statements are accurate, current, and complete.

Authorized Signature: _________________________________________________________________________

Name and Title of Signatory: __________________________________________________________________

Date: __________________________________________________________________________________________

Company Name: ______________________________________________________________________________

Company Address: ___________________________________________________________________________

Company Telephone and Website: ___________________________________________________________

Company Registration or Taxpayer ID Number: ______________________________________________

Does the company have an active bank account (Yes/No)? ___________________________________

Official name associated with bank account (for payment): __________________________________

Section 4: Specifications and Technical Requirements

The table below contains the Task List of the works/services. Offerors are requested to provide quotations, including specifications of equipment in accordance with solicited documentation, containing the information below on official letterhead or official quotation format. In the event this is not possible, offerors may complete this Section 4 and submit a signed/stamped version to ATIC.

                                                                        Other Costs (Describe:______________________) : __________________

                                                                        GRAND TOTAL, MDL, no VAT:  __________________

Delivery time (after receipt of order):                          calendar days;

Length of warranty on offered works/services:                       years.