Opportunities with the EBRD for Czech Consultants Selection of Consultants under EBRD s Procurement Policies and Rules & Strategy for Winning Contracts Martin Ehrenberg Senior Advisor - Compliance Consultancy Services, EBRD Brno, 8 June 2011
Opportunities? Type of Required Consultancy Services? To assist the Bank s Clients with: Project Implementation: capacity building, institutional development, e.g. project implementation units project supervision by independent Engineer Project Preparation e.g. feasibility studies, project design, environmental impact assessments To assist the Bank with: Due diligence (technical, financial, environmental, integrity etc) Project monitoring, lenders technical supervisor Regional/cross-boarder assignments, policy dialogue or assignments with many beneficiaries
Contract Awards ( ) by EBRD and its Clients to Czech Consultants in 2006-2010* 2006 Total Consultancy Contracts Awarded by EBRD Value, million 135.05 Number 2,077 Consultancy Contract Awards to Czech Consultants Value, 2,534,140 % of Total Value 1.88% Number 5 2007 136.18 2,377 2,645,939 1.95% 10 2008 120.22 2,434 713,564 0.59% 18 2009 137.17 2,821 2,697,089 1.97% 10 2010 175.00 2,820 1,680,594 0.96% 20 * Including contract awards by the Office of the General Counsel
Czech Consultants Participation in Competitively Awarded Assignments 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Open Competition Expressed Interest 4 7 13 24 23 Contracts Awarded 0 2 5 2 2 Targeted Approach (open to Czech consultants only) Expressed Interest - - 1-10 Contracts Awarded - - 1-3 (of 20 in total)
Procurement Policies and Rules (PP&R) Revised Procurement Policies & Rules (PP&R) were adopted by the Bank s Board of Directors in May 2010 after a public consultation process: http://www.ebrd.com/pages/research/public ations/policies/procurement.shtml Based on fundamental principles of nondiscrimination, fairness and transparency Harmonisation with other International Finance Institutions (IFIs) on-going (e.g. Standard Request for Proposal)
Procurement Policies and Rules (PP&R) Section 5.1 of Bank s PP&R: The main concern when choosing consultants should be the quality of the services provided.
Overview of Selection Procedures for Consultant Selection (EBRD or Clients) Direct Selection (quality-based selection, less than EUR 75,000) Select consultant Negotiations Contract Selection from Shortlist (quality-based selection, EUR 75,000 EUR 300,000) Call for expressions of interest Long list Shortlist Select consultant Negotiations Contract Evaluation of Proposals (quality- & cost-based selection, EUR 300,000 and over) Call for expressions of interest Long list Shortlist Proposal (tech & fin.) Select consultant Negotiations Contract
Shortlist Procurement Notice and shortlisting of firms (1) generally between 3 and 6 firms (2) normally no more than 2 consultants from the same country (3) normally requires at least one qualified consultant from one of the Bank s Countries of Operation Selection form Shortlist: Highest-ranked firm is invited to negotiate contract Evaluation of Proposals: Shortlisted firms are sent the Request for Proposal (RFP) package
Shortlisting / Evaluation Criteria 1. General key criteria: (a) Firm s previous relevant project experience (by subject matter, sectors, track record in specific countries) (b) Calibre/CVs of experts proposed to carry out the assignment (c) Other (local language, local presence/input) 2. For Evaluation of Proposals also: (i) Methodology, work plan, comments on ToR (ii) Weight of financial proposal generally 20%
Selection & Contracting Timeframe Direct Selection Selection from Shortlist Evaluation of Proposals 7-14 days 5-7 weeks 4-6 months Always depends on circumstances of individual case (could be longer if Client selects/contracts which is not fully familiar with EBRD standard procedures)
Strategy for Winning Contracts Basics Focus on smaller assignments first (the first contract with EBRD enables you to demonstrate your excellence) The expression of interest (EoI) matters (starting point) Level of competition? Do you have any comparative/competitive advantage? Carefully assess submission requirements / evaluation criteria as per procurement notice (i) Procurement Rules (e.g. conflict of interest?) (ii) Eligibility (Czech tied funding? Competitive advantage?) (iii) Deadlines (iv) Budget viable? (v) Specific submission / evaluation requirements?
Strategy for Winning Contracts Assess Notice & Evaluation Criteria (1) Albert Einstein: Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts
Strategy for Winning Contracts Assess Notice & Evaluation Criteria (2) What are the specific submission requirements/evaluation criteria for EoIs/proposals? (i) Project references: Previous similar project experience? Similar budget/duration? Similar services/objectives/ activities? Similar country/region? (ii) Key experts/cvs: Relevant previous professional experience? Language requirements? How many key (!) experts? (iii) For proposals: Methodology, comments on Terms of Reference ( ToR ), workplan Pay attention to detail! Is your expression of interest/ proposal responsive?
Strategy for Winning Contracts Assess Notice & Evaluation Criteria (3) Be pragmatic when drafting EoI or proposal Main objective is to address the requirements in the procurement notice or Request for Proposal package and to be awarded the contract Main objective is not to describe how to successfully carry out the assignment in the technical proposal
Strategy for Winning Contracts Join Forces (1) Be realistic! Can you match the submission/evaluation criteria? If not, consider (i) consortia or sub-contracting opportunities, identify potential local, regional or international partner firms to complement your firm s strengths (know-how, project references, key experts) (ii) engaging external experts/freelancers to satisfy requirements related to key personnel
Strategy for Winning Contracts Join Forces (2) Know the market. Research and assess: (1) Contracts awards (2) Previous shortlists for similar assignments (3) Statistics EBRD Contract award notices/shortlists information available under: http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/ procurement/consultancy.shtml
EBRD Contract award notices/shortlists http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/procurement/consultancy.shtml
Strategy for Winning Contracts Be Kind to the Evaluators (1) (1) The key is to enable the evaluators to quickly and easily find and assess the relevant information (2) Remember Blaise Pascal who wrote: I would have written a shorter letter but I did not have the time!
Strategy for Winning Contracts Be Kind to the Evaluators (2) Key Question: Who is addressee? Who will evaluate/contract selected firm? EBRD or the Client? Is addressee banker or municipality?
Strategy for Winning Contracts Be Kind to the Evaluators (3) Consider your application from perspective of evaluation committee - are you able to easily assess your firm s strengths and compliance with evaluation criteria? Submit documents that are (i) tailored (adapt your regular standard documents) (ii) focussed (all key points/evaluation criteria addressed?) (iii) concise (table of content, clear structure & headlines, easy to assess, short sentences, use tables instead of running text when appropriate etc.) (iv) accessible (submit one pdf-file not many)
Strategy for Winning Contracts - Example for Project References Reference No. Name Firm Country 1) Background Assignment Title: Overall Assignment Budget (EUR) Proportion carried out by Consultant (%) Detailed Description of Assignment No of Staff provided Name of Client (public/ private) Funding Source/ Donor Duration Partners Consulting Services Provided 1) Key Tasks per Objective 2) Overall Objectives 3) Results/Outcome 2) Activities per Key Tasks 3) Deliverables/Outputs
Strategy for Winning Contracts - Example for Describing Experts Experience Assignment Title: Duration: (m/year) to (m/year) Country: Company/Client/ Donor: Expert s Position/ Job Title: Description: Relevant Responsibilities/Tasks Relevant Activities Relevant Deliverables/Outputs
Strategy for Winning Contracts Be Up to Date Information available under EBRD Procurement (www.ebrd.com): (1) EBRD s new projects (2) Project pipeline and executing agencies (3) Lists the latest public and private sector projects approved by the EBRD
Be Up to Date: When Consultancy Services are Needed (Project Cycle) Final repayment Initiation Final maturity Concept clearance [Sale of equity] Repayments Disbursements Project Implementation Consultancy Services Concept/ structure review Signing Final review Board approval Publication of Board approved Projects Project Preparation Consultancy Services Publication of Project Summary Document
www.ebrd.com Projects Countries Sectors About us What we do Who we are Where we are Who we work with ( ) Working with us Project financing Procurement (see next!) Trade Loan syndications Advice and support Jobs at the EBRD Procurement Notices (see next slides!)
ebrd.com - Procurement Notices Search by sector Search by country Search by contract type - Consultancy Services - Corporate goods works and services - Project goods, works and services Search Results - Issue Date - Deadline - Country - Notice Title -Sector - Notice Type
EBRD s eprocurement eselection for Consultants
Web-based eselection: Benefits for Consultants Ensures transparency, efficiency, level playing field and cost reductions as a result of on-line submissions Consultants can: (i) Subscribe for electronic notification about new opportunities by industry sector and area of expertise to increase competition (ii) Submit expressions of interest & proposals (including financial proposals) on-line/electronically (iii) View the status of application, manage participation in selection processes and monitor the progress of any selection process
eselection - https://eselection.ebrd.com/suite/ Register here Click here to view procurement notices Send a query or request assistance Sends email with link to reset password
Thank You! Questions? Martin Ehrenberg Senior Advisor - Compliance Consultancy Services, EBRD Ph.: +44 20 7338 7657 ehrenbem@ebrd.com