Background
As per the five-year project aims at improving the resilience of communities in the Northern upland of the Lao PDR through sustainable management of natural resources. It is expected that the targeted communities are better prepared and less vulnerable to climate change risks thanks to their capacity to sustainably respond to threats and to conceptualize environmentally sustainable opportunities. On the other hand, natural resources are better protected and better shared as a result of increased understanding, commitment and leadership of the population living in the areas by setting by the following three specific objectives. They include: (i) participatory planning at watershed scale for improved the management of natural resources; (ii) support for agro-ecological transition; and (iii) improved management of water resources.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Lao PDR (MAF) has received a financing from Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and intends to use part of the funds thereof for payments under the following project Sustainable micro-Watersheds Management in the Northern of the Lao PDR (SWAN Lao).

The Services of the consultant shall consist of the Implementation of the selected Watersheds Management in the provinces of Phongsaly, Luang Prabang and Xiengkhouang in the northern of the Lao PDR (so call implementing partners 2 or “IP2”)

The MAF’s Department of Planning and Cooperation (MAF/DOPC) hereby invites Applicant to espress their interest in delivering the Services described above. (see attachment 1 for brief project information).

This Request for Expressions of Interest is open to the Consulting firms or Joint Venture between consulting firm(s).
Consultant firms participated in the bid of Technical Assistance to the Project Enabling Unit (PEU), (Ref. No. TA PEU-SWAN-CS-03) will be also eligible to this bid.

Eligibility criteria to AFD financing are specified in sub-clause 1.3 of the "Procurement Guidelines for AFD Financed Contracts in Foreign Countries", available online on AFD’s website: http://www.afd.fr.

Determination of the similarity of the experiences will be based on:
• Contracts size: Maximum indicative budget €2,100,000.
• Nature of the Services: Undertake the project implementation of the selected watersheds management, Batch 2 (Non - Nam Et - Phou Loey National Park areas).
• Techincal areas and expertises: The Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:
(i) referenced experiences on the project implementation in multi- sector, notably for small agriculture rural infrastructure projects;
(ii) referenced experiences in implementation of watershed managemment, mainly in the upland areas;
(iii) referenced experiences in the region and/or Lao PDR, and more specifically in the northern provinces of Lao PDR ;
(iv) skills and availability of in-house technical back-up experts provided to the on-site experts; and
(v) presence of local experts/representatives/partners.
• Service location: Lao PDR, experiences in project target provinces (Phongsaly, Luang Prabang and Xiengkhouang) is a plus.
• Evalualtion method: QCBS (Quality and Cost-Based Selection).

Submission

The Applicant shall submit only one application, either in its own name or as a member of a Joint Venture (JV). If an Applicant (including any JV member) submits or participates in more than one application, those applications shall be all rejected. However, the same Subconsultant may participate in several applications.

If the Applicant is a Joint Venture (JV), the expression of interest shall include:
• a copy of the JV Agreement entered into by all members, or
• a letter of intent to execute a JV Agreement, signed by all members together with a copy of the Agreement proposal.

In the absence of this document, the other members will be considered as Subconsultants. Experiences and qualifications of Subconsultants are not taken into account in the evaluation of the applications.

Interested Applicants must provide information evidencing that they are qualified and experienced to perform those Services. For that purpose, documented evidence of recent and similar services shall be submitted.

An application that does not meet any of these requirements will be rejected. Among the submitted applications, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF)’s Department of Planning and Finance (DOPF) will shortlist a maximum of six (6) Applicants, to whom the Request for Proposals to carry out the Services shall be sent. Only Short-listed candidates will be contacted.

The Expressions of Interest must be submitted to the address below (in person and by email) no later than 08 April 2022, 17.00 hrs (Vientiane time).

Attn: Dr. Phommy INTHICHACK
Deputy Director General
Department of Planning and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Patouxay square, Vientiane Capital 01000, Lao PDR
Telephone: + 856 21 415 358
Mobile: +856 20 2248 4400
Email: swanlao.npco@gmail.com
and copy to loungnamk@yahoo.com/chit_say@yahoo.com.

NB: your e-mail response should not exceed 6 MB. If this should be the case, please breaking your answer into multiple emails.

Interested Applicants may obtain further information within five (5) working days after the publication of the REOI at the address below during office hours: Mr. Ketsana LOUANGNAM (Tel.: +856 20 2248 4400; loungnamk@yahoo.com) or Mr. Chittachone VOLASAY (Tel.: + 856 20 2220 6770; chit_say@yahoo.com).