Selection of Consultants

Request for Expressions of Interest





Agence Française de Développement






June 2024

VIETNAM
Project of mobilization and securing water resources in Tuan Giao district in Dien Bien province

CONSULTING SERVICES
Expressions of Interest

Agence Française de Développement (hereinafter “AFD”) has received a financing from European Union, and intends to use part of the funds thereof for payments under the following project WARM Facility.
The Services of the consultant shall consist of conduct the feasibility study of the Project of mobilization and securing water resources in Tuan Giao district, Dien Bien province, Vietnam.
The objective of this study is to assess and design the feasibility of investments and technical support, in order to contribute optimally to the sustainable development of the District of Tuan Giao, on the economic, social and environmental levels, incorporating the climate change adaptation requirement.
The main expected results are:
1. a comprehensive understanding of the watershed of the Tuan Giao District and more specifically the basin intended to supply the reservoir envisaged, with a view to ensuring sustainable management of water resources;
2. assessment and modelling of water resources under current and future climate conditions, to enable integrated management and use of water resources and to verify the viability of current and future activities, dependent on water mobilization;
3. An optimal and recommended project, including:
a. Recommendations and quality control for the design of infrastructure and equipment at a level as expected in the feasibility study stage (preliminary design),
b. All project implementation conditions;
c. the definition of a roadmap and action plan for capacity building and institutional arrangements (provincial actors, capacities, etc.), in particular for sustainable management, operation and maintenance of project infrastructure and sustainable management of water resources;
d. The cost-benefit analysis of the proposed project.
4. an overall assessment of the expected carbon footprint;
5. an environmental and social assessment of the proposed project (including the resettlement framework);
6. a gender assessment with a gender action plan;
7. An analysis of the planning and management capabilities of the project management unit, including an assessment of any technical assistance needs for project implementation.
The study should:
- verifies the relevance, consistency and completeness of the proposed investments;
- examines the opportunity of positioning a flush valve to facilitate sediment removal;
- ensure proper design of the transfer infrastructure (primary and secondary network) to enable satisfactory operation and maintenance. It is necessary to design, position and size all necessary work (valves, flowmeters, pressure sensors, manholes);
- verify the procedures and costs for operating and maintaining the works and ensure that the Province has the necessary means to ensure their proper valuation;
- clarifies the organization of procurement and establishes a procurement plan.
It is essential that all entities involved in the project and final beneficiaries have a clear understanding of the recommended options for infrastructure and technical support, and that they comply with Vietnamese policies and regulations.Associations between international and national organisations are desirable and should be sought. The study is entrusted to one of the grouping’s organisations (a decision taken by the grouping’s members), which will appoint a team leader. The Consultant must provide a team of qualified and experienced professionals, appropriate to the performance of the Service. The effort required to complete the overall allocation is estimated at approximately 500 man-days.

The skills required for conducting this study are those of a team of experts in the following fields:
- Hydrology, hydraulic, hydraulogy modelling, Hydraulic engineering/ rural engineering
- Dams expertise, Civil Engineering, geology expertise, hydrology Expertise, hydraulic Expertise
- civil engineering and public works, geotechnician, topography, electromechanical, hydraulic, water chemistry, sprayer
- Operating and maintenance of water systems
- Irrigation expertise, water users organisations, Agro-economy, agriculture, agroecology, efficiency in agriculture water use
- public policy and institutional support
- Carbon footprint specialist, Forest carbon & Carbon market
- Environment and social evaluation, Biodiversity assessment, Gender, Resettlement

The team must be made up of both international and Vietnamese members.
The total consultancy service provision for conducting this study will spread during a 180 days period. The number of men-days to be mobilized is estimated around 500 man-days.
The service provision will begin after the contract between the consultancy and AFD has been signed. The start date is planned for November 2024.
AFD hereby invites Applicants to show their interest in delivering the Services described above.
This Request for Expressions of Interest is open to:

 Consulting firms q Individual consultants

q NGOs q Joint Venture between NGO(s) and consulting firm(s)

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.
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 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.
This information should be presented in the form of a dossier consisting of:
i. a letter of expression of interest indicating their desire to be pre-selected;
ii. a presentation brochure showing the turnover for the last three (3) fiscal years;
iii. their references in services of similar complexity and volume within the limit of 10 most relevant references and less than 10 years. The active telephone and/or e-mail contacts of the beneficiaries or donors must be specified for each experiment. The issue of a certificate of good standing is not necessary at this stage of the procedure;
iv. a list of the firm’s permanent staff who can be engaged for the services with a summary of their qualifications and experience;
v. the contact information of the head of the firm to whom to address the outcome of this call for expressions of interest;
vi. any other information to assess the firm’s capabilities;
vii. The duly dated and signed Statement of Integrity (attached to this document or available within the Contracting Directive at www.afd.fr).
The Consultant can send us the CVs of the experts to be mobilised, knowing that these CVs are not considered as a Consultant commitment, and will not be evaluated at this stage of the procurement process.
The selection criteria for interested consultants will relate, at the call for expressions of interest stage, to the similarity/proximity between the Services and the consultant’s references: scope of the contracts of the references cited, nature of the services, technical field, geographical context.
Determination of the similarity of the experiences will be based on:
 The contracts size;
 The nature of the Services: knowledge and professional experience in feasability study / project implementation with all the issues and subject, in dams and hydraulic & water systems, for irrigation and water drinking use
 The technical area and expertise :
o Hydrology, hydraulic, hydraulogy modelling, Hydraulic engineering/ rural engineering
o Dams expertise, Civil Engineering, geology expertise, hydrology Expertise, hydraulic Expertise
o civil engineering and public works, geotechnician, topography, electromechanical, hydraulic, water chemistry, sprayer
o Operating and maintenance of water systems
o Irrigation expertise, water users organisations, Agro-economy, agriculture, agroecology, efficiency in agriculture water use
o public policy and institutional support
o Carbon footprint specialist, Forest carbon & Carbon market
o Environment and social evaluation, Biodiversity assessment, Gender, Resettlement
o water resource management, hydrology assessment and simulation, rural hydraulic engineering, reservoir-pipe operation,
o cost estimation,
o GIS,
o environment and social sciences, environnemental, and social risk management, resettlement, project development, nature based solutions; biodiversity analysis, climate adaptation and attenuation sectoral policies & projects

 The location:Vietnam.
The Client will also take into account for the evaluation of the applications the following items:
 experience in the area of the study;
 adequate language skills : English. French, Vietnamese will be appreciated;
 Local representatives/partners;
 Experience with AFD or European Union or Asian Development Bank.
At the next stage of the tender, the selection will be based on quality and cost. As such, the selection criteria for the future Request for Proposals will give an essential part to the quality of the methodological proposal and the organization and qualification of the team that will be proposed.
Among the submitted applications, AFD will shortlist a maximum of six (6) Applicants, to whom the Request for Proposals to carry out the Services shall be sent.
The Expressions of Interest must be submitted to the address below no later than 2nd September 2024 at 1pm, Hanoï time.

AFD HANOI OFFICE
Address: 28, Thanh Nien, Tay Ho, Ha Noi
Telephone: +84 24 38 23 67 64
Attention: AFD Country Director,
Email: nguyenta@afd.fr / nguyennhv@afd.fr / vasseurd@afd.fr / Afdhanoi@afd.fr



Interested Applicants may obtain further information at the address below
Afdhanoi@afd.fr
With a copy to:
nguyennhv@afd.fr
nguyenta@afd.fr
vasseurd@afd.fr



Appendix to The Request for Expressions of Interest
(To be sumitted with the application, signed and unaltered)
Statement of Integrity, Eligibility and Environmental and Social Responsibility

Reference of the bid or proposal (the "Contract")
To: (the "Contracting Authority")

1. We recognise and accept that Agence Française de Développement ("AFD") only finances projects of the Contracting Authority subject to its own conditions which are set out in the Financing Agreement which benefits directly or indirectly to the Contracting Authority. As a matter of consequence, no legal relationship exists between AFD and our company, our joint venture or our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants. The Contracting Authority retains exclusive responsibility for the preparation and implementation of the procurement process and performance of the contract. The Contracting Authority means the Purchaser, the Employer, the Client, as the case may be, for the procurement of goods, works, plants, consulting services or non-consulting services.
2. We hereby certify that neither we nor any other member of our joint venture or any of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants are in any of the following situations:
2.1 Being bankrupt, wound up or ceasing our activities, having our activities administered by the courts, having entered into receivership, reorganisation or being in any analogous situation arising from any similar procedure;
2.2 Having been:
a) convicted, within the past five years by a court decision, which has the force of res judicata in the country where the Contract is implemented, of fraud, corruption or of any other offense committed during a procurement process or performance of a contract (in the event of such conviction, you may attach to this Statement of Integrity supporting information showing that this conviction is not relevant in the context of this Contract);
b) subject to an administrative sanction within the past five years by the European Union or by the competent authorities of the country where we are constituted, for fraud, corruption or for any other offense committed during a procurement process or performance of a contract (in the event of such sanction, you may attach to this Statement of Integrity supporting information showing that this sanction is not relevant in the context of this Contract);
c) convicted, within the past five years by a court decision, which has the force of res judicata, of fraud, corruption or of any other offense committed during the procurement process or performance of an AFD-financed contract;
2.3 Being listed for financial sanctions by the United Nations, the European Union and/or France for the purposes of fight-against-terrorist financing or threat to international peace and security;
2.4 Having been subject within the past five years to a contract termination fully settled against us for significant or persistent failure to comply with our contractual obligations during contract performance, unless this termination was challenged and dispute resolution is still pending or has not confirmed a full settlement against us;
2.5 Not having fulfilled our fiscal obligations regarding payments of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of either the country where we are constituted or the Contracting Authority's country;
2.6 Being subject to an exclusion decision of the World Bank and being listed on the website http://www.worldbank.org/debarr (in the event of such exclusion, you may attach to this Statement of Integrity supporting information showing that this exclusion is not relevant in the context of this Contract);
2.7 Having created false documents or committed misrepresentation in documentation requested by the Contracting Authority as part of the procurement process of this Contract.
3. We hereby certify that neither we, nor any of the members of our joint venture or any of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants are in any of the following situations of conflict of interest:
3.1 Being an affiliate controlled by the Contracting Authority or a shareholder controlling the Contracting Authority, unless the stemming conflict of interest has been brought to the attention of AFD and resolved to its satisfaction;
3.2 Having a business or family relationship with a Contracting Authority's staff involved in the procurement process or the supervision of the resulting Contract, unless the stemming conflict of interest has been brought to the attention of AFD and resolved to its satisfaction;
3.3 Being controlled by or controlling another bidder or consultant, or being under common control with another bidder or consultant, or receiving from or granting subsidies directly or indirectly to another bidder or consultant, having the same legal representative as another bidder or consultant, maintaining direct or indirect contacts with another bidder or consultant which allows us to have or give access to information contained in the respective applications, bids or proposals, influencing them or influencing decisions of the Contracting Authority;
3.4 Being engaged in a consulting services activity, which, by its nature, may be in conflict with the assignments that we would carry out for the Contracting Authority;
3.5 In the case of procurement of goods, works or plants:
a) Having prepared or having been associated with a consultant who prepared specifications, drawings, calculations and other documentation to be used in the procurement process of this Contract;
b) Having been recruited (or being proposed to be recruited) ourselves or any of our affiliates, to carry out works supervision or inspection for this Contract.
4. If we are a state-owned entity, and to compete in a procurement process, we certify that we have legal and financial autonomy and that we operate under commercial laws and regulations.
5. We undertake to bring to the attention of the Contracting Authority, which will inform AFD, any change in situation with regard to points 2 to 4 here above.
6. In the context of the procurement process and performance of the corresponding contract:
6.1 We have not and we will not engage in any dishonest conduct (act or omission) deliberately indented to deceive others, to intentionally conceal items, to violate or vitiate someone's consent, to make them circumvent legal or regulatory requirements and/or to violate their internal rules in order to obtain illegitimate profit;
6.2 We have not and we will not engage in any dishonest conduct (act or omission) contrary to our legal or regulatory obligations or our internal rules in order to obtain illegitimate profit;
6.3 We have not promised, offered or given and we will not promise, offer or give, directly or indirectly to (i) any Person who holds a legislative, executive, administrative or judicial mandate within the State of the Contracting Authority regardless of whether that Person was nominated or elected, regardless of the permanent or temporary, paid or unpaid nature of the position and regardless of the hierarchical level the Person occupies, (ii) any other Person who performs a public function, including for a State institution or a State owned company, or who provides a public service, or (iii) any other person defined as a Public Officer by the national laws of the Contracting Authority’s country, an undue advantage of any kind, for himself or for another Person or entity, for such Public Officer to act or refrain from acting in his official capacity;
6.4 We have not promised, offered or given and we will not promise, offer or give, directly or indirectly to any Person who occupies an executive position in a private sector entity or works for such an entity, regardless of the nature of his/her capacity, any undue advantage of any kind, for himself or another Person or entity for such Person to perform or refrain from performing any act in breach of its legal, contractual or professional obligations;
6.5 We have not and we will not engage in any practice likely to influence the contract award process to the detriment of the Contracting Authority and, in particular, in any anti competitive practice having for object or for effect to prevent, restrict or distort competition, namely by limiting access to the market or the free exercise of competition by other undertakings;
6.6 Neither we nor any of the members of our joint venture or any of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants shall acquire or supply any equipment nor operate in any sectors under an embargo of the United Nations, the European Union or France;
6.7 We commit ourselves to comply with and ensure that all of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants comply with international environmental and labour standards, consistent with laws and regulations applicable in the country of implementation of the Contract, including the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and international environmental treaties. Moreover, we shall implement environmental and social risks mitigation measures when specified in the environmental and social commitment plan (ESCP) provided by the Contracting Authority.
7. We, as well as members of our joint venture and our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants authorise AFD to inspect accounts, records and other documents relating to the procurement process and performance of the contract and to have them audited by auditors appointed by AFD.

Name: In the capacity of:
Duly empowered to sign in the name and on behalf of :
Signature:
Dated:

Description of the project

Context
The district of Tuan Giao is located in the mountains (570 to 1500 meters above sea level) of North-West Vietnam, in the province of Dien Bien, 70 km from the capital of the province, Dien Bien Phu. There is a population of about 95,000 inhabitants over an area of 1130 km2, spread over small villages.
The district has a mainly agricultural economy (80% of jobs) with rice, maize and cassava production. The district has issues:
- poverty and economic and social development, with a very high poverty rate of 45%;
- water supply, both for domestic use and for agricultural use for supplementary irrigation in the dry season, in an area with karst reliefs, where surface water and groundwater are scarcely available, and for the latter difficult to access. Water shortages are noted in the dry season, between February and April, and sometimes conflicts emerge between different uses, domestic and productive. The authorities are obliged to restrict domestic water consumption;
- land degradation due to slope agriculture of annual crops that erode and leach soils, cause landslides and promote runoff that cause flooding. The hills and slopes are massively bare. Vegetation has largely been depleted by recurrent slash and burn agricultural practices and logging.
Climate change increases the stakes: rising temperatures, increased rainfall intensity and variability, even less precipitation in the dry season, and the risk of intense rainfall in the rainy season, increasing natural hazards (floods, flash floods, drought, fires, landslides, soil erosion, deforestation and loss of arable land) and difficulties in irrigating rice fields at the bottom of the valley.
Water availability projections by 2030 showing a deficit in relation to domestic and agricultural needs, particularly in certain specific sectors of the District.
In order to address these challenges, the Vietnamese authorities are considering investments to improve the mobilization of water resources and the distribution network, and improve soil cover on slopes by promoting sustainable crops, instead of annual crops, in the form of macadamia and coffee plantations.

2.Presentation of the project
2.1 Purpose and specific objectives of the project
The objectives, to which the project contributes in the considered area of the Tuan Giao District, are to strengthen the resilience of the Province in the face of the worsening climate hazards related to climate change, to support its economic and social development, and increase carbon sequestration.
It is thus a question of securing the water resource and promoting an efficient management in its various uses (drinking water and agriculture), in order to (i) preserve the resources in particular the mountain soils; (i) secure and improve the supply of drinking water to the population, (iii) maintain agricultural and rural employment; and (iv) support the agroecological and agroforestry transition from mountain agriculture to a diversified cropping system, agroforestry, more productive and more resilient to climate change.
 
The specific objectives of the project are:
- For the "investment" component, the construction of (i) a dam allowing the creation of a 5 million m3 reservoir, (ii) a primary and secondary pipeline network of approximately 120 km, and (iii) associated small structures (service roads, storage tanks at the end of the primary or secondary network, installation and equipment for operation and maintenance);
- For the "technical assistance" component, capacity and expertise strengthening in infrastructure operation and maintenance, optimization of water resource use at the plot level, enhancement of plantations in the form of carbon credits, project management, and agroecology in mountain agriculture.

2.2. Project Content
The proposed project has three components:
Component 1 - Investments
The project :
- The construction of the Sai Luong Reservoir in Nam Mun Commune, with a capacity of 5 million cubic metres, including: an earthen dam, a flood dump, a water intake lock and other ancillary works, including: a management building; an operational management road; a lakeside management road; a monitoring and supervision system.
- Installation of a pressure water pipe system, 120 km long, including intermediate storage tanks, SCADA control system, intelligent weather station, irrigation system with humidity sensors, and an auxiliary operating system.
Component 2: Technical assistance and institutional support
The following reinforcement actions could be envisaged:
- technical assistance to the project management unit, for its implementation, if any weaknesses and support needs were identified during appraisal: procurement, financial management, social and environmental due diligence, monitoring of indicators, reporting, quality control of work files and work execution;
- technical assistance to the structure that will manage the water supply network, for the commissioning of the infrastructure: support for the establishment of a remote management system for the monitoring and operation of the infrastructure (SCADA), capacity building of the structure (IMC or other) in the operation and maintenance of the infrastructure (procedures, recruitment, training, support for the acquisition of equipment), support for the use of the bottom valve on the dam, for the removal of sediments and their transfer downstream;
- technical assistance to agricultural services, and in possible partnership with research institutes, oriented towards economical and efficient agricultural practices in the use of water, limiting erosive processes and improving soil fertility, through the following actions:
- Management of field irrigation, focusing on water conservation in connection with water user associations;
- Support for the development of agroecological and agroforestry practices, by supporting the mobilization of funding and the implementation of incentives and on a significant scale, the dissemination of adapted cultural practices, both for macadamiers and for associated or complementary annual crops, favourable to the improvement of soil fertility and water retention: mixed or intercalary crops, especially the first years before the production of macadamiers, Development of valuable anti-erosive cultures, etc.
- Implementation of payment mechanism for environmental services and valuation of plantations in the form of carbon credit.
Component 3: Project Implementation
This component, entirely financed by the counterpart funds, covers the implementation and monitoring of the project by the Project Management Unit (PMU) constituted by the Province of Dien Bien, as well as the implementation of the preliminary studiesdetailed project and environmental and social measures defined under the Environmental and Social Management Plan – ESMP (including costs of compensation to affected populations), studies and supervision of work, tax mobilization and audits.

2.3. Funding Plan
The total amount of planned investments (component 1) is estimated at €53.3 million.
A loan from AFD (CVN1299) would be dedicated to the financing of duty-free expenditure on the works and improvements of component 1, for an amount currently estimated at €40.1 million. A delegated grant from the European Union (CVN1273) would cover component 2 on institutional support and support. The envisaged amount is €1.5 million for this component.
The provincial counterpart will notably cover the management of the project, the assumption of taxes, studies and supervision of the work, the implementation of environmental and social measures, audits, costs of compensation and resettlement of affected populations (component 3).
AFD’s loan to the central government would be returned to the province of Dien Bien in the form of a loan of up to 10% and transferred as a grant of up to 90%.

2.4. Operating Procedure
The Province of Dien Bien will be the final beneficiary of the AFD financing, and the Tuan Giao People’s Committee will be the project owner, through a project management unit. The coordination of project activities will be carried out by this PMU which will ensure the management, implementation and monitoring of the project. It will be responsible for selecting all contractors and construction companies that will be mobilized for the implementation of the project. The PMU will prepare semi-annual technical and financial implementation reports that will be sent to AFD. The monitoring indicators defined in the monitoring and evaluation system will be regularly transmitted. The PMU will be assisted by the technical assistance selected through an international call for tenders by the Province.
Funds from the European Union (WARM Facility) will be used to finance component 2 on accompanying measures and institutional support. The beneficiaries of these technical assistance will be the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the agricultural services of the districts concerned, the water management services, the organizations of agricultural water users, the farmers.
The contracts will be awarded in accordance with the public procurement rules in Viet Nam and the AFD Procurement Guidelines.
Responsibility for infrastructure and its maintenance will be transferred to the reception of the works, to the water management services (to be specified as part of this feasibility study).