Asian Development Bank
Business Opportunities Seminar (BOS)
Consulting Services
Business Opportunities Seminar (BOS)
 What kind of consultants and services at ADB?
 When does ADB need consultants ?
 Where do you find information on consulting
opportunities ?
 How to win consulting contracts?
 What not to do !
Business Opportunities Seminar (BOS)
What kind of consultants and services at ADB?
Types of Consultants and Eligibility
 TA Consultants



PPTA (Project Preparation)
ADTA (Advisory TA)
RETA (Regional TA)

ADB member countries
 Consultants for Loan Projects
 Staff Consultants
 Administrative Services at ADB
 Eligibility
Types of Consultants
 International Consultants
 National Consultants
 Consulting Firms
 Individual/Independent Consultants
 Other: NGOs, universities, UN organizations, and
research institutions
Services Required
 Broad range of activities over the entire
project cycle
 Broad range of expertise
 Changes with time
Development Trends influence
Consulting Requirements
1970s
Engineering and
Agricultural Projects
Development Trends influence
Consulting Requirements
1970s
Engineering and
Agricultural Projects
1980s
Integrated Rural
Development Projects
Development Trends influence
Consulting Requirements
?
1990s – Early 2000s
Social Sector
Environment
Health (HIV/AIDS)
Education
Disaster Relief
1970s
Engineering and
Agricultural Projects
1980s
Integrated Rural
Development Projects
Development Trends influence
Consulting Requirements
2005+
Infrastructure
Urban
Finance
Energy
Climate Change
1990s – Early 2000s
Social Sector
Environment
AIDS/HIV
Disaster Relief
1970s
Engineering and
Agricultural Projects
1980s
Integrated Rural
Development Projects
Toward a New Asian Development
Bank – Draft Long-Term Strategic Framework
 Infrastructure
 Financial Development
 Energy and environment
 Regional integration
 Technological development and knowledge
management
When does ADB need Consultants ?
Staff
Consultant
Country Partnership Strategy (CPS)
Consulting
Firm
1
Evaluation
Consulting
Firm
Implementation
Individual
Consultants
6
2
Preparation
5
3
Appraisal
4
Staff
Consultant
Loan Negotiation & Board Approval
Business Opportunities Seminar (BOS)
How to win consulting contracts?
Some Pointers
1.
Firms and individual/independent consultants should
register in ADB’s Consultant Management System (CMS)
2.
Know the ‘rules-of-the-game’
A. Guidelines on the Use of Consultants by the Asian Development
B.
Bank and Its Borrowers (February 2007)
Project Administration Instructions (PAIs)
3.
Get short-listed
4.
Prepare quality proposals
5.
Perform
Some Pointers
Consultant Management System
(CMS)
Register in the Consultant Management
System (CMS)
CMS – Eligibility Criteria
CMS – Comparative Table
(based on the latest figures in the database)
CMS-Firms
CMS-Individuals
Country
France
Italy
Germany
Registered
52
50
120
% to Total
2.10
2.02
4.85
Registered
123
40
193
% to Total
4.97
1.62
7.80
Sweden
Denmark
The Netherlands
26
42
54
1.05
1.70
2.18
61
78
178
2.47
3.15
7.19
Spain
Portugal
Belgium
35
7
19
1.41
0.28
0.77
27
9
56
1.09
0.36
2.26
Some Pointers
‘Rules-of-the-Game’
Policies and Procedures
A. Guidelines on the Use of Consultants by ADB
and Its Borrowers
Guidelines
 Policies and procedures
for selecting, contracting
and monitoring
consultants required for
loan and technical
assistance (TA) projects
ADB
Guidelines on
The Use of Consultants
By Asian Development Bank
and Its Borrowers
Feb 2007
Asian Development Bank
Guidelines
Policies






Need for high-quality services
Need for economy and efficiency
Need to give all qualified consultants an opportunity to
compete
Need to encourage the development and use of national
consultants from developing member countries (DMCs)
Need for transparency in the selection process
Need for increasing focus on anticorruption
Other Selection Methods
Contracting Methods




Time-based Contract
Lump Sum Contract
Indefinite Delivery Contract
Performance-based Contract
Policies and Procedures
B. Project Administration Instructions (PAIs)
Project Administration Instructions
(PAIs)
Some Pointers
Getting Short-listed
Typical Recruitment Cycle - QCBS
Consultancy Services
Recruitment Notice
CSRN
Min.
Qualifying
mark
750
Short-listing/RFP
Submission of Tech. & Fin. Proposals
Technical Evaluation
Opening of Financial Proposals
Financial evaluation
Ranking of combined scores
Contract negotiations
Consulting Services Recruitment Notice
(CSRN)
Consulting Services Recruitment Notice
(CSRN)
Consulting Services Recruitment Notice
(CSRN) - EOI
Getting Short-listed
Expression of Interest (EOI)
Expression of Interest (EOI) – some new
developments

Standard EOI for TAs and Loan projects


Nominate associates

Consortium partners must be retained through proposal
submission, negotiation and implementation stages

ADB/EAs have right to request a JV for larger or complex contracts
Management, technical and geographical experience of the lead
firm and associates (in case of consortium) will be evaluated for
short-listing purposes BUT
Preparation of Shortlist
Shortlisting Criteria




Eligibility – pass/fail
Management Competence – (%)
Technical Experience – (%)
Geographical Experience – (%)
A short-list comprises 6 firms with a wide geographic
balance
Some Pointers
Prepare quality proposals
Request for Proposal (RFP)
Section 1: Letter of Invitation (LOI)
Section 2: Instructions to Consultants (ITC)
Section 3: Technical Proposal - Standard Forms
Section 4: Financial Proposal - Standard Forms
Section 5: Terms of Reference (TOR)
Section 6: Standard Forms of Contract
Section 7: List of ADB Member Countries
Types of Proposal



Full Technical Proposal (FTP)
 Large project
 Complex TOR
 Budget >$1M
 Methodology/work plan/schedule - max 50 pages
 45 days to submit proposal
Simplified Technical Proposal (STP)
 Medium sized project
 Less complicated TOR
 Budget </=$1M>$0.6M
 Methodology/work plan/schedule - max 10 pages
 CV page limitation – max 5 pages
 35 days to submit proposal
Bio-data Technical Proposal (BTP)
 Straightforward assignment
 Budget </=$0.6M
 Work plan and CVs only
 21 days to submit proposal
Technical Proposal Evaluation
Full
Weight
Simplified Biodata
Technical
Proposal
Technical
Proposal
Proposal
Experience of the
firm
100-200
--
--
Methodology
Work program
Personnel
schedule, etc.
200-400
300
100
Personnel
for personnel
schedule only
500-700
700
900
Technical Proposal Evaluation
Experience of
the Firm *
100-200
Not applied to Simplified
Technical Proposal
Experience in
similar projects
Experience in
the region
Other factor
Technical Proposal Evaluation
Understanding
of Objectives
Approach &
Methodology
200- 400
Those with
asterisk mark are
not applied to
Simplified Technical
Proposal
Methodology
Work Program
Person month
requirement
Innovativeness*
Counterpart
Support*
Presentation
Technical Proposal Evaluation
Personnel
(700)
Team Leader
/Expert A
300
Expert B
200
Expert C
100
Expert D
100
General
Qualification
Project
Experience
Country
Experience
10-25%
60-70%
10-15%
Q%W
+ P%W
+
C%W = Score
Financial Proposal Evaluation
 Technically qualified (>750 out of possible 1,000
points) consultants invited to public opening
 Read out technical scores and open financial
envelope
 All technically qualified consultants informed of
technical scores and (unchecked) cost
Financial Proposal Evaluation
 Checks for:

Commercial compliance

Arithmetic

Consistency with technical proposals

QCBS NEW RULING: OPTION FOR “ESTIMATED” OR
“MAXIMUM” BUDGET (IF “MAXIMUM”, FINANCIAL PROPOSAL
EXCEEDING BUDGET GIVEN ZERO MARKS)
Financial Proposal Scoring
 Lowest priced proposal given maximum financial
score of 1,000 points
 Other financial proposals' scores using the
formula
Score =
(lowest price/price of P) x 1000
[where P is the price of another proposal]
Overall Ranking
 Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS)
Total score = 80% technical + 20% financial
QCBS v QBS and Flexible QCBS
Contract Negotiations
Agenda of the Contract Negotiation:
(Normally 3 - 5 Days)











Scope of Work/TOR
Work plan, Personnel Schedule
Personnel
Submission of Letter of Authorization by Consultant
Counterpart staff and facilities
Equipment
Financial terms and conditions
Review and sign Minutes by all and Contract by consultant
Post-Assignment Questionnaire
Contract Administration
Evaluation of Consultant’s Performance
Contract Management Issues
 Team leader/team chemistry
 Relationships with EA
 Relationships between international & national consultants
 Role and responsibilities of national consultants
 Replacements
 Performance evaluations
 Unsatisfactory performance
 Payment issues
Business Opportunities Seminar (BOS)
What not to do?
Non Compliant Proposals
 Failure to make a statement on conflict of interest
 Firm or any of its associates not registered in a ADB member
country
 Wrong type of technical proposal is submitted
 Technical Proposal includes costs [QCBS]
 Proposal was not delivered in time to meet deadline.
 Government employees included in consultant’s proposal
Errors
 Pages omitted
 CV left out
 Discrepancy between TOR person months in the RFP and
proposed person months
 Discrepancy between type of experts in the RFP and those
proposed
 Proposal makes radical changes to the TORs (Note: Comments
on the Terms of Reference)
Errors (cont’d)
 International economist rated at zero - Bulgarian nationality
 Role and responsibility of associated companies not clear
 Too much home office input shown for team leader
 Limited input by the TL due to conflict with another ADB
project
 Reporting deadlines were not indicated
 Role of HQ and quality control measures not clear
Fraud and Corruption
 Consultants and representatives
 Payments in cash or kind to influence decisions
 Submission of false CVs
 Misrepresentation of academic qualifications
 Misrepresentation of firm’s qualifications
 Executing Agencies
 Misprocurement
 Sub-standard quality of civil works
 ADB staff
Asian Development Bank
Thank you for your attention !
Should you require further information,
please feel free to contact me, Omar Tiwana
at: otiwana@adb.org