Ulaanbaatar City Bus Fund – Pre-Feasibility Study

Item Description:

The City of Ulaanbaatar (the “City”) approached the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“EBRD” or the “Bank”) with a request to assist in identifying the gaps and key areas for development in the urban transport sector.

Assignment Description:

On this basis, the Bank is looking to engage a suitably qualified consultant (the “Consultant”) to prepare a study aimed at (i) assessment of current practices in bus operations (ii) analysing government bus funding programme and (iii) recommendation of future bus fleet renewal and funding programme (the “Assignment”). The Consultant will provide an assessment of the Priority Investment Plan (PIP) and its benefits, including legal/regulatory requirements and financial and economic rate of return for the Project.

The expected outcome of the Assignment is to identify key areas in urban transport in the City of UB to structure EBRD’s investments.

The selected Consultant is expected to provide the following services:

Review of bus transport sector, including bus operations and licencing practices, bus fleet management and maintenance practices and facilities, revenue collection and AFC operation, current and future fleet requirements including Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).
Analysis of existing bus funding programme regarding legal/regulatory framework, organisation and resources, financial review/fund uses, application/allocation process for bus operators.
Proposals for new bus funding programme, including fleet requirements (up to 10 years), on-going support initiatives, including other IFIs (notably ADB for BRT scheme), legal/regulatory requirements and financial and economic assessment.
Workshop for City/EBRD and key stakeholders.
Status of Selection Process: Interested firms or groups of firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.

Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in Q12016 and has an estimated overall duration of 4 months.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 100,000 (exclusive of VAT).

The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the special status of the Bank as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a Consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purchased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.

Funding Source: It is expected that the Assignment will be funded by EBRD’s Shareholder Special Fund.

Eligibility: There are no consultant nationality eligibility restrictions

Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms with project experience related to:

1. developing feasibility studies for international financial institutions (“IFIs”) and a good knowledge of IFI procedures and rules on public procurement and disbursement policies;

2. experience of similar assignments in public transport sector in countries with comparable conditions to Mongolia;

3. Deep knowledge of the public transport sector, specifically institutional and legal framework aspects, environmental and social requirements; local financial management standards, professional standards of technical knowledge internationally as well as in the region.

The Consultant’s team is expected to include key experts as follows:

a Transport Planner Expert, who will also perform a role of Team Leader, with preferably 15 years of experience, including preferably at least 5 years in urban transport projects in similar environments.

b Bus Operations Expert with preferably 15 years of experience in working on similar assignments.

c. Financial Expert with preferably 10 years of experience of working in the proposed field.

d. Local Legal Expert with preferably 10 years of experience of working in the proposed field, including knowledge of local legal and regulatory conditions in Mongolia and the region.

e. Environmental and Social Expert with preferably 10 years of experience of working in the proposed field, including knowledge of EBRD’s environmental and social requirements.

Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants seeking to be selected for this Assignment, the information submitted should include the following:

1. Company/group of firms’ profile, organisation and staffing (max. 2-4 pages).

2. Details of previous project experience or similar assignments particularly undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contract value, contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided (if different from duration) , main activities, objectives.

3. CVs of key experts who could carry out the Assignment detailing qualifications, experience in similar assignments, particularly assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, main activities, objectives.

4. Completed Consultant Declaration Form and Contact Sheet, the template for which is available from the following web-link:

http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/procurement/notices/csu/contact_sheet.doc.

The above information should not exceed 25 pages excluding CVs and the Consultant Declaration Form and Contact Sheet.

The complete expression of interest (including CVs, Consultant Declaration and Contact Sheet) should be submitted, in English electronically through e-Selection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date. The expression of interest shall be one file (pdf). The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size is exceeded (4MB), the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.

Bank Contact Person:
Elena Kolodiy
Technical Co-operation
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: + 44 20 7338 6765
e-mail: kolodiyo@ebrd.com (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)

Notes:

1. The selection will normally be made from responses to this notification only. Consultants will not be asked to submit a proposal. The highest-ranked Consultant will be selected from a shortlist and be invited to negotiate the contract.

2. The shortlist criteria are:

(a) Firm’s previous project experience in developing feasibility studies for IFIs and a good knowledge of IFI procedures and rules on public procurement and disbursement policies – 20%

(b) Firm’s previous experience of similar assignments in public transport sector in countries with comparable conditions to Mongolia – 25%

(c) Demonstrable extensive knowledge of the public transport sector, specifically institutional and legal framework aspects, environmental and social requirements; local financial management standards, professional standards of technical knowledge internationally as well as in the region – 25%

(d) CV of Transport Planner Expert – 10%

(e) CV of Bus Operations Expert – 5%

(f) CV of Financial Expert – 5%

(g) CV of Local Legal Expert – 5%

(h) CV of Environmental and Social Expert – 5%

http://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/procurement/pn-66834.html