SECTION 2.

INSTRUCTIONS TO CONSULTANTS

Definitions

(a) “Client/Procuring Entity” means the agency with which the selected Consultant signs the Contract
for the Services.

(b) “Consultant” means any entity or person that may provide or provides the Services to the Client
under the Contract.

(c) “Contract” means the agreement between the procuring entity and the successful bidder.

(d) “Data Sheet” means such part of the Instructions to Consultants used to reflect specific country and
assignment conditions.

(e) “Day” means calendar day including holidays unless provided otherwise.

(f) “Government” means the Government of the Republic of Rwanda.

(g) “Instructions to Consultants” (Section 2 of the RFP) means the document which provides Consultants
with all information needed to prepare their Proposals.

(h) “LOI” (Section 1 of the RFP) means the Letter of Invitation being sent by the Client to the
Consultants.

(i) “Personnel” means professionals and support staff provided by the Consultant or by any Sub-
Consultant and assigned to perform the Services or any part thereof; “Foreign Personnel” means such
professionals and support staff who at the time of being so provided had their domicile outside the
Government’s country; “Local Personnel” means such professionals and support staff who at the
time of being so provided had their domicile inside the Government’s country.

(j) “Proposal” means the Technical Proposal and the Financial Proposal.
(k) “RFP” means the Request for Proposal to be prepared by the Client for the selection of Consultants,
based on the Standard Request for Proposals.
(l) “SRFP” means the Standard Request for Proposals, which must be used by the Client as a guide for
the preparation of the RFP.
(m) “Services” means the work to be performed by the Consultant pursuant to the Contract.
(n) “Sub-Consultant” means any person or entity with whom the Consultant subcontracts any part of the
Services.
(o) “Terms of Reference” (TOR) means the document included in the RFP as Section 5 which explains
the objectives, scope of work, activities, tasks to be performed, respective responsibilities of the
Client and the Consultant, and expected results and deliverables of the assignment.
1. Introduction
1.1. The Client named in the Data Sheet will select a consulting Consultant/organization (the Consultant)
from those listed in the Letter of Invitation, in accordance with the method of selection specified in
the Data Sheet.

1.2. The Consultants are invited to submit a Technical Proposal and a Financial Proposal, or a Technical
Proposal only, as specified in the Data Sheet, for consulting services required for the assignment
named in the Data Sheet. The Proposal will be the basis for contract negotiations and ultimately for
a signed Contract with the selected Consultant.

1.3. Consultants should familiarize themselves with local conditions and take them into account in
preparing their Proposals. To obtain first-hand information on the assignment and local conditions,
Consultants are encouraged to visit the Client before submitting a proposal and to attend a pre-
proposal conference if one is specified in the Data Sheet. Attending the pre-proposal conference is
optional. Consultants should contact the Client’s representative named in the Data Sheet to arrange
for their visit or to obtain additional information on the pre-proposal conference. Consultants should
ensure that these officials are advised of the visit in adequate time to allow them to make appropriate
arrangements.

1.4. The Client will timely provide at no cost to the Consultants the inputs and facilities specified in the
Data Sheet, assist the Consultant in obtaining licenses and permits needed to carry out the services,
and make available relevant project data and reports.

1.5. Consultants shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of their proposals
and contract negotiation. The Client is not bound to accept any proposal, and reserves the right to
annul the selection process at any time prior to Contract award, without thereby incurring any
liability to the Consultants.

Conflict of Interest

1.6. Rwanda Public Procurement policy requires that Consultants provide professional, objective, and
impartial advice and at all times hold the Client’s interests paramount, strictly avoid conflicts with
other assignments or their own corporate interests, act without any consideration for future work
and in accordance with the law on public procurement as completed and modified to date.

1.6.1 Without limitation on the generality of the foregoing, Consultants, and any of their affiliates, shall
be considered to have a conflict of interest and shall not be recruited, under any of the circumstances
set forth below:

Conflicting activities

i) A Consultant that has been engaged by the Client to provide goods, works or services other than
consulting services for a project, and any of its affiliates, shall be disqualified from providing
consulting services related to those goods, works or services. Conversely, a Consultant hired to
provide consulting services for the preparation or implementation of a project, and any of its
affiliates, shall be disqualified from subsequently providing goods or works or services other than
 consulting services resulting from or directly related to the Consultant’s consulting services for
such preparation or implementation. For the purpose of this paragraph, services other than
consulting services are defined as those leading to a measurable physical output, for example
surveys, exploratory drilling, aerial photography, and satellite imagery.

Conflicting assignments

ii) A Consultant (including its Personnel and Sub-Consultants) or any of its affiliates shall not be
hired for any assignment that, by its nature, may be in conflict with another assignment of the
Consultant to be executed for the same or for another Client. For example, a Consultant hired to
prepare engineering design for an infrastructure project shall not be engaged to prepare an
independent environmental assessment for the same project, and a Consultant assisting a Client in
the privatization of public assets shall not purchase, nor advise purchasers of, such assets.
Similarly, a Consultant hired to prepare Terms of Reference for an assignment should not be hired
for the assignment in question.

Conflicting relationships

iii) A Consultant (including its Personnel and Sub-Consultants) that has a business or family
relationship with a member of the Client’s staff who is directly or indirectly involved in any part
of (i) the preparation of the Terms of Reference of the assignment, (ii) the selection process for
such assignment, or (iii) supervision of the Contract, shall not be awarded a Contract.

1.6.2 Consultants have an obligation to disclose any situation of actual or potential conflict that impacts
their capacity to serve the best interest of their Client, or that may reasonably be perceived as having
this effect. Failure to disclose said situations may lead to the disqualification of the Consultant or
the termination of its Contract.

1.6.3 No current employees of the Client shall work as Consultants in government ministries, departments
or agencies. Recruiting former government employees of the Client to work for their former
ministries, departments or agencies is acceptable provided no conflict of interest exists.

Unfair Advantage

1.6.4 If a Consultant could derive a competitive advantage from having provided consulting services
related to the assignment in question, the Client shall make available to all Consultants together with
this RFP all information that would in that respect give such Consultant any competitive advantage
over competing Consultants.

Fraud and Corruption

1.7 The Rwanda public procurement regulations require that all procuring entities, as well as Consultants
participating public procurement adhere to the highest ethical standards, both during the selection
process and throughout the execution of a contract. In pursuance of this policy, the Rwanda public
procurement laws and regulations:
 (a) defines, for the purpose of this paragraph, the terms set forth below as follows:

(i)“corrupt practice” means offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting, directly or indirectly, of

anything of value to influence a civil servant or Government entity

(ii) “fraudulent practices” means any act or omission, including a misrepresentation, that knowingly
or recklessly misleads or attempts to mislead a civil servant to obtain a financial or other benefit
or to avoid an obligation

(iii) “collusive practices” means means arrangement between two or more parties designed
to achieve an improper purpose, including influencing another party or the civil servant

(iv) “coercive practices” means any act intending to harm or threaten to harm directly or indirectly
persons, their works or their property to influence their participation in the procurement process
or affect its performance

(v) “Obstructive practices” means destroying, falsifying, altering or concealing of evidence

material to the investigation or making false statements to investigators deliberately in order
to materially impede investigations into allegations of a corrupt, coercive or collusive practice:
and/or threatening, harassing or intimidating any party to prevent him/her from disclosing
his/her knowledge of matters relevant to the investigation or from pursuing the investigations.

(b) require rejection of a proposal for award if it is determined that the Consultant recommended for
award has, directly or through an agent, engaged in corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive
practices in competing for the contract in question;

(c) require sanctions to a Consultant, including declaring the Consultant ineligible, either indefinitely
or for a stated period of time, to be awarded any contract if at any time it is determined that the
Consultant has, directly through an agent, engaged in corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive
practices in competing for, or in executing a contract; and

(d) gives the right to require that, a provision be included requiring Consultants to permit the
procuring entity to inspect their accounts and records and other documents relating to the
submission of proposals and contract performance, and have them audited by auditors appointed
by client.

1.8 Consultants, their Sub-Consultants, and their associates shall not be under a declaration of ineligibility
for corrupt and fraudulent practices in accordance with the above para. 1.7.

1.9 Consultants shall furnish information on commissions and gratuities, if any, paid or to be paid to agents
relating to this proposal and during execution of the assignment if the Consultant is awarded the
Contract, as requested in the Financial Proposal submission form (Section 4).

Single Proposal
1.10 Consultants may only submit one proposal. If a Consultant submits or participates in more than one
proposal, such proposals shall be disqualified. However, this does not limit the participation of the
same Sub-Consultant, including individual experts, to more than one proposal.

Proposal Validity

1.11 The Data Sheet indicates how long Consultants’ Proposals must remain valid after the submission date.
During this period, Consultants shall maintain the availability of Professional staff nominated in the
Proposal. The Client will make its best effort to complete negotiations within this period. Should the
need arise; however, the Client may request Consultants to extend the validity period of their proposals.
Consultants who agree to such extension shall certify that they maintain the availability of the
Professional staff nominated in the Proposal, or in their confirmation of extension of validity of the
Proposal, Consultants could submit new staff in replacement, who would be considered in the final
evaluation for contract award. Consultants who do not agree have the right to refuse to extend the
validity of their Proposals.

2. Clarification and Amendment of RFP Documents

2.1.Consultants may request a clarification of any of the RFP documents up to the number of days
indicated in the Data Sheet before the proposal submission date. Any request for clarification must
be sent in writing, or by standard electronic means to the Client’s address indicated in the Data Sheet.
The Client will respond in writing, or by standard electronic means and will send written copies of
the response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) to
all Consultants. Should the Client deem it necessary to amend the RFP as a result of a clarification,
it shall do so following the procedure under para. 2.2.

2.2. At any time before the submission of Proposals, the Client may amend the RFP by issuing an
addendum in writing or by standard electronic means. The addendum shall be sent to all Consultants
and will be binding on them. Consultants shall acknowledge receipt of all amendments. To give
Consultants reasonable time in which to take an amendment into account in their Proposals the
Client may, if the amendment is substantial, extend the deadline for the submission of Proposals.

3. Preparation of Proposals

3.1. The Proposal (see para. 1.2), as well as all related correspondence exchanged by the Consultants and
the Client, shall be written in the language (s) specified in the Data Sheet.

3.2. In preparing their Proposal, Consultants are expected to examine in detail the documents comprising
the RFP. Material deficiencies in providing the information requested may result in rejection of a
Proposal.

3.3. While preparing the Technical Proposal, Consultants must give particular attention to the following:
 (a) If a Consultant considers that it may enhance its expertise for the assignment by associating with
other Consultants in a joint venture or sub-consultancy, it may associate with either (a) non-
Consultant(s), or (b) Consultants if so indicated in the Data Sheet. In case of association with
non- Consultant(s), the Consultant shall act as association leader. In case of a joint venture, all
partners shall be jointly and severally liable and shall indicate who will act as the leader of the
joint venture.

(b) The estimated number of Professional staff-months or the budget for executing the assignment
shall be shown in the Data Sheet, but not both. However, the Proposal shall be based on the
number of Professional staff-months or budget estimated by the Consultants.

For fixed-budget-based assignments, the available budget is given in the Data Sheet, and the
Financial Proposal shall not exceed this budget, while the estimated number of Professional staff-
months shall not be disclosed.

(c) Alternative professional staff shall not be proposed, and only one curriculum vitae (CV) may be
submitted for each position.

Language

(d) Documents to be issued by the Consultants as part of this assignment must be in the language(s)
specified in the Reference Paragraph 3.1 of the Data Sheet. If Reference Paragraph 3.1 indicates
two languages, the language in which the proposal of the successful Consultant will be submitted
shall govern for the purpose of interpretation. It is desirable that the Consultant’s Personnel have
a working knowledge of the Client’s national language.

Technical Proposal Format and Content

3.4. Depending on the nature of the assignment, Consultants are required to submit a Full Technical
Proposal (FTP), or a Simplified Technical Proposal (STP). The Data Sheet indicates the format of
the Technical Proposal to be submitted. Submission of the wrong type of Technical Proposal will
result in the Proposal being deemed non-responsive. The Technical Proposal shall provide the
information indicated in the following paragraphs from (a) to (g) using the attached Standard Forms
(Section 3). Paragraph (c) (ii) indicates the recommended number of pages for the description of the
approach, methodology and work plan of the STP. A page is considered to be one printed side of A4
or letter size paper.

(a) (i) For the FTP only: a brief description of the Consultants’ organization and an outline of recent
experience of the Consultants and, in the case of joint venture, for each partner, on assignments of
a similar nature is required in Form TECH-2 of Section 3. For each assignment, the outline should
indicate the names of Sub-Consultants/ Professional staff who participated, duration of the
assignment, contract amount, and Consultant’s involvement. Information should be provided only
for those assignments for which the Consultant was legally contracted by the Client as a
corporation or as one of the major Consultants within a joint venture. Assignments completed by
individual Professional staff working privately or through other consulting Consultants cannot be
claimed as the experience of the Consultant, or that of the Consultant’s associates, but can be
 claimed by the Professional staff themselves in their CVs. Consultants should be prepared to
substantiate the claimed experience if so requested by the Client.

(ii) For the STP the above information is not required and Form TECH-2 of Section 3 shall not be
used.

(b) (i) For the FTP only: comments and suggestions on the Terms of Reference including workable
suggestions that could improve the quality/ effectiveness of the assignment; and on requirements for
counterpart staff and facilities including: administrative support, office space, local transportation,
equipment, data, etc. to be provided by the Client (Form TECH-3 of Section 3).

(ii) For the STP Form TECH-3 of Section 3 shall not be used; the above comments and suggestions,
if any, should be incorporated into the description of the approach and methodology (refer to
following sub-para. 3.4 (c) (ii)).

(c) (i) For the FTP, and STP: a description of the approach, methodology and work plan for performing
the assignment covering the following subjects: technical approach and methodology, work
plan, and organization and staffing schedule. Guidance on the content of this section of the
Technical Proposals is provided under Form TECH-4 of Section 3. The work plan should be
consistent with the Work Schedule (Form TECH-8 of Section 3) which will show in the form
of a bar chart the timing proposed for each activity.

(ii) For the STP only: the description of the approach, methodology and work plan should normally
consist of about 10 pages, including charts, diagrams, and comments and suggestions, if any, on
Terms of Reference and counterpart staff and facilities.

(d) The list of the proposed Professional staff team by area of expertise, the position that would be
assigned to each staff team member, and their tasks (Form TECH-5 of Section 3).

(e) Estimates of the staff input (staff-months of foreign and local professionals) needed to carry out
the assignment (Form TECH-7 of Section 3). The staff-months input should be indicated
separately for home office and field activities, and for foreign and local Professional staff.

(f) CVs of the Professional staff signed by the staff themselves or by the authorized representative
of the Professional Staff (Form TECH-6 of Section 3).

(g) For the FTP only: a description of the proposed methodology and staffing for training, if the Data
Sheet specifies training as a specific component of the assignment.

3.5. The Technical Proposal shall not include any financial information. A Technical Proposal containing
financial information may be declared non responsive.

Financial Proposals

3.6. The Financial Proposal shall be prepared using the attached Standard Forms (Section 4). It shall list
all costs associated with the assignment, including (a) remuneration for staff (foreign and local, in the
field and at the Consultants’ home office), and (b) reimbursable expenses indicated in the Data Sheet.
If appropriate, these costs should be broken down by activity and, if appropriate, into foreign and local
 expenditures. All activities and items described in the Technical Proposal must be priced separately;
activities and items described in the Technical Proposal but not priced, shall be assumed to be included
in the prices of other activities or items.

Taxes

3.7. The Consultant may be subject to local taxes (such as: value added or sales tax, social charges or
income taxes on non-resident Foreign Personnel, duties, fees, levies) on amounts payable by the
Client under the Contract. The Client will state in the Data Sheet if the Consultant is subject to
payment of any local taxes.

3.8. Consultants may express the price of their services in a maximum of three freely convertible currencies,
singly or in combination. The Client may require Consultants to state the portion of their price
representing local cost in the national currency if so indicated in the Data Sheet.

3.9 Commissions and gratuities, if any, paid or to be paid by Consultants and related to the assignment
will be listed in the Financial Proposal Form FIN-1 of Section 4.
4. Submission, Receipt, and Opening of Proposals

4.1 The original proposal (Technical Proposal and, if required, Financial Proposal; see para. 1.2) shall
contain no interlineations or overwriting, except as necessary to correct errors made by the
Consultants themselves. The person who signed the proposal must initial such corrections.
Submission letters for both Technical and Financial Proposals should respectively be in the format
of TECH-1 of Section 3, and FIN-1 of Section 4.

4.2 An authorized representative of the Consultants shall initial all pages of the original Technical and
Financial Proposals. The authorization shall be in the form of a written power of attorney
accompanying the Proposal or in any other form demonstrating that the representative has been dully
authorized to sign. The signed Technical and Financial Proposals shall be marked “ORIGINAL”.

4.3 The Technical Proposal shall be marked “ORIGINAL” or “COPY” as appropriate. The Technical
Proposals shall be sent to the addresses referred to in para. 4.5 and in the number of copies indicated
in the Data Sheet. All required copies of the Technical Proposal are to be made from the original. If
there are discrepancies between the original and the copies of the Technical Proposal, the original
governs.

4.4 The original and all copies of the Technical Proposal shall be placed in a sealed envelope clearly
marked “TECHNICAL PROPOSAL” Similarly, the original Financial Proposal (if required under the
selection method indicated in the Data Sheet) shall be placed in a sealed envelope clearly marked
“FINANCIAL PROPOSAL” followed by the number and the name of the assignment, and with a warning
“DO NOT OPEN WITH THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL.” The envelopes containing the Technical and
Financial Proposals shall be placed into an outer envelope and sealed. This outer envelope shall bear
the submission address, reference number and title of the Loan, and be clearly marked “DO NOT
OPEN, EXCEPT IN PUBLIC”. The Client shall not be responsible for misplacement, losing or
premature opening if the outer envelope is not sealed and/or marked as stipulated. This circumstance
may be case for Proposal rejection. If the Financial Proposal is not submitted in a separate sealed
envelope duly marked as indicated above, this will constitute grounds for declaring the Proposal
non-responsive.

4.5 The Proposals must be sent to the address/addresses indicated in the Data Sheet and received by the
Client no later than the time and the date indicated in the Data Sheet, or any extension to this date
in accordance with para. 2.2. Any proposal received by the Client after the deadline for submission
shall be returned unopened.

4.6 The Client shall open the Technical Proposal immediately after the deadline for their submission.
The envelopes with the Financial Proposal shall remain sealed and securely stored.
5. Proposal Evaluation
5.1 From the time the Proposals are opened to the time the Contract is awarded, the Consultants should
not contact the Client on any matter related to its Technical and/or Financial Proposal. Any effort by
Consultants to influence the Client in the examination, evaluation, ranking of Proposals, and
recommendation for award of Contract may result in the rejection of the Consultants’ Proposal.

Evaluators of Technical Proposals shall have no access to the Financial Proposals until the technical
evaluation is concluded.

Evaluation of Technical Proposals

5.2 The evaluation committee shall evaluate the Technical Proposals on the basis of their responsiveness
to the Terms of Reference, applying the evaluation criteria, sub-criteria, and point system specified in
the Data Sheet. Each responsive Proposal will be given a technical score (St). A Proposal shall be
rejected at this stage if it does not respond to important aspects of the RFP, and particularly the Terms
of Reference or if it fails to achieve the minimum technical score indicated in the Data Sheet.

Financial Proposals for Quality Based Selection (QBS)

5.3 Following the ranking of technical Proposals, when selection is based on quality only (QBS), the first
ranked Consultant is invited to negotiate its proposal and the Contract in accordance with the
instructions given under clause 6 of these Instructions.
 Public Opening and Evaluation of Financial Proposals (only for QCBS, FBS, and LCS)

5.4 After the technical evaluation is completed, the Client shall inform the Consultants who have
submitted proposals the technical scores obtained by their Technical Proposals, and shall notify those
Consultants whose Proposals did not meet the minimum qualifying mark or were considered non
responsive to the RFP and TOR, that their Financial Proposals will be returned unopened after
completing the selection process. The Client shall simultaneously notify in writing Consultants that
have secured the minimum qualifying mark, the date, time and location for opening the Financial
Proposals. The opening date shall not be sooner than seven days after the notification date. The
notification may be done by hand with acknowledgement of receipt or be sent by registered letter,
cable, telex, facsimile.

5.5 Financial Proposals shall be opened publicly in the presence of the Consultants’ representatives who
choose to attend. The name of the Consultants and the technical scores of the Consultants shall be read
aloud. The Financial Proposal of the Consultants who met the minimum qualifying mark will then be
inspected to certify that they have remained sealed and unopened. These Financial Proposals shall be
then opened, and the total prices read aloud and recorded. Consultants’ attendance at the opening of
Financial Proposals is optional.

5.6 The Evaluation Committee will correct any computational errors. When correcting computational
errors, in case of discrepancy between a partial amount and the total amount, or between word and
figures the formers will prevail. In addition to the above corrections, as indicated under para. 3.6,
activities and items described in the Technical Proposal but not priced, shall be assumed to be included
in the prices of other activities or items. In case an activity or line item is quantified in the Financial
Proposal differently from the Technical Proposal, (i) if the Time-Based form of contract has been
included in the RFP, the Evaluation Committee shall correct the quantification indicated in the
Financial Proposal so as to make it consistent with that indicated in the Technical Proposal, apply the
relevant unit price included in the Financial Proposal to the corrected quantity and correct the total
Proposal cost, (ii) if the Lump-Sum form of contract has been included in the RFP, no corrections are
applied to the Financial Proposal in this respect. Prices shall be converted to a single currency using
the selling rates of exchange, source and date indicated in the Data Sheet.

5.7 In case of QCBS, the lowest evaluated Financial Proposal (Fm) will be given the maximum financial
score (Sf) of 100 points. The financial scores (Sf) of the other Financial Proposals will be computed
as indicated in the Data Sheet. Proposals will be ranked according to their combined technical (St) and
financial (Sf) scores using the weights (T = the weight given to the Technical Proposal; P = the weight
given to the Financial Proposal; T + P = 1) indicated in the Data Sheet: S = St x T% + Sf x P%. The
Consultant achieving the highest combined technical and financial score will be invited for
negotiations.

5.8 In the case of Fixed-Budget Selection, the Client will select the Consultant that submitted the highest
ranked Technical Proposal within the budget. Proposals that exceed the indicated budget will be
rejected. In the case of the Least-Cost Selection, the Client will select the lowest proposal among those
 that passed the minimum technical score. In both cases the evaluated proposal price according to para.
5.6 shall be considered, and the selected Consultant is invited for negotiations.

6. Negotiations
6.1 Negotiations will be held at the date and address indicated in the Data Sheet. The invited Consultant
will, as a pre-requisite for attendance at the negotiations, certify availability of all Professional staff.
Failure in satisfying such requirements may result in the Client proceeding to negotiate with the next-
ranked Consultant. Representatives conducting negotiations on behalf of the Consultant must have
written authority to negotiate and conclude a Contract.

Technical negotiations

6.2 Negotiations will include a discussion of the Technical Proposal, the proposed technical approach and
methodology, work plan, and organization and staffing, and any suggestions made by the Consultant
to improve the Terms of Reference. The Client and the Consultants will finalize the Terms of
Reference, staffing schedule, work schedule, logistics, and reporting. These documents will then be
incorporated in the Contract as “Description of Services”. Special attention will be paid to clearly
defining the inputs and facilities required from the Client to ensure satisfactory implementation of the
assignment. The Client shall prepare minutes of negotiations which will be signed by the Client and
the Consultant.

Financial negotiations

6.3 If applicable, it is the responsibility of the Consultant, before starting financial negotiations, to contact
the local tax authorities to determine the local tax amount to be paid by the Consultant under the
Contract. The financial negotiations will include a clarification (if any) of the Consultant’s tax liability
in the Republic of Rwanda, and the manner in which it will be reflected in the Contract; and will reflect
the agreed technical modifications in the cost of the services. In the cases of QCBS, Fixed-Budget
Selection, and the Least-Cost Selection methods, unless there are exceptional reasons, the financial
negotiations will involve neither the remuneration rates for staff nor other proposed unit rates. For
other methods, Consultants will provide the Client with the information on remuneration rates
described in the Appendix attached to Section 4 - Financial Proposal - Standard Forms of this RFP.

Availability of Professional staff/experts

6.4 Having selected the Consultant on the basis of, among other things, an evaluation of proposed
Professional staff, the Client expects to negotiate a Contract on the basis of the Professional staff
named in the Proposal. Before contract negotiations, the Client will require assurances that the
Professional staff will be actually available. The Client will not consider substitutions during contract
negotiations unless both parties agree that undue delay in the selection process makes such substitution
unavoidable or for reasons such as death or medical incapacity. If this is not the case and if it is
established that Professional staff were offered in the proposal without confirming their availability,
the Consultant may be disqualified. Any proposed substitute shall have equivalent or better
qualifications and experience than the original candidate and be submitted by the Consultant within
the period of time specified in the letter of invitation to negotiate.
Conclusion of the negotiations

6.5 Negotiations will conclude with a review of the draft Contract. To complete negotiations the Client
and the Consultant will initial the agreed Contract. If negotiations fail, the Client will invite the
Consultant whose Proposal received the second highest score to negotiate a Contract.

7. Award of Contract

7.1 After completing negotiations the Client shall award the Contract to the best selected Consultant, and
promptly notify all Consultants who have submitted proposals. After Contract signature, the Client
shall return the unopened Financial Proposals to the unsuccessful Consultants.

7.2 The Consultant is expected to commence the assignment on the date and at the location specified in
the Data Sheet.

8. Confidentiality
Information relating to evaluation of Proposals and recommendations concerning awards shall not be
disclosed to the Consultants who submitted the Proposals or to other persons not officially concerned
with the process, until the publication of the award of Contract. The undue use by any Consultant of
confidential information related to the process may result in the rejection of its Proposal and may be
subject to the sanctions under the law on public procurement.