U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID/Ghana, Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20521-2020

R -- TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT TRADE AND INVESTMENT POLICY REFORM AND FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION IN GHANA SOL RFP-641-97-P-009 POC Contact Point: Raymond L. Edler, Contracting Officer, USAID/Ghana, Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20521-2020, Tel: 233-21- 231939, Fax: 233-21-231937. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ghana plans to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a five-year cost-plus-fixed-fee, completion-type, performance-based contract to provide technical assistance to support trade and investment policy reform and financial intermediation in Ghana. This assistance will be aimed at changing policy and improving financial market in order to facilitate more rapid economic growth in Ghana. The contractor will provide long terms and short-term experts to: (1) strengthen the capacity of local institutions to participate in policy change, (2) assist the Government of Ghana (GOG) to review trade and investment policies, (3) foster public-private consensus on critical policy changes, (4) facilitate the adoption and implementation of policy and regulatory reforms, (5) assist with the development of improved financial instruments, and (6) improve the GOG's and the Bank of Ghana's management of financial markets. By the end of the contract, it is expected that program implementation will have resulted in: (1) reduced custom barriers, (2) a reduction of GOG budget deficits, (3) reduced monetary financing, (4) reduced trade duties and tariffs, (5) a reduction of controls on importation of agricultural and manufacturing inputs, (6) a reduction of interventions to prop up the value of the CEDI, (7) removal of certain export controls, and (8) a consensus on the adoption of other progressive economic policy reforms. A request for proposals will be issued no earlier than 15 days from the date of publication of this notice. Final approval of this procurement is pending, however, it is anticipated it will soon be approved. Prospective offerors should be aware that if the procurement is not approved no RFP will be issued. Interested offerors may request a copy of the potential RFP by submitting a written request to USAID/Ghana. Requests may be faxed. The preferred method of distribution of USAID procurement information is via the internet or by request of a solicitation on a 3.5" floppy disk, wordperfect 5.1/5.2 format. This CBD notice can be viewed and downloaded using the agency web site. The RFP once issued, can be downloaded from the agency web site. The worldwide web address is http://ww.Info.usaid.gov. Select business and procurement opportunities from the home page, then USAID procurements., On the following screen, select "(download available usaid solicitations)." The RFP can also be downloaded via anonymous file transfer protocol (ftp). The ftp address is ftp.Info.USAID.Gov. Logon using the user identification of "anonymous" and the password is your e-mail address. Look under the following directory for the RFP: PUB/OP/RFP/64197P009/64197p009.rfp Receipt of this RFP through the internet must be confirmed by written notification to the contact person noted above. It is the responsibility of the recipient of this solicitation to ensure that it has been received from internet in its entirety and USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. USAID encourages the participation of Small Business Concerns and Small Disadvantaged Concerns in this activity as prime contractors or subcontractors in accordance with Part 19 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (0254)

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