EXTENDED - Request for Quotations (RFQ) 2 LOTs - Equipment

Request for Quotations (RFQ) 2 LOTs

RFQ Number: SEEDFORUM-2022-0002

Issuance Date: 03.03.2022

Deadline for Offers: 29.03.2022

Description: IT equipment Purchase - Laptops

For: Empowering Women Hub Networks

Funded By: UN Women and Sweden, under PA002790MDA

Issued by: I.P SEED FORUM MOLDOVA

Point of Contact: Dan Albu, Technical Assistant, tech@ihub.world, CC Irina.grisca@ihub.world, Irina Grisca, General Manager

Section 1: Instructions to Offerors

Introduction: The Private Institution SEED FORUM MOLDOVA (SEED FORUM) is soliciting proposals from eligible and responsible firms regarding IT equipment purchase for one of the project Empowering Women Hub Networks, as described below in Section 1 (Instruction to Offerors).

The equipment to be supplied is grouped into 2 LOTs:

LOT 1: IT Equipment - Laptops

LOT 2: Accessories

About SEED FORUM MOLDOVA(IHUB)

Seed Forum Moldova promotes the advancement of entrepreneurial culture within a global network on the basis of public-private partnerships. Present in over 50 countries all over the world, in 2016 Seed Forum Moldova opened iHub Chisinau- a tech hub situated in the heart of Chisinau aiming to grow a next generation of entrepreneurs, provide extensive support to integrate them into global networks and offer a wide range of services to support their daily operations: access to coworking spaces, business support services, community initiatives.

Seed Forum Moldova is an NGO registered under Moldovan legislation in 2016.

About Project “Empowering Women Hub Networks”:

Empowering Women Hub Networks is a 10-month project aiming to reach economic development by engaging more girls and women in the promising sectors aiming to impact equality, independence and create better access to economic opportunities. We aim to replicate upon the prior success on gender perspective and promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women through information and communication technologies by building their self-confidence and capacity to contribute. Also, we want to build awareness that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are tools that enable gender equality and women's empowerment, and are integral to the creation of societies in which both women and men can equally contribute and participate.

According to the UN Women reports, women represent 19% of the workforce in IT, which is compliant with the average EU perspective, however taking into consideration the background of the country, the potential of women pursuing STEM careers is still underexplored.

The main reasons for Girls and Women to avoid STEM relate to self-confidence, perception of a male dominated career and stereotype, imposed future roles for girls and insufficient opportunities for women to develop themselves in a friendly and open environment.

Specific results expected:

Result #1: Capacity Building for Chisinau based Women Hub

Indicators:

• Min 10 women receive support and access to Women Hub services
• Community of Women grown to min 400 representatives
• Min 20 community driven initiatives organized
• Min 5 success stories to empower women in Tech

Result #2: Expansion of Women Hub to Comrat and Balti in partnership with Tekwill project

Indicators:

• 2 Women Hubs created in Balti in Comrat to support girls and women in their STEM careers
• Min 4 projects supported to empower women in Tech
• Min 2 idea hackathons organized with a regional impact

Result #3: Tech Women network fortified through capacity-building activities

• Women in Online Work program organized in Balti and Comrat with min 100 participants
• One Mentors Program supported for women in the regions
• Empowering Tech Women Ambassadors through Tech Women Gala by including regions into the program
• Min 15 career orientation events in 3 Women Hub(s)

Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received by SEED FORUM in accordance with the instructions, terms, and conditions described in this RFQ. Failure to comply with the instructions described in this RFQ may lead to the disqualification of an offer.

Offer Deadline and Protocol: Offers must be received no later than 29.03.2022, 17:00, local Chisinau time, electronically.

Any email offers must be sent to the following address:

In attention of, Irina Grisca

General Manager iHUB Chisinau

irina.grisca@ihub.world

Please reference the RFQ number in any response to this RFQ. Offers received after the specified time and date will be considered late and will be reviewed only at SEED FORUM discretion.

1. Questions: Questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFQ may be submitted no later than 28.03.2022, 17:00, local Chisinau time, by email to Dan Albu, Technical Assistant, tech@ihub.world, CC irina.grisca@ihub.world. Questions must be submitted in writing; phone calls will not be accepted. Questions and requests for clarification—and the responses thereto—that SEED FORUM believes may be of interest to other offerors will be circulated to all RFQ recipients who have indicated an interest in bidding.

Only the written answers issued by SEED FORUM will be considered official and carry weight in the RFQ process and subsequent evaluation. Any verbal information received from employees of SEED FORUM or any other entity should not be considered as an official response to any questions regarding this RFQ.

2. Specifications: Section 4 contains the technical specifications of the required items. All commodities offered in response to this RFQ must be new and unused. In addition, all electrical commodities (if applicable), must operate on 220V, 50Hz.

Please note that, unless otherwise indicated, stated brand names or models are for illustrative description only. An equivalent substitute, as determined by the specifications, is acceptable.

3. Quotations: Quotations in response to this RFQ must be set on a fixed-price, all-inclusive basis, including delivery and all other costs. Pricing must be presented in Offers must remain valid for no less than thirty (30) calendar days after the offer deadline. Offerors are requested to provide quotations on their official quotation format or letterhead; in the event, this is not possible, offerors may complete the table in Section 3.

In addition, offerors responding to this RFQ are requested to submit a copy of their official registration or business license.

4. Delivery: The delivery location for the items described in this RFQ is Str.31 August, 78, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova.
5. As part of its response to this RFQ, each offeror is expected to provide an estimate (in calendar days) of the execution time frame (after order receipt). The delivery estimate presented in an offer in response to this RFQ must be upheld in the performance of any resulting contract.
6. Warranty: The warranty coverage must be valid on all services/works for a minimum of two (2) years after delivery/execution and acceptance of the services/works unless otherwise specified in the technical specifications (Section 4).
7. Taxes and VAT: The agreement under which this procurement is financed does not permit the financing of any taxes, VAT, tariffs, duties, or other levies imposed by any laws in effect in the Cooperating Country. No such Cooperating Country taxes, VAT, charges, tariffs, duties or levies will be paid under an order resulting from this RFQ. In the event that any exempt charges are paid by the Subcontractor, they will not be reimbursed to the Subcontractor by SEED FORUM. The Subcontractor shall immediately notify SEED FORUM if any such taxes are assessed against the Subcontractor or its subcontractors/suppliers at any tier. The Subcontractor is responsible for payment of all applicable taxes, as prescribed under the applicable laws, associated with wages/salaries/compensation for services rendered by individuals employed by the Subcontractor and who are directed to work as required under this Subcontract. The Subcontractor is liable for payment of all applicable taxes associated with revenues (profit), and other such taxes, fees, or dues for which the Subcontractor is normally responsible as a result of operating its business.
8. Eligibility: By submitting an offer in response to this RFQ, the offeror certifies that it and its principal officers are not debarred, suspended, or otherwise considered ineligible for an award.
9. Evaluation and Award: The award will be made to a responsible offeror whose offer follows the RFQ instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, meets or exceeds the minimum required technical specifications, and is judged to be the best value based on a lowest-price, technically acceptable basis, business experience, the visual aspect of the work to be performed, similar objects in the past and short production and installation terms.

Please note that if there are significant deficiencies regarding responsiveness to the requirements of this RFQ, an offer may be deemed “non-responsive” and thereby disqualified from consideration. SEED FORUM reserves the right to waive immaterial deficiencies at its discretion.

Best-offer quotations are requested. It is anticipated that the award will be made solely on the basis of these original quotations. However, SEED FORUM reserves the right to conduct any of the following:

• SEED FORUM may conduct negotiations with and/or request clarifications from any offeror prior to award.
• While preference will be given to offerors who can address the full technical requirements of this RFQ, SEED FORUM may issue a partial award or split the award among various suppliers, if in the best interest of the Project.
• SEED FORUM may cancel this RFQ at any time.

10. Terms and Conditions: This is a Request for Quotations only. Issuance of this RFQ does not in any way obligate SEED FORUM to make an award or pay for costs incurred by potential offerors in the preparation and submission of an offer.

This solicitation is subject to SEED FORUM’s standard terms and conditions. Any resultant award will be governed by these terms and conditions; a copy of the full terms and conditions is available upon request. Please note that the following terms and conditions will apply:

1. Payment will be made in MDL, via wire transfer to the account specified in the Subcontractor’s invoice. Payment of unpaid balances will be made upon completion and final acceptance of all works and deliverables by SEED FORUM. Any invoices for services rendered and deliverables submitted - but not accepted by SEED FORUM - will not be paid until the Subcontractor makes sufficient revisions to the deliverables such that SEED FORUM may approve the deliverables and thus the invoice.
2. Payment will only be issued to the entity submitting the offer in response to this RFQ and identified in the resulting award; payment will not be issued to a third party.
3. Any award resulting from this RFQ will be a firm fixed price, in the form of a purchase order.
4. The title to any goods supplied under any award resulting from this RFQ shall pass to SEED FORUM following delivery and acceptance of the goods by SEED FORUM. Risk of loss, injury, or destruction of the goods shall be borne by the offeror until title passes to SEED FORUM.

Section 2: Offer Checklist

To assist offerors in the preparation of proposals, the following checklist summarizes the documentation to include an offer in response to this RFQ:

• Official quotation, including detailed specifications of works in accordance with attached Design Documentation (see Section 4 for example format);
• Copy of offeror’s official registration and business license;
• Bank Account Award Certificate - copy - issued by the bank holding the account;
• The financial report for the last year - copy - confirmed by the signature and seal of the offeror.

Section 4: Specifications and Technical Requirements

The table below contains the Task List of the goods/services. Offerors are requested to provide quotations, including specifications of works in accordance with the attached Design Documentation, containing the information below on official letterhead or official quotation format. In the event this is not possible, offerors may complete this Section 4 and submit a signed/ stamped version to SEED FORUM.

This RFQ is for a total quantity of 31 units only. Please submit 2 cost offers, one for each category of technical specification detailed in the table below, keeping the same quantity of 31 units.

Other Costs (Describe:_____________________) : __________________

GRAND TOTAL, MDL, no VAT: __________________

Delivery time (after receipt of order): calendar days;

Length of warranty on offered works/services: years.