1.         Given the amount of funds involved, the institution will be selected through International Competitive Bidding, though it is likely that only national institutions currently operating in the project area are likely to bid.  In addition, interested institutions need to have facilities in the localities where the project will operate. The terms of reference for the microfinance institution are included in part 7.

2.         Procurement Notice and general advertisement.  During month 1 of project implementation, the procurement officer will prepare a Specific Procurement Notice, which will be published in 3 national newspapers and, through the WB office, in UNDP online.  In view of the likelihood that only a few institutions will have the necessary qualifications, no pre-qualification will be required.  The procurement notice will include

-          A brief summary of the overall project as per standard procurement notices

-          the details of the requirements [drafted by the Project’s Credit and Marketing Specialist], i.e. a summary of the proposed matching fund mechanism

-          the deadline for application

-          the name, address, phone/fax/email to which interested parties should respond

-          the date of availability for bidding documents

3.         Preparation of Standard Bidding Documents. The Procurement officer will prepare the ‘Standard Bidding Documents’ by downloading them from the World Bank Site and completing them as necessary. They can be accessed by using the following steps on the internet through your computer:

-          Open World Bank Site: www.worldbank.org

-          Type ‘Procurement’ in the top right ‘go’ window found on the right of the ‘search’ window.  This will open a series of options, the first being ‘Procurement Home Page’.  Open this.

-          In the left column [shaded blue], will find a section called ‘Index of Standard Bidding and Proposal Documents’.  Open this.

-          This window provides a large number of options, select the blue shaded one at the bottom of the page, titled ‘Procurement of non-consultant services’.  Open this

-          Then select the ‘English’ version.  Open this