Technical Advisory Services: Philippines Railroad Development

Solicitation / RFP / RFQ

This document is a combined synopsis/solicitation (RFP) for Technical Advisory Services related to the Philippines Railroad Development. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is seeking proposals for a single award Firm-Fixed-Price contract with optional cost-reimbursable contract line items (CLINs). The acquisition is for commercial items, following FAR Subpart 12 and 13 procedures.

• The core service involves acting as an independent and objective technical expert to review and assess the completeness of deliverables submitted by a U.S. company under a separate USTDA-funded contract for the Philippines' Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas (SCMB) Railway project.

• Key tasks include reviewing work products, providing advisory services to USTDA, coordinating with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Swedfund, and assessing technical acceptability of deliverables.

• Specific deliverables to be reviewed include: Initial Information Gathering, Transport Model Surveys, Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas Transport Model, Port-Rail Integration Study, Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment, Climate Risk Assessment, Environmental and Social Management Plan, Environmental Impact Assessment, Project Regulatory and Legal Analysis, Development Impact Assessment, U.S. Sources of Supply Analysis, and a Final Report and Stakeholder Presentation.

• The contractor may be required to travel to the Philippines up to three times for site visits and meetings.

• Contract Type: Firm-Fixed-Price with optional cost-reimbursable CLINs.

• Period of Performance: One (1) 12-month base period with one (1) additional 12-month option period, for a total of up to 24 months.

• Place of Performance: Contractor's facility in the U.S. or as directed in the Philippines.

• Estimated Value: Not explicitly stated, but the NAICS code is 541690 with a size standard of $19.0M.

• Proposal Submission Deadline: Tuesday, June 02, 2026, 1:00 PM Washington DC Time/ET.

• Submission Method: Electronically via email to Contractproposals@ustda.gov.

• Evaluation Criteria: A trade-off process will be used. Non-price factors are significantly more important than cost or price. The evaluation factors, in descending order of importance, are:

  1. General Sector Expertise
  2. Sector and Technical Experience (minimum 15 years required)
  3. Professional Experience of the Offering Firm and Proposed Personnel (minimum 7 years required)
  4. Past Performance
  5. Price/Cost

• Proposals must not exceed 15 pages for the technical proposal. Font type: Times New Roman, size 12.

• Award is limited to U.S. Firms or U.S. individuals.

• Contractor and U.S. subcontractor employees must be U.S. citizens or non-U.S. citizens lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

• Contractor use of subcontractors is limited to less than fifty percent of the proposed price.

• Offerors must be registered and have an active status in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).

• The solicitation incorporates numerous FAR clauses by reference, covering various aspects of contract terms, conditions, and compliance.

• The contractor will be ineligible to compete for future USTDA funded activities resulting from this contract for four (4) years.

• A Task Report Outline is provided as Attachment I.

Amendment / Modification

• This amendment provides questions and answers in response to the solicitation.

• It also updates Attachment 1 of the RFP document.

• Attachment 1 RFP document.

• The amendment does not explicitly state if proposal deadlines or requirements were modified, but it does note that offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment. The original solicitation number is 1131PL26R0022, and this is amendment A0002.

Questions & Answers / Clarifications

This document provides responses to questions submitted by potential offerors regarding the Philippines Railroad Development Advisory Services Solicitation No: 1131PL26R0022-A0002.

• Travel Time: Travel time to and from the Philippines is excluded from the five (5) working days per visit requirement.

• Labor Categories: Offerors may propose up to six (6) labor categories. Support staff can be added if justifiable for successful performance. The "Technical Expert" labor category is in addition to the other listed categories.

• Project Team Leader: While not strictly mandatory, the "Rail Transportation Expert" is highly preferred to serve as the Project's Team Leader due to the project's complexity.

• Deliverables Review: The contractor will review work plans and deliverables ranging from 20 to 300 pages. All necessary documents for context will be provided by USTDA.

• Contracting Mechanism: The contract is a single award Firm-Fixed-Price type. The estimated annual hours are 960 for the base period and 800 for the option period, with a fixed hourly rate for each labor category.

• Trips: Up to two (2) team members can travel per trip. Three (3) trips are assumed for the Base Year, with additional trips possible but not expected for the Option Year.

• Proposal Due Date: The proposal due date has been extended to June 12, 2026, at 1 PM Arlington/VA Time EST.

• Labor Categories: Offerors are expected to propose rates for six (6) labor categories, which will remain the same for the Option Year, with rates adjustable for market projections.

• New Requirement: This is a new contract requirement, with no incumbent.

Amendment / Modification

• The proposal due date has been extended.

• The proposal due date is changed from Tuesday, June 02, 2026, at 1:00 PM EST to Friday, June 12, 2026, at 1:00 PM EST.

• The deadline for proposal submissions has been extended to June 12, 2026, at 1:00 PM EST.

Solicitation / RFP / RFQ

This document is a combined synopsis/solicitation (RFP) issued by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) for a single award Firm-Fixed-Price contract with optional cost-reimbursable contract line item numbers (CLINs). The acquisition is for Technical Advisory Services for the Philippines Railroad Development.

The contractor will serve as an independent and objective technical expert to:

• Conduct a thorough review of work products and deliverables submitted to USTDA for acceptance under the SCMB Railway TA contract.

• Provide advisory services to USTDA, coordinating with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Swedfund.

• Review specific deliverables including: Initial Information Gathering, Transport Model Surveys, Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas Transport Model, Port-Rail Integration Study, Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment, Climate Risk Assessment, Environmental and Social Management Plan, Environmental Impact Assessment, Project Regulatory and Legal Analysis, Development Impact Assessment, U.S. Sources of Supply Analysis, and Final Report and Stakeholder Presentation.

• Travel to the Philippines may be required up to three times for up to five working days per visit.

• Contract Type: Firm-Fixed-Price with optional cost-reimbursable CLINs.

• Period of Performance: One (1) 12-month base period with one (1) additional 12-month option period, for a total potential of twenty-four (24) months.

• Place of Performance: Contractor's facility in the U.S. or as directed in the Philippines.

• Proposal Submission Deadline: Tuesday, June 02, 2026, 1:00 PM Washington DC Time/ET.

• Submission Method: Electronically via Contractproposals@ustda.gov.

• Technical Proposal Limit: 15 pages.

• Evaluation Approach: A trade-off process will be used. Non-price evaluation factors are significantly more important than cost or price. Evaluation factors include: General Sector Expertise, Sector and Technical Experience, Professional Experience of the Offering Firm and Proposed Personnel, Past Performance, and Price/Cost.

• Award Determination: Best value to the Government.

• Award is limited to U.S. Firms or U.S. individuals.

• Contractor and U.S. subcontractor employees must be U.S. citizens or non-U.S. citizens lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

• Contractor use of subcontractors is limited to less than fifty percent of the proposed price.

• Offerors must be registered and have an active status in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).

• This solicitation incorporates FAR clauses by reference. Full text of clauses may be accessed at www.acquisition.gov.

• The contractor will not be eligible to compete for future USTDA funded activities resulting from this contract for four (4) years after completion of performance.