1. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE BIDDERS

To apply, kindly read the Terms of References, attach the required documents and submit through email an offer covering the following matters:

• elaboration of the Expatriate pocket guide, and
• development of 5 promotional materials summarized in an interactive and easy way.

The comprehensive proposal will be sent to the email addresses: legal@mitp.md and viorica.jereghi@mitp.md, with the message name "Proposal_Pocket guide_[name of the offeror]" and will contain 2 separate documents:

1. The technical proposal with proposed the following components:
   1. Company presentation/background – will include a general background of the organization; 
   2. Experience - provide information on each project for which your firm was legally contracted either individually or as one of the main companies within an association, for carrying out consulting services similar to the ones requested under this assignment. Bidders are encouraged to describe mainly similar experiences to this assignment. Information to be filled is:

• project name;
• timeline of the assignment;
• narrative description of the project (objectives, outputs, outcomes and activities); 
• reference links; 
• any other information;

3. Vision, methodology and approach for development of the Pocket Guide for expatriates and 5 accompanying promotional materials - provide a strategic vision regarding the approach of the tasks to be performed under this assignment. 
4. Work plan - propose the main activities of the assignment, their content and duration, phasing and milestones, and delivery dates. In this section, the bidder should be in-line with technical approach and methodology, showing ability to translate the project assignment into concrete detailed action plan.
5. Proposed table of contents - an alternative draft version of the table of content with detailed explanations of what each chapter of the Pocket Guide for expatriates will consist of. The bidder will show their ability of understanding the requirements and the consistency and content of the Guide.  

The offer will contain the confirmative documents regarding the eligibility of the Offeror (see Section VI Eligibility and qualification of the Offeror).

2. Financial proposal (in Moldovan lei, with and without VAT), that will include the man/day costs necessary for each of the deliverables.

Deadline for submission – 24 May 2024 18:00 (Chisinau time).

Language of communication - Romanian or English, language of presentation of deliverables - English.

Each Proposal (financial and technical) is to be signed. Late bids will not be accepted.

Any request for clarification regarding this proposal request can be sent by e-mail to legal@mitp.md and viorica.jereghi@mitp.md until 21 May 2024 18:00 (Chisinau time). We will respond in writing (email only) to any clarification request received before the deadline for clarification as indicated above.

2. BACKGROUND

MITP is a unique and innovative model to support Moldovan IT sector competitiveness & digital innovation ecosystem development locally and internationally. MITP reunites today more than 1800 tech entrepreneurs and 21.000+ employees, counting for 80-85% of the entire Moldovan IT sector in terms of sales, exports and jobs. Our residents benefit from a special tax incentive, paying a 7% single tax and having a simplified tax & accounting compliance. 

MITP residents are also eligible for the IT Visa Program, which gives them the possibility to have simplified immigration procedures in order to obtain a work permit (for IT company management (4 years), IT specialists (2 years)), their family members may benefit as well. MITP is a focal point for services and incentives in the ICT sector, being a catalyst for investment through promotion of flexible government policy, an environment conducive to ICT innovation, and digital transformation. Being a cluster facilitator, the Park provides an organizational platform with a set of innovative tools and approaches to accelerate the transformation of the economy, streamline corporate innovation practices, boost the growth of the IT industry, support partnerships, create new jobs, and attract local and foreign investment. 

One of our priorities is to promote Moldova as an IT destination for investors, IT companies and IT talents. To do so, we are looking to provide a comprehensive pocket Guide for expatriates and accompanying promotional materials that can be used by expats and IT companies in order to smoothly and precisely relocate in the IT sector of the country.

3. SCOPE OF WORK

MITP is looking for a consulting company that will develop a Pocket Guide for expatriates to present Moldova as an IT destination for foreign specialists to be hired by local companies and 5 accompanying promotional materials with a short overview of the country’s IT industry and its potential. The Guide will serve as a proper roadmap for IT companies and IT talents looking to relocate or operating on Moldovan market. 

The Pocket Guide for expatriates and promotional materials will be developed to reach following objectives:

1. Provide a deep and comprehensive information comprised in a summary document (Pocket Guide) and spread in 5 promotional materials for expats for the easiness of relocation to Moldova covering all aspects of the IT sector, opportunities and roadmap;
2. Present Moldova as an IT destination for foreign specialists to be hired by local companies. It shall include all kind of possible advantages (career, travel, country specific, IT Visa, tax regime). 
3. Serve as a communication motive to rollout outreach campaigns and raise awareness of Moldova as an IT and IT investment destination.

The Pocket Guide for expatriates shall cover specifically, but not limited, the following topics:

1. Short Country overview (population, climate, territory, main cities)
2. Moldovan general IT market overview:
   • General overview about IT industry
   • Technologies available
   • Complementary Industries: R&D, electronics, creative, engineering, automotive etc. 
   • MITP peculiarities and advantages 
3. Moldova general overview:
   • education/schools 
   • career in IT
   • travel
   • labor market (tendencies in IT, most needed jobs(jobs.moldovaitpark.md), vacancies, overview about salaries in IT)
   • physical and virtual infrastructure
   • accommodation and hotels
   • international payments
   • facilities, seaside visits
   • infrastructure
   • IT market players
   • stakeholders mapping. 
4. Step-by-step guidance for IT talents:
   • Staying and work permits (including IT visa)
   • Medical and social insurance
   • Taxation of expats and customs implications
   • Remote work and labour implications
   • Opening bank accounts and e-signature 
   • Data protection, Security Privacy and IP

The promotional materials will consist of a summary information (2 A4 pages) covering the following topics:

1. General IT market overview/Moldova general overview
2. Staying and work permits/IT visa requirements
3. Taxation of expats and medical and social insurance
4. Opening bank accounts and e-signature
5. Remote work and labour implications

The bidding offerors are encouraged to suggest their own methodology and content of the Guide and promotional materials so that it replies and contributes to achievement of the objectives above. Content suggestions considered relevant will be an advantage in the analysis of the technical offer.

The Guide and promotional materials will be prepared in English, ensured by the bidder.

When preparing the deliverable, the bidder will rely on the legislation applicable at the time of delivery, as well as on potential changes discussed with the business environment and authorities, which may have an impact on the activity of pocket guide.

MITP may provide source and/or aggregated stats and data concerning: legislative framework, stats on sector’s employment, salaries etc; macro-economic data. 

Winning Offeror will be responsible for identification of sources and data/stats collection. 

Any deliverable presented for the provision of services will be considered as a product of the MITP with all copyrights included.

4. DELIVERABLES

The main deliverables of the bidder will consist of:

• 1 Pocket Guide for expatriates – textual/word document in English which will include at least the content mentioned in Section III above.
• 5 promotional materials textual/word document in English (the same document), summarized in an easy and interactive language, on various aspects with the content mentioned in Section III above. The size of an informative text material is 2 A4 pages. 

Both the Guide and the promotional materials will be placed later on the website www.mitp.md for accessibility to the public and interested persons.

5. PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Payment will be made based on submitted deliverables by the awarded vendor. 

6. ELIGIBILITY AND QUALIFICATION OF THE BIDDER

Bidders must demonstrate that they have experience in providing services related to the research, preparation of information or guides in a manner accessible to the general public. The minimum qualification and selection criteria are:

• At least 3 years of consulting experience in the legal, tax or other consulting related fields.
• Proven experience in the field: at least 2 similar projects (guides or materials) developed and published with references links.
• Proven experience in conducting research reports, using various research methods. Experience involving projects related to the framework applicable to documentation of foreigners will be an advantage.
• Expert team, made up of qualified personnel with proven experience in carrying out similar projects (business guides). The proposed team of experts shall consist of an adequate and reasonable number of qualified and experienced personnel having proven track record in conducting research projects (CV maximum 1 page). The vendors are expected to propose the Team Leader and appropriate number of experts who will participate in the project. 
• Bidder's statement confirming (as applicable):

• Proof of registration of the entity, in accordance with the legal provisions (as applicable);
• The ability of the offeror to fully and timely fulfill all its obligations (not to be insolvent) (as the case may be);
• Failure to place the offeror or its actual beneficiaries in the situation of conviction for participating in the activities of a criminal organization or group, for corruption, fraud and/or money laundering.

7. EVALUATION

An award will be made to the offeror whose proposal is determined to be responsive to this document, meets the eligibility criteria stated in the Terms of References, meets the technical, management/personnel, and corporate capability requirements, and is determined to represent the best value to MITP. Best value will be decided using the tradeoff process.  That means that each proposal will be evaluated and scored against the evaluation criteria and evaluation sub-criteria, which are stated in the table below. 

The MITP will qualify the eligible Bidders, according to the qualification and selection criteria set out in the Terms of Reference. Afterwards, the most advantageous offer from an economic and technical point of view will be selected, with the evaluation by the Compromise Method, according to the award criterion “The best quality-price ratio”, with the application of the following evaluation factors:

8. CHRONOLOGY

Any request for clarification regarding this request for offer should be sent by e-mail to the address legal@mitp.md and viorica.jereghi@mitp.md, with the name of the message "Clarifications_ Pocket Guide ".

The following calendar summarizes the deadlines in the application process. Bidders are requested to respect these deadlines.

• Deadline for submitting the offer: 24 May 2024, 18:00
• Deadline for written questions: 21 May 2024, 18:00
• Answers to questions/clarifications provided: 22 May 2024
• Evaluation results (estimated): end of May 2024
• Designation of the winner and signing of the contract (estimated): by the end of May 2024

The above data can be changed at the discretion of Moldova Innovation Technology Park. Any changes will be published in an amendment to this call for proposals.

Launching the procurement procedure does not oblige the MITP Administration to carry out the respective procurement. The MITP administration reserves the right to cancel the procurement procedure for justified reasons. The decision to cancel the procurement procedure does not generate any obligation of the beneficiary towards the participants in the procurement procedure.