| Introduction :
Dear Sir / Madam: We kindly request you to submit your Proposal for Provision of Market Assessment of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Agricultural Sector in Sierra Leone. Your Proposal must be expressed in the English and valid for a minimum period of 90 days. In the course of preparing your Proposal, it shall remain your responsibility to ensure that it reaches the address above on or before the deadline. Proposals that are received by UNCDF after the deadline indicated above, for whatever reason, shall not be considered for evaluation. In submitting your Proposal by email, kindly ensure that they are signed and in the .pdf format, and free from any virus or corrupted files. The Technical Proposal and Financial Proposal files MUST BE COMPLETELY SEPARATE and sent separately and clearly marked as either “TECHNICAL PROPOSAL” or “FINANCIAL PROPOSAL,” as appropriate. Each document shall include the Proposer’s name and address. Services proposed shall be reviewed and evaluated based on completeness and compliance of the Proposal and responsiveness with the requirements of the RFP and all other annexes providing details of UNCDF requirements. The Proposal that complies with all of the requirements, meets all the evaluation criteria and offers the best value for money shall be selected and awarded the contract. Any offer that does not meet the requirements shall be rejected. Any discrepancy between the unit price and the total price shall be re-computed by UNCDF, and the unit price shall prevail and the total price shall be corrected. If the Service Provider does not accept the final price based on UNCDF’s re-computation and correction of errors, its Proposal will be rejected. No price variation due to escalation, inflation, fluctuation in exchange rates, or any other market factors shall be accepted by UNCDF after it has received the Proposal. At the time of Award of Contract or Purchase Order, UNCDF reserves the right to vary (increase or decrease) the quantity of services and/or goods, by up to a maximum twenty-five per cent (25%) of the total offer, without any change in the unit price or other terms and conditions. Any Contract or Purchase Order that will be issued as a result of this RFP shall be subject to the General Terms and Conditions indicated herein. The mere act of submission of a Proposal implies that the Service Provider accepts without question the General Terms and Conditions of UNCDF in this link: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/procurement/business/how-we-buy.html. Please be advised that UNCDF is not bound to accept any Proposal, nor award a contract or Purchase Order, nor be responsible for any costs associated with a Service Providers preparation and submission of a Proposal, regardless of the outcome or the manner of conducting the selection process. UNCDF’s vendor protest procedure is intended to afford an opportunity to appeal for persons or firms not awarded a Purchase Order or Contract in a competitive procurement process. In the event that you believe you have not been fairly treated, you can find detailed information about vendor protest procedures in the following link: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/operations/procurement/protestandsanctions/ UNCDF encourages every prospective Service Provider to prevent and avoid conflicts of interest, by disclosing to UNCDF if you, or any of your affiliates or personnel, were involved in the preparation of the requirements, design, cost estimates, and other information used in this RFP. UNCDF implements a zero tolerance on fraud and other proscribed practices, and is committed to preventing, identifying and addressing all such acts and practices against UNCDF, as well as third parties involved in UNCDF activities. UNCDF expects its Service Providers to adhere to the UN Supplier Code of Conduct found in this link : http://www.un.org/depts/ptd/pdf/conduct_english.pdf Thank you and we look forward to receiving your Proposal. | 
