EUROPEAN UNION OFFICE TO HONG KONG AND MACAO Open Invitation to tender EEAS/DELHKG/003-SER-FWC-2015 Mandarin private courses Technical Specifications 1. SCOPE OF THE CONTRACT The Office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macao (the Office) is seeking to receive an offer with a view of signing a framework contract for private courses of Mandarin for non-mandarin native speakers in accordance with the specifications set out below and the framework contract in annex. The framework contract shall be for one year with the possibility to be renewed up to three times. The framework contract will be followed by signing of order form(s). The attribution of the framework contract will be made through a negotiated procedure. The invited candidates to whom the tender documents are sent may submit a tender as well as others who might want to apply as the tender will also be published in the webpage of the Office. Instructions for participation and submission are informed here under and in the invitation letter. 2. BACKGROUND The Office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macao SARs represents the European Union to Hong Kong and Macao. EU officials working at the Office speak several official EU languages, among others English. 3. SUBJECT OF THE CONTRACT Description The objective of this contract is to provide training to the EU officials in order to develop their language skills in written, spoken and reading Mandarin. The target group for the courses are the EU officials working at the Office. The courses are addressed to participants of all levels from A1 (beginners) up to C1 of the Common Reference Levels listed on the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (see grid attached). The target content should be oral communication, written communication and reading skills. -1- Language classes are to be set up and adapted to the level of each official. The service-contractor will assess the participant's proficiency before the course. At the end of the courses the service-contractor will assess the participants according to the CEFR and issue them with certificates indicating their levels. Language courses could be organised either on a regular basis throughout the year or/and on an intensive basis for example during the summer (five days a week of 2 to 3 hours duration each day). 4. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE The Office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macao is looking to organise the Mandarin private courses in the premises located 19/F and 20/F, St John's Building, 33 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong. 5. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS AND STANDARDS 5.1. Focal point The tenderer will establish a focal point for communicating with the Office for all administrative and technical matters. The Office and the tenderer will communicate directly to each other any change of times or cancellation of courses by addressing an email two days before the planned courses. Cancelled lessons must be rescheduled. 5.2. Teachers The tenderer will provide language teachers with a minimum of 2 years' experience in teaching adults in a multicultural environment. As far as possible, the same teacher should be used throughout the period covered by a given order. If a teacher is unable to perform his or her duties, the focal point should inform the Office and the teacher should be replaced by another teacher of equivalent level and experience. The teachers should be proficient in English. The Office will retain the right to reject a language teacher if his/her performance is not considered entirely satisfactory. In case of rejection, the tenderer should propose another teacher. 5.3. In-house Mandarin language courses The services to be provided by the contractor will include preparing, delivering and following-up the language course. For each course, the service-provider will present the learning method and will present and provide the materials used. As an indication, the duration course is up to 60 hours per year per official. The objective of the courses is to develop reading, written and oral skills necessary for communicating in Mandarin in order to enable the participants to progress through the levels at a reasonable pace. -2- 5.4. Proficiency language tests The tenderer will carry out a test in listening, reading, spoken and written skills. The level will be measured according to the CEFR. At the end of the course (up to 60 hours/year) the tenderer will carry out a new test in listening, reading, spoken and written skills and will send the participant a certificate with the level of language skills reached. 6. CONTRACT DURATION The framework contract will be concluded for a term of 1 (one) year with the possibility to be renewed up to three times. Renewal does not imply any modification or deferment of existing obligations. 7. PRICE The price offer shall be clear and indicate clearly the price per hour. Prices must be quoted in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD). The tenderer should indicate their fees of whatsoever nature that they will charge to the Office. Any other charges not expressly named in the offer will be deemed waived by the tenderer. Prices shall be fixed and non-negotiable, unconditional, all-inclusive. Costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a tender must be paid by the tenderer and will not be reimbursed by the Office 8. PRICE REVISION The price shall be fixed and not subject to revision during the first year of performance of the framework contract. If the framework contract is renewed, the price(s) may be revised upwards or downwards, if such revision is requested by one of the parties in writing no later than three months before the anniversary of the date on which it was signed. This revision shall be determined by the trend in the consumer price index of Hong Kong. 9. CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION 6.1. Exclusion criteria Candidates or tenderers will be excluded from participation in a procurement procedure if: (1) they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the -3- subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations; (2) they have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment which has the force of res judicata; (3) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the Beneficiary can justify; (4) they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those of the country of the Beneficiary or those of the country where the contract is to be performed; (5) they have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities' financial interests; (6) following another procurement procedure or grant award procedure financed by the community budget, they have been declared to be in serious breach of contract for failure to comply with their contractual obligation. 6.2. Declaration of no conflicts of interest Tenderers should : (1) not have any conflict of interest in connection with the contract; a conflict of interest could arise in particular as a result of economic interests, political or national affinity, family, emotional life or any other shared interest; (2) inform the contracting authority, without delay, of any situation considered a conflict of interest or which could give rise to a conflict of interest; (3) have not made and will not make any offer of any type whatsoever from which an advantage can be derived under the contract; (3) not have granted and will not grant, have not sought and will not seek, have not attempted and will not attempt to obtain, and have not accepted and will not accept any advantage, financial or in kind, to or from any party whatsoever, where such advantage constitutes an illegal practice or involves corruption, -4- either directly or indirectly, inasmuch as it is an incentive or reward relating to award of the contract. In case of doubt, the contracting authority shall request the evidence. 6.3 Legal position Any individual or legal person may submit an offer. The tender must make clear the legal status of the tenderer. The tenderer shall provide a dully filled in and signed Legal Entity Form and Financial Identity Form (see Annex) accompanied by the documents required therein. 10. PRESENTATION OF TENDERS Offers must be submitted, using the forms attached, taking into account of the following : response to the present invitation to tender and communications shall be written in English all further prices must be quoted in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD) the tenderer should indicate the fees of whatsoever nature that he will charge to the Office. Any other charges not expressly named in the offer will be deemed waived by the tenderer prices shall be fixed and non-negotiable, unconditional, all-inclusive the minimum time frame during which the tenderer maintain its offer is 30 days from the deadline stated for receipt of the tender the tender must be perfectly legible so that there can be no doubt as to words and figures the tender must be signed and dated by the tenderer or his duly authorized representative the forms to be filled in the invitation to tender may not be altered in any way (Quotation, LEF, BAF) Submission of a tender implies acceptance of the terms and conditions set out in the specifications and in the purchase order. The tender and the documentation must be delivered no later than Monday 09 February 2015 at 17:30 (local time) to the following address : Office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macao 19/F, St. John's Building 33 Garden Road Central, Hong Kong -5- Late offers will not be considered. The evidence of the date of dispatch shall be constituted by the postmark or the date of the deposit slip obtained as proof of submission, signed and dated by the receptionist in the Office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macao who took the delivery. The tender must be placed inside a sealed envelope that should be marked as follows: "Invitation to tender – not to be opened by the internal mail department". 11. SELECTION< EVALUATION AND AWARD CRITERIA Selection criteria 1. The minimum average of staff in the fields related to the contract over the last 3 years should be at least 5 persons. 2. Languages courses provided to international companies, consular missions or representations of international organisations. Technical evaluation criteria (max. 100 points) The tender shall contain the following information to allow the evaluation of the tender according to the technical criteria mentioned hereunder. 1. Information of the course methodology (mixture of grammar, reading and oral skills, etc) including a sample of materials to be used during the course and adapted to the different levels. 2. Information of the tenderer in terms of flexibility and service orientation to meet the request to specific language training needs. 3. Information of the capacity of quick substitution of teachers if necessary. 4. CVs of proposed teachers who will deliver the courses. The quality of technical offers will be evaluated in accordance with the award criteria and the weighting as detailed in the evaluation grid below : No 1 2 3 Criteria Overall quality of the proposed Mandarin course (methodology, material, etc) Qualifications and professional experience (CVs) of the teachers who will deliver the training Approach of the tenderer in terms of flexibility, capacity of quick substitution of teachers, and service orientation -6- Max points 40 40 20 Awarded score Only the financial tenders submitted by those tenderers who comply with the selection criteria and have obtained an overall technical score of 60 points or more and at least 50 % of the maximum score allocated for each individual criterion will be evaluated. Financial evaluation (max. 100 points) The financial evaluation will be defined by giving the index of 100 to the least expensive offer among the offers which have not been rejected as a result of the technical evaluation. The prices index will be as follows : Cprice Fi = -------------------------------- x 100 Price where Fi = Financial points Price = Price offered by the tenderer Cprice = Cheapest price offered Award criteria The Contract will be awarded to the tenderer offering the best value for money (best quality / price ratio) provided the offer is complete and clearly presented in accordance with the technical specifications. The tender chosen will be that which offers the best value for money among the technically compliant tenders, namely the tender obtaining the best overall score Pi calculated as follows where the weighting is 60% for the quality and 40% for the price : Pi = Ti*0.60 + Fi*0.40 Ti = (Technical quality score for the tender under consideration / score for the best technical quality tender)*100 Fi = (Cheapest total price received / price of the tender under consideration)*100 12. SPECIFIC CONTRACT IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDURES Terms of Payment The Office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macao shall make the payment within 30 days of receipt of an invoice for services rendered. The award of the contract will be subject to the submission of the Legal Entity Form and Financial Identification Form by the service provider and the validation of these forms by our headquarters in Brussels. Payments under the contract shall be made by bank transfer to the Service Provider’s bank account indentified in the Financial Identification Form. -7- 13. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION This invitation to tender is in no way binding on the Office. The framework contract to be signed sets out the main elements of the services but the precise volume (number of units) and timing of the delivery cannot be defined at the time of its signature. It means that the framework contract does not raise direct obligations on the contracting authority. When the need arises, the framework contract is implemented through the signature of specific contracts or order forms. Each specific contract or order form is awarded within the limits of the terms laid down in the framework contract and its annexes and no substantial changes are allowed. The specific contract or order form states the services amongst those foreseen in these tender specifications, their quantities, the corresponding total price and the time of delivery. The specific contract or order form creates a direct obligation on the contracting authority at the time of its signature. Up to the point of signature, the contracting authority may either abandon the procurement or cancel the award procedure, without the candidate or tenderer being entitled to claim any compensation. This decision must be substantiated and the candidate or tenderer notified. The tenderer will be informed whether or not their tender has been accepted. -8- EUROPEAN UNION OFFICE TO HONG KONG AND MACAO Open Invitation to tender EEAS/DELHKG/003-SER-FWC-2015 Mandarin private courses (Quotation can be in other format as long as the information requested below is provided) 1 . CONTACT PERSON Contact person for the tender Contact person as focal point Address Telephone / Fax E-mail 2 . IN-HOUSE MANDARIN COURSES Fee including the preparation and running of the courses, teaching and support material - Monday to Friday – Time slot between 09:00 and 16:00 1 hour and a half 2 hours (including 1 pause) One participant : HKD Additional participant : HKD One participant : HKD Additional participant : HKD Fee including the preparation and running of the courses, teaching and support material - Saturday – Time slot between 09:00 and 16:00 1 hour and a half 2 hours (including 1 pause) 3 hours (including 2 pauses) One participant : HKD Additional participant : HKD One participant : HKD Additional participant : HKD One participant : HKD Additional participant : HKD -9- 3 . CURRICULUM VITAE - TEACHERS (CVs can be in other format as long as the information requested below is provided) Name Nationality Age Education background Indicate skills and length of experience in teaching Mandarin Language Languages (indicate level of skill : 1=poor, 5=excellent) Written Spoken ----------------- -------------------- ----------------- ----------------- -------------------- ----------------- ----------------- -------------------- ----------------- List of international companies, consular missions or representations of international organisations to which mandarin courses have been provided - 10 - 4 . INFORMATION ABOUT THE SERVICE PROVIDER Please provide the following staff statistics for the current year and the two previous years : Average manpower Year before last Overall Last year Total for fields related to this contract 1 Overall Total for fields related to this contract 1 This year Overall Total for fields related to this contract 1 Permanent staff 3 Other staff 3 Total 1 corresponding to the relevant staff in relation with the contract 2 staff directly employed by the service provider on a permanent basis (i.e., under indefinite contracts) 3 other staff not directly employed by the Candidate on a permanent basis (i.e., under fixedterm contracts). - 11 - LEGAL IDENTITY FORM If not yet registered, the tenderer can download the Legal Entity Form at the following URL: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/legal_entities/legal_e ntities_en.cfm In addition to the completed form, the successful tenderer must provide the following supporting document: A copy of an official document (Official Gazette, company register, Articles of Incorporation, etc.) showing the name of the legal entity, the address of the head office and the registration number given to it by the national authorities. Please include a copy of amendments if changes have occurred since the initial registration. TENDERER’S FINANCIAL IDENTITY FORM If not yet registered, the successful tenderer is obliged to provide the completed Financial Identity Form accompanied by the relevant supporting documents as indicated in this Annex. The Financial Identification Form can be downloaded at the following URL: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/financial_id/financial _id_en.cfm This form contains the contractor's banking information in order for the European Union to be able to make wire transfer payments (following receipt of the contractor's invoice). The Financial Identification Form must be completed, signed and dated by the Account Holder. Furthermore, it must be certified by the contractor's bank. Bank stamp and bank's representative signature are necessary unless a copy of bank statement showing the name of the legal entity, the bank name, bank address and bank account number is sent with the form. - 12 -