REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) - BIS

1. INTRODUCTIONAfghanistan Investment Climate Facility (AICF) has provided a grant to Afghanistan NationalStandards Authority (ANSA) for technical assistance to develop and implement standards in thecountry. The grantee is soliciting technical proposals from qualified firms to provide expertconsulting services to carry out the Technical Assistance.1.1. BackgroundANSA, the sole standards body in Afghanistan, has been making efforts to tackle thetechnical challenges that the Afghan private sector is facing regarding lack ofcompetitiveness, inaccessibility to more lucrative global markets, and the challenges of theinfant manufacturing industry being able to compete with the flood of importedcommodities. The absence of standards for many products is a huge negative influence inall of these areas.Since 2001 when the International Alliance toppled down the Taliban regime inAfghanistan, reconstruction of infrastructure has been a priority for the internationalcommunity and deemed as the main responsibility of the government of Afghanistan.Sustained economic growth is considered a pillar of success for the Afghan Governmentwhich envisages trade facilitation and economic reconstruction including the rules andinstitutions that enable the development of a market economy through diversified domesticproduction, effective import substitutions and gradual export promotion.More than two decades of conflict has turned the country into a consumption society whichmainly relies on imports and the country runs a trade deficit. Markets across the country arefull of low quality, mostly smuggled, but inexpensive, imported articles which make theenvironment tougher for domestic competitors. Production capability has progressivelydeclined and the embryonic manufacturing industry seems to be unable to compete with theflood of imports while there is no effective and efficient quality control on thesecommodities. Afghan exports have been limited to a few articles which have lost theircredibility in the world market and thus the traders are being pushed to send theirmerchandise through and from the name of neighboring countries. The general lack ofawareness of the importance of standards and the lack of institutional capacity to apply andenforce them have exacerbated problems at the factory level, where the lack of attention toproper sanitary conditions, for example, are posing considerable risks to product quality,market potential and even country credibility. This project focuses on the development andimplementation of standards.1.2. ObjectivesThe main objectives of this project are:• To increase the awareness of the private sector about (i) the benefits of applyingstandards in their products and operations, and (ii) the private sector’s role in2 of 9