Advance Contract Award Notice: Business Monitor International Inc

The Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has a requirement for the provision of a contract for access to Country Risk & Financial Markets Service and BMI's Industry Analysis service for four industries as well as its macroeconomic assessments and risk analysis. 
The purpose of this Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) is to signal the government's intention to award a contract for these services to the pre-selected supplier:
Business Monitor International Inc.
4th Floor Senator House, 
85 Queen Victoria Street, 
London EC4V 4AB, United Kingdom

Before awarding a contract, however, the government would like to provide other suppliers with the opportunity to demonstrate that they are capable of satisfying the requirements set out in this Notice, by submitting a statement of capabilities during the 15 calendar day posting period.

The agricultural sector in Canada is ever more dependent on global markets because of the growing share of production exported and the pressure to diversify exports beyond the North American market place. At the same time, the global markets are increasingly complex with new sources of supply and demand and the growing role played by well-established and new global agri-business firms based around the world. AAFC has placed heavy emphasis in Growing Forward on the need to assist the Canadian agricultural sector in improving market access and competitiveness. Market intelligence and analysis is needed to fulfil this function.  

Business Monitor International (BMI) provides a consolidated “one window” service for data and information products which are either unique in nature or that would require extensive resources to collect, compile and organize in such a user-friendly fashion.  No other comparable market intelligence service is currently available.  If the procurement does not proceed in an efficient manner, AAFC's ability to fulfil Growing Forward commitments will be compromised.

CURRENT REQUIREMENTS
The service will provide access to both Country Risk & Financial Markets and Industry Analysis for four industries. The four industries covered include:  Agri-business, Food and Drink, Infrastructure, and Shipping. The service also includes BMI’s unique macroeconomic assessments and risk analysis. 
BMI will send its analysis and report to five AAFC designated users in email. BMI will also allow the designated users to access its proprietary database. 

The Country Risk & Financial Markets Service consists of the following:

• Quarterly Country Forecast Reports: In-depth reviews and forecasts detailing the macroeconomic, political and business/operating environments.

• Monthly Country Updates: Monthly risk analysis of country focused issues.  Monthly country ratings covering short-term and long-term political, economic and business risk; including systematic bullet point analysis for each area of risk for each country – regionally contextualized.

• Macroeconomic Forecasts: Monthly profile of country’s latest macro data with BMI commentary, featuring 2-year, 5–year and 10-year forecasts, plus consensus and government forecasts

• Economic database access: including historic indicators and forecasts for each country (1990-2019); all data exportable along with industry data points into Excel spreadsheets allowing for benchmarking and (multi)regional comparisons.  For larger countries, this also includes data and information products on a sub-national basis, port basis, sub-sectoral basis, and (on occasion) firm basis.   

The Industry Analysis Service for each of the 4 industries consists of:

• Quarterly Country Forecast Reports: Providing market overviews; industry forecast scenarios and the competitive landscape.

• Industry specific Forecasts: including historic data series and 5-year forecasts (ten year forecasts for certain sectors) for all key industry indicators, supported by explicit assumptions, plus analysis of key downside risks to the main forecast.

• Daily News Analysis: covering major industry, legislative, regulatory and company trends and developments 

• Company Analysis: Comprehensive competitive intelligence and company profiles

• Company Intelligence Database: Proprietary database features full search and export facilities to identify and select companies by key criteria, including company name, location, nationality, industry sector and company size, and to export selected data to Excel

The services provided will include access to PDF archives of all reports, use of the advanced search facility, and contact with Business Monitor Analysts and the Business Monitor Customer Services Team.

CONTRACT PERIOD
The resulting contract will be valid for a 12 month period from date of award. 
ESTIMATE OF COSTS
Contract period: $66,000.00 USD.

QUALIFICATIONS
To fulfill the requirements of the contract the person or firm must be able to provide access to Business Monitor International’s online intelligence resource.

SUPPLIERS RIGHT TO SUBMIT A STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES
Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a Statement of Capabilities in writing to the address identified below.

Statements of Capabilities must be delivered to and received by the Contracting Authority on or before the closing date of December 8th, 2014 at 12:00pm (noon Ottawa time) to the following address 

		Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
		Corporate Material Management Centre (CMMC)
		Professional Services Contracting Unit
		1285 Baseline Road, T3-5-344,
		Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C5
		Attention: Stephanie Sehn, Senior Contracting Officer
		Solicitation Number: ACAN: 01B68-14-0269

The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

Statements of capabilities must be mailed or faxed on or before the closing date/time. Statement of capabilities received on or before the closing date will be considered solely for the purpose of deciding whether or not to conduct a more extensive tendering process. Information provided will be used by the Crown for technical evaluation purposes only with respect to a decision to proceed to a further competitive process.

Suppliers that have submitted a statement of capabilities will be notified in writing of AAFC's decision to proceed to award the contract without a further additional tendering process.

Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting officer identified above. The AAFC file number, the contracting officer's name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelope in block letters or, in the case of facsimile transmission, on the covering page.
									
The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement. Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.