USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131

B -- EGYPT: TINPLATE MANUFACTURING FACILITY FEASIBILITY STUDY DUE 012400 POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009 The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study for the construction of a tinplate manufacturing facility in Egypt. Tinplate is the result of coating of a special grade of steel by tin metal. Tinning can be either made by dipping steel in molten tin or by electrochemical process called electrotinning, where tin is electrodeposited in a uniform layer on the steel surface. Electrotinning is the most common and is now commercially applied in new plants around the world. The tinplate industry is little developed in Egypt and is largely unknown throughout the Middle East. However, as the need for food preservation increases in step with the rate of population in Egypt, the demand for tinplate is growing sharply at the rate of 25% per annum. This increase is due to the vast expansion of food preservation plants and the soft drinks bottling plants which use glass bottles and tinplate caps. General Lithograph Egypt Company (GLE), a private sector Egyptian firm, has been working in the field of manufacturing lithoplates since 1990. The company is currently the sole manufacturer of lithoplate technology in Egypt and the Middle East. GLE owns and operates its own lithoplate facility, which uses equipment purchased mostly from the U.S., and is looking to build a tinplate plant. Such a plant would be the first plant erected in the Middle East and Africa. GLE hopes that the establishment of a tinplate facility in Egypt will expand this industry so that Egyptian food preservation companies have access to more affordable tinplate for their processing needs. In addition, the company has completed some pre-feasibility study work for a potential tinplate plant project, specifically in the areas of collecting technical information, local market demand, channels of distribution, and prices. The facility, which GLE plans to construct on land adjacent to its existing lithograph facility in 6 October City (50 kilometers west of Cairo), would produce 100,000 metric tons/year to serve the growing demand for tinplate in Egypt and the Middle East. The objective of the feasibility study will be to determine the potential Egyptian and international market for tin products. Additionally, the study team would be required to identify funding sources and to develop a business plan, outlining the various phases of designing, constructing, and equipping a tinplating facility. The tasks for the feasibility study are as follows: 1) review of technical issues, 2) analyze management issues, 3) conduct a thorough financial analysis that will include developing a business plan for the proposed tinplate plant, as well as identification of funding sources, and financial impediments to foreign exchange transactions, 4) conduct an environmental impact assessment, 5) develop a project implementation plan, and 5) submission of a final report to GLE and TDA. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $89,680 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00 P.M., Monday, January 24, 2000 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals.***** Posted 12/07/99 (W-SN406422). (0341)

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