Dear Interested Parties,

Vietnam Improving Private Sector Competitiveness Project (IPS-C) intends to award a subcontract to conduct Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) service market research and go-to-market strategy for the US market to IDEA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION JSC.

Background

Improving Private Sector Competitiveness (IPSC) is a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) technical assistance project, and the Agency for Enterprise Development (AED) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is the project owner. The project is implemented by Deloitte Consulting LLP (“Deloitte”) and runs from 2020 to 2025.

The purpose of the USAID IPSC activity is to remove constraints and build the competitiveness of small and growing businesses (SGBs) in Việt Nam, including those led by vulnerable populations. With this activity, USAID/Vietnam is supporting Việt Nam’s competitiveness vertically at the policy, market and firm level and horizontally by working along the entire spectrum of enterprise growth models, from household businesses transforming into registered firms to small firms on the cusp of scaling up.

Summary of Activities

IPSC collaborates closely with the Government of Việt Nam (GVN) counterparts, including the project owner, AED, under MPI. IPSC and AED develop strategies for sector selection, geographic focus and SGB engagement and engage a broad range of market actors across the economy that make up the SGB ecosystem, including SGBs, cooperatives and household businesses (HBs); business chambers, associations and business development service providers (BDSPs); GVN Ministries and Agencies, provincial and local administrations; and private sector consultants, training institutions and financial institutions. Using incentives and cost-sharing with SGBs, pioneering enterprises (PEs) and other partners, IPSC builds both greater demand and supply of business development services (BDS), while improving providers’ capacity to understand and offer services desired in the marketplace.

One of IPSC’s main objectives is supporting Vietnamese enterprises to receive customised technical assistance under the overall support package 'Pioneering Enterprise (PE) Program' to create products with added value and Vietnamese intellectual property, nurturing them to become sustainable models for other SGBs to emulate and scale up proven examples. A PE is a growing Vietnamese enterprise with Vietnamese-branded products, sufficient competitiveness, the ability to lead and expand in the industry, sector and locality, strong management capacity and willingness to innovate and make products with high added value, with the vision and objective to build a Vietnamese brand in international markets. Positioning the 'Made by Vietnam' product brand successfully in regional and international markets is a priority for PEs.

Each support package will be customised for the individual PE, depending on their situation, needs, development capacity, commitment to participate and willingness to co-invest. The support packages will focus on facilitating BDSPs and technical experts to deliver consulting services and specialised training to help enterprises strengthen their governance, management capability and strategies (including strategy development, business model refinement, brand positioning, marketing, innovation, communications and human resource development). IPSC will develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each supporting package so PEs can quantify the results achieved and evaluate the effectiveness of the results.

IDEA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION JSC (IDEA) is a 100 per cent Vietnamese-owned company specialising in machine design support, machining, assembly and automation for the Japanese and American markets, as well as for companies with FDI investment in the Vietnamese market. With a large team of design engineers and over 13 years of formation and development, the company now has over 225 Japanese and American customers, aiming to become a leading technology and technical service corporation in Việt Nam. IDEA's products and services encompass all stages in the value chain of machine automation support, including machine design support, precision mechanical machining, manufacturing and assembly of various types of automation machines, production of AGV-AMR self-driving vehicles and robotic arms.

The offeror will assist IDEA in exploring the US market for their machine design and autonomation services (OEM/ ODM/CAD design services terminologies are used interchangeably in this document). The scope of work is conducting the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) service market research and go-to-market strategy for the US market.

Eligibility Requirements

Qualified legally registered Vietnamese companies or organisations must meet the following criteria to be eligible:

● Extensive experience working with companies in the OEM/machine design services-related industry and a deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities that these companies face.

● Over five years of experience in conducting market research, both in qualitative and quantitative methods, customer segmentation research for B2B businesses and value chain with international partners.

● A proven track record of success in delivering similar projects in three recent years. References and examples of past work are required.

● Strong project management and marketing advisory capabilities to ensure that the market research and go-to-market strategy development process progresses smoothly with various stakeholders from IDEA within the specified timeframe.

● Cultural awareness and understanding of the local business environment in Việt Nam.

Interested vendors should provide an Intent to Bid, expressing the intent of the vendor to submit a proposal for this requirement, by 9pm Hà Nội time on June 28, 2024, to Mir Waez at mwaez@deloitte.com and Tuan Tran Anh at tuantran@ipsc.vn.

IPS-C intends to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to interested vendors by July 2, 2024.