MoFA green signal to Oberthur
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KATHMANDU, JUL 22 - Accepting the offer by Oberthur Technology to print and supply of Machine Readable Passport (MRP) at a cost of US$3.59, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( MoFA) on Wednesday dispatched a letter to the company’s Paris-based headquarter, seeking its commitment to supply the MRP to Nepal. Oberthur, which has bagged the multimillion-dollar contract, was also asked to submit a 2.5 percent performance bond prior to sealing a deal with MoFA.
“Oberthur has been given 15 days’ time to recognise Nepal’s acceptance offer to print and supply the MRP booklet. We have also asked the firm to deposit 2.5 percent performance bond prior to clinching the MRP deal with us,” a senior MoFA official said.
After receiving commitment from Oberthur, a business contract will be signed between MoFA and Oberthur. As per the bidding documents, the French firm has to provide 400,000 MRP copies as its first consignment within 70 days of its agreement with MoFA. Among the four companies in the fray to bag MRP project, Oberthur bid the lowest and bagged the contract.
Plagued by controversy after the decision to award the contract, MoFA, which was continuously probing complaints lodged by two rival firms against Oberthur, has received testimonials that documents submitted by Oberthur are genuine. “We conducted a probe against the firm after the complaints lodged by two rival firms and we corresponded with our New Delhi and Seoul missions about Oberthur’s credentials. No fake document and testimonials were detected. The papers submitted were found genuine,” the official said.
Earlier also no testimonial or proof was found against Oberthur during a cursory five-day probe. Meanwhile, MoFA has submitted more documents to the Parliament Accounts Committee that support its decision to go with Oberthur on the MRP.
Posted on: 2010-07-22 09:22
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