Question 1

What is Silka?

Accepted Answer

Silka is a tender discovery and bid preparation platform for companies and independent experts who pursue projects funded by multilateral development banks (MDBs). It connects finding an opportunity, judging its fit, preparing the bid, and involving the right experts in one workflow.

Question 2

Where does Silka get its tenders?

Accepted Answer

Silka aggregates live tenders from multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, ADB, EBRD, AIIB, and IsDB, together with national procurement in Central Asia through Uzbekistan’s UZEX. Each listing links back to the original official notice so you can verify it at the source.

Question 3

Who is Silka for?

Accepted Answer

Silka is for two groups: companies (consulting firms, contractors, and suppliers) that bid on development-bank projects, and independent experts who want to be found and invited onto bid teams. Company owners and members share workspaces, while experts publish a structured profile and control their visibility in the directory.

Question 4

Does Silka process payments for expert services?

Accepted Answer

No. Silka provides discovery and tender collaboration software. It does not provide, resell, escrow, or process payments for expert services. Companies and independent experts arrange any service engagement and payment directly with each other.

Question 5

Does Silka include World Bank tenders?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Silka includes World Bank consulting and procurement opportunities, which are published on the World Bank’s Projects & Operations pages and syndicated through UN Development Business. In Silka they appear alongside tenders from other development banks, with a link to the original notice.

Question 6

Does Silka include ADB tenders?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Silka includes Asian Development Bank (ADB) consulting and procurement opportunities, published on ADB’s business opportunities pages. You can filter them by sector, country, procurement method, and value, and open the original ADB listing directly.

Question 7

Does Silka cover EBRD, AIIB and IsDB?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Silka covers procurement notices from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), alongside the World Bank and ADB. All appear in one searchable feed with links to each institution’s official portal.

Question 8

Does Silka cover Uzbekistan (UZEX) tenders?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Silka covers national public procurement in Uzbekistan through UZEX, the Uzbek Republican Commodity Exchange, alongside multilateral development-bank tenders. This lets teams in Central Asia track both international and local opportunities in one place.

Question 9

Can I find consultants for a tender?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Silka has a directory of independent experts that you can filter by role, sector, country, language, availability, and development-bank experience. After reviewing a profile, you can invite the expert into a specific tender workspace with the offer, location, timeline, and a note.

Question 10

Can Silka prepare a World Bank tender form (TECH-6)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Silka can format an expert’s structured profile into the World Bank’s Form TECH-6 for attachment to a technical proposal. It can also format tender-specific expert documents using the templates required by ADB and EBRD. This is bid-document preparation for a specific procurement workflow, not a general resume/CV builder or job-application service.

Question 11

What is TECH-6?

Accepted Answer

TECH-6 is the standard curriculum vitae (CV) form used in the World Bank’s standard requests for proposals for consulting services. It presents each expert’s qualifications, employment record, and project experience in a fixed structure that evaluators expect. Most development banks require a similar CV format in the technical proposal.

Question 12

What is QCBS?

Accepted Answer

QCBS (Quality- and Cost-Based Selection) is a consultant selection method used by the World Bank and other development banks. Shortlisted firms submit technical and financial proposals, which are scored separately and then combined using a published weighting, with technical quality usually carrying the larger share (often 70 to 80 percent). The firm with the highest combined score is invited to negotiate the contract.

Question 13

What is an EOI?

Accepted Answer

An EOI (expression of interest) is a short submission a consultant sends in response to a Request for Expressions of Interest. It sets out the firm’s relevant experience and qualifications so the borrower can draw up a shortlist. An EOI is not a full bid: the detailed technical and financial proposals come later, only from shortlisted firms.

Question 14

Can our team prepare a bid together?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In Silka, companies and invited experts prepare a bid together in a shared workspace, from shortlist to submission. You can follow a checklist matched to the procurement method, assign tasks and deadlines, share files, prepare tender-required expert forms and proposal content, and assemble the technical and financial envelopes into submission-ready documents.

Question 15

How do I find international tenders relevant to my company?

Accepted Answer

Define the countries, sectors, contract types, funding institutions, and minimum values that fit your experience, then search official procurement portals or an aggregated feed using those criteria. Review each notice against your company’s references, licenses, financial capacity, and available experts before deciding to bid. Silka brings opportunities from several development banks and UZEX into one searchable feed.

Question 16

What information should I check before bidding?

Accepted Answer

Check the submission deadline and time zone, eligibility rules, scope of work, required experience, evaluation method, budget or contract value, mandatory forms, bid security, language, and submission channel. Also confirm that your team can provide the key experts and evidence requested. Record every mandatory requirement in a compliance checklist before work begins.

Question 17

What is a procurement notice?

Accepted Answer

A procurement notice is an official announcement of a planned or active contracting opportunity. Depending on the stage, it may announce a procurement plan, request expressions of interest, invite bids, or publish an award. The notice normally identifies the buyer, funding source, scope, procurement method, deadline, and where to obtain the full documents.

Question 18

How do tender alerts work?

Accepted Answer

Tender alerts compare newly collected notices with saved preferences such as sector, country, funding institution, procurement method, and value. Matching opportunities are then shown in the platform or delivered as notifications. Useful alerts use focused criteria and are reviewed regularly so that relevant notices are found early without overwhelming the bid team.

Question 19

How do you prepare a tender bid?

Accepted Answer

Start with a bid/no-bid review, read every instruction, and convert the requirements into a compliance checklist. Assign an owner and internal deadline to each technical, financial, legal, and administrative item. Draft against the published evaluation criteria, collect evidence early, run independent compliance and quality reviews, and leave time for signatures, file assembly, and submission.

Question 20

What is a tender compliance checklist?

Accepted Answer

A tender compliance checklist is a working list of every instruction, required document, form, signature, qualification, formatting rule, and deadline in the solicitation. It should identify the source clause, responsible person, due date, status, and final evidence for each requirement. Teams use it to make omissions visible before the submission is locked.

Question 21

What causes a tender submission to be rejected?

Accepted Answer

Common causes include late submission, missing signatures or forms, ineligible bidders, absent bid security, material deviations from the scope, incomplete technical or financial envelopes, and use of the wrong submission channel. A strong proposal can still be rejected for an administrative omission, so teams should complete a line-by-line compliance review before submission.

Question 22

How should a tender team assign responsibilities?

Accepted Answer

Name one bid lead who owns the schedule and final submission, then assign clear owners for the technical approach, experts and CVs, company references, legal documents, financial proposal, formatting, and quality review. Give every task an internal deadline earlier than the official deadline. Keep decisions, current files, comments, and approvals in one shared workspace.

Question 23

What is the difference between a regular CV and a tender CV?

Accepted Answer

A regular CV presents a person’s general career, while a tender CV is evidence for a named position and evaluation criteria in one assignment. It follows the buyer’s required form, emphasizes similar projects and precise responsibilities, includes dates and employer or client details, and may require declarations and signatures. Relevance and verifiability matter more than broad career detail.

Question 24

How do you tailor a CV to the Terms of Reference?

Accepted Answer

Map each required qualification and responsibility in the Terms of Reference to verifiable entries in the expert’s history. Prioritize assignments with the same sector, role, methods, country conditions, and funding institution. Describe the expert’s own responsibilities and results rather than the overall project, keep dates consistent, and never add experience that cannot be supported.

Question 25

How are consultant CVs evaluated?

Accepted Answer

Evaluators normally score education and general qualifications, years of professional experience, experience in the proposed role, similar assignments, sector and country experience, language skills, and familiarity with the funding institution. The exact criteria and weights come from the RFP. A CV should make each scored requirement easy to locate and verify.

Question 26

Can one expert profile be converted to different bank CV formats?

Accepted Answer

Yes, when the underlying profile stores structured education, employment, assignments, languages, and references. That information can be mapped into World Bank, ADB, or EBRD templates without retyping the full career history. Each generated CV still needs an assignment-specific review because forms, page limits, declarations, and evaluation criteria can differ.

Question 27

What is an RFP in procurement?

Accepted Answer

An RFP, or Request for Proposals, is the document issued to shortlisted consultants asking for detailed technical and financial proposals. It normally contains instructions, the data sheet, Terms of Reference, evaluation criteria, required forms, and draft contract. Unlike an EOI, the RFP stage asks bidders to explain exactly how they will deliver the assignment and at what price.

Question 28

What is QBS?

Accepted Answer

QBS (Quality-Based Selection) is a consultant selection method in which technical quality is evaluated first and the highest-ranked consultant is invited to negotiate the financial proposal and contract. It is used when assignment quality is exceptionally important, the scope is difficult to define precisely, or different technical approaches would make direct price comparison unreliable.

Question 29

What is CQS?

Accepted Answer

CQS (Consultants’ Qualifications Selection) selects a consulting firm primarily from expressions of interest and evidence of relevant qualifications. The best-qualified firm is invited to submit a combined technical and financial proposal and negotiate. It is generally used for smaller assignments where preparing and evaluating full competitive proposals would not be justified.

Question 30

What is the difference between an EOI and an RFP?

Accepted Answer

An EOI is an early shortlisting submission that demonstrates a firm’s qualifications and relevant experience. An RFP is sent later to shortlisted firms and requests a complete technical approach, team, work plan, forms, and financial proposal. The EOI answers “why should we be shortlisted?” while the RFP answers “how will we deliver, with whom, and at what cost?”

Question 31

Does Silka support Uzbek?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Silka is available in Uzbek, along with English and Russian. You can use the interface and read tender information in Uzbek, which helps teams in Uzbekistan and the wider region work in their preferred language.

Question 32

Does Silka support Russian?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Silka is available in Russian, along with English and Uzbek. The interface and tender information can be used in Russian, which suits teams across Central Asia and other Russian-speaking markets.

Question 33

How much does Silka cost?

Accepted Answer

For current pricing and plans, visit https://silka.uz or contact main@silka.uz. You can create an account and start exploring opportunities before committing to a paid plan.

Question 34

How do I get started?

Accepted Answer

Create a company or expert account at https://app.silka.uz. You can begin exploring opportunities right away, then add your company details, build expert profiles, and invite collaborators as your bid team takes shape.

Frequently asked questions about Silka and tenders

About Silka

Tender sources

Experts and bids

Finding and monitoring tenders

Tender and bid preparation

Tender CVs and TECH-6

Procurement terms and methods

Languages and getting started

Prepare your next bid in Silka