Procurement Notice

Request for Proposal (RFP)

Research on the APO Productivity Databook and Database

Develop comprehensive, harmonized productivity accounts for APO members, selected nonmembers in Asia, and reference economies covering 1970–2024; analyze the productivity performance of APO members, selected nonmembers in Asia, and reference economies; and project economic growth and labor productivity trends in APO members until 2035.

For more details, please see the PN and Implementation Procedures.

The APO conducts annual productivity measurement research on productivity trends and economic growth performance in member economies and reference regions to assist economic analysts, policymakers, and development planners in analyzing national productivity performance and socioeconomic progress. The results are published in the annual APO Productivity Databook and Productivity Database (APO-PDB). The APO-PDB is constructed under an internationally harmonized measurement framework, allows crosscountry productivity analyses and comparisons, and can be accessed on the APO website.

The 2026 edition of the APO Productivity Databook will feature economic growth, labor productivity, and total factor productivity (TFP) estimates in 21 APO members and six selected nonmember economies in the Asian region and USA.

The APO will select one research institution with a track record of experience and publications in English and extensive, specialized knowledge of sources of economic growth covering labor and capital productivity and TFP at aggregate level; industry origins of economic growth and labor productivity improvement; energy productivity performance at aggregate level; maintaining and updating the Asian Economy and Productivity Map; and analyses of labor quality changes to reflect accurate productivity levels in APO members.

A publication of the updated APO Productivity Databook and APO PDB with detailed analyses of recent productivity trends and economic performance in the Asia-Pacific and reference economies.

• ・Cover letter of interest (Annex 1).
• ・Institutional resource person(s) details (Annex 2).
• ・Profile of institutional resource person(s) (maximum 1 A4-sized page).
• ・Experience in conducting similar projects (Annex 3).
• ・Financial proposal to indicate the cost of services.
• ・Total costs and breakdowns for conducting the project should be given only in US dollar amounts.
• ・All national taxes and levies applicable should be stated and included in the total costs. The APO will consider the inclusive costs as the final quoted prices when evaluating proposals.
• ・All rates and costs quoted in financial proposals should be written in both numeric and alphabetic forms, e.g., USD2,500 (two thousand five hundred US dollars).

Download: Annexes.

Proposals with all required information specified should only be sent via email in password-protected PDF file attachments signed by authorized representatives no later than 16:00 (Japan Standard Time), 24 September 2025 to tislam@apo-tokyo.org, asato@apo-tokyo.org

The subject line of the email message should be: Proposal for Conducting Research on the APO Productivity Databook and Database by <Institution name>.

• ・The selected institution will be awarded a research contract with the APO for conducting the research, based on the following selection criteria:
  • Methodology of research;
  • Prior experience in conducting similar research;
  • Quality of prior publications; and
  • Research quotation.
• ・Only the selected institution will be notified via email within 1 month of the submission deadline of the acceptance of its proposal.

• ・The APO reserves the right to annul the RFP or the vendor selection process, or to accept or reject any or all proposals in whole or part at any time without stating any reason and without incurring any liability to the affected institution.
• ・The APO is not obligated to respond to any objections or to inform the affected institution of the grounds for such decisions.
• ・The APO also reserves the right to change the scope of work in case of need or depending upon changes in requirements before or during the implementation phase. However, if changes are made during the implementation phase, the APO will negotiate the costs for the additional work separately with the institution.

• ・The APO will not bear any costs related to research, planning, design, or any other such activity related to the preparation of proposals in response to this RFP by bidders for sending proposals to the APO.
• ・The APO may, at its own discretion, extend the submission deadline by notifying all bidders of the extension in writing. Any proposal received after the deadline will be rejected.

A prospective institution requiring any clarification of this document, or the process itself, should submit its queries in writing only to the following email address by the deadline of 24 September 2025:

Multicountry Program Division 2
Asian Productivity Organization (APO Secretariat)
1-24-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Email: tislam@apo-tokyo.org, asato@apo-tokyo.org