[Protest of AID Contract Award for Professional and Technical Services]

A firm protested an Agency for International Development (AID) contract award for professional and technical services, contending that AID (1) failed to evaluate proposals in accordance with the solicitation's criteria, (2) conducted misleading discussions, and (3) unreasonably selected the awardee's proposal for award. GAO held that AID (1) reasonably evaluated the proposals, (2) conducted meaningful discussions with the protester, since AID reasonably advised the protester of the bid's weaknesses, and (3) conducted a reasonable cost/technical trade off in selecting the lower-priced, lower technically rated bid. Accordingly, the protest was denied.