USAID to Spend Tens of Millions Promoting Filipino Tourism, Agribusiness (NEWS BRIEFS)

The following is a quick rundown of several recently unveiled foreign aid contracts and projects through the U.S. Agency for International Development:

THE PHILIPPINES: USAID may spend up $43.5 million over five years to promote tourism and agribusiness in the Philippines. The Advancing Philippine Competitiveness, or COMPETE, Project seeks to "contribute to higher growth through the better provision of infrastructure, increased competitiveness of key industries, and increased access to credit," according to a modified solicitation released Sept. 21. The agency is accepting proposals through Nov. 2 (Solicitation #SOL-492-12-00001).

Separately the agency is looking for contractors capable of helping to strengthen "the capacity, legitimacy, and transparency and accountability of local governments " while also "increasing the involvement of youth and adults in governance processes" the largely Muslim Mindanao region of the Philippines. A five-year contract award valued at about $19 million is anticipated to carry out the Enhancing Governance, Accountability and Engagement, or ENGAGE, Project (Solicitation #SOL-492-12-000016).

UGANDA: Contracts worth upwards of $23 million dollars could be awarded to "sustainably increase the production and marketing of quality maize, beans, and coffee in Uganda" over five years, USAID said Sept. 21 in a modified solicitation (Solicitation #SOL-617-12-000020(1)).

VIETNAM: USAID awarded a $12.9 million contract to Little Rock, Arkansas-based Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development to help it “directly influence and catalyze investment in clean energy technologies, practices, and policies” in Vietnam (Contract award #AID-486-C-12-00008).

BANGLADESH: Chemonics International secured a $2 million noncompetitive contract extension to help promote the “global market competitiveness” of the horticulture, aquaculture, and leather products sectors in Bangladesh. USAID on Sept. 21 said in a Justification & Approval document that it raised the contract from about $11 million to $13 million as part of the Poverty Reduction by Increasing the Competitiveness of Enterprises (PRICE) initiative (Contract award #388-C-08-00021-00).