Strategic Trade Facilitation in Southeast Asia: Promoting U.S.-Philippines and U.S.-Vietnam Technology Partnerships | DFOP0010777

Opportunity Information: Apply for DFOP0010777

Strategic Trade Facilitation in Southeast Asia: Promoting U.S.-Philippines and U.S.-Vietnam Technology Partnerships (Funding Opportunity Number DFOP0010777) is a U.S. Department of State grant opportunity administered by the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation under CFDA 19.901. It is a discretionary funding opportunity that will be awarded through a cooperative agreement, which typically means the U.S. government expects to stay actively involved during project implementation rather than simply providing funds and stepping back. The overall purpose is to carry out a project that advances U.S. foreign policy and national security priorities connected to the CHIPS Act of 2022 (Division A, Public Law 117-167), with a specific emphasis on strengthening technology partnerships involving the United States, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

The opportunity is rooted in the CHIPS Act creation of the International Technology Security and Innovation Fund (ITSI Fund). That fund was established to support the development and adoption of secure semiconductors and semiconductor supply chains, with an explicit strategic aim: making the global semiconductor supply chain more resilient, more diversified, and more secure. In practical terms, this kind of opportunity is meant to reduce single points of failure and high-risk dependencies in the semiconductor ecosystem, encourage trusted technology collaboration, and help partner countries align trade and technology practices with secure supply chain standards. The title signals a focus on “strategic trade facilitation” in Southeast Asia, which commonly involves improving the policy, regulatory, and operational environment for legitimate high-tech trade while guarding against diversion, illicit procurement, or other pathways that could undermine supply chain integrity and security.

Funding is capped with an award ceiling of $1,602,372, and the agency anticipates making around 10 awards. The opportunity was created on March 26, 2024, with an original application closing date of May 28, 2024. Because it is structured as multiple awards rather than a single large award, applicants should generally expect targeted, project-specific scopes that can be executed within a defined timeframe and budget, potentially focusing on discrete trade facilitation or partnership-building interventions rather than attempting to overhaul entire national systems at once.

Eligibility is broad and includes a mix of U.S. and non-U.S. entities. Eligible applicants include domestic non-federal entities such as state and local governments, tribal governments, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations. It also allows foreign nonprofit organizations, foreign public entities (including foreign public international organizations), and both domestic and foreign for-profit organizations, with the condition that for-profit applicants must waive any fee or profit. This range of eligible applicants is consistent with a technical cooperation effort where implementers could include universities, research institutes, NGOs, trade and logistics capacity-building organizations, and specialized private-sector entities that can deliver compliance, security, training, or partnership development work without earning profit on the federal funds.

At its core, this opportunity is about aligning semiconductor-related cooperation and trade pathways in the Philippines and Vietnam with secure and trusted supply chain objectives that the United States has elevated through the CHIPS Act. By emphasizing technology partnerships alongside trade facilitation, the program points to work that can help create the enabling conditions for collaboration such as clearer processes, improved coordination, stronger safeguards, and more predictable, secure movement of sensitive or high-value technologies. The foreign policy and national security framing, combined with the administering bureau (International Security and Nonproliferation), signals that projects are expected to support legitimate commerce and innovation while also reinforcing controls, transparency, and protections that reduce security risks in advanced technology ecosystems.

• The Bureau of International Security-Nonproliferation in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Strategic Trade Facilitation in Southeast Asia: Promoting U.S.-Philippines and U.S.-Vietnam Technology Partnerships" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.901.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-03-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-05-28. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,602,372.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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