§ 2421a — Capital Projects Office Within Agency For International Development

(a) The Administrator of AID shall establish a capital projects office to carry out the purposes described in subsection (b). (b) The purposes referred to in subsection (a) are— (1) to develop an AID program that would focus solely on developmentally sound capital projects, taking into consideration development needs of the host country and the export opportunities for the United States; and (2) to consider specifically opportunities for United States high-technology firms, including small- and medium-sized firms, in supporting capital projects for developing countries and for countries making the transition from nonmarket to market economies. (c) The Administrator of AID (acting through the capital projects office), in coordination with the appropriate members of the Trade Promotion Coordination Committee— (1) shall support capital projects in developing countries and in countries making the transition from nonmarket to market economies; (2) shall periodically review infrastructure needs in developing countries and countries making the transition from nonmarket to market economies and shall explore opportunities for United States firms in the development of new capital projects in these countries, keeping both United States firms and the Congress informed of these reviews; (3) shall ensure that each capital project for which AID provides funding is developmentally sound, as determined under the criteria developed by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; (4) shall coordinate its activities with other AID offices, and work with AID country missions, in developing capital projects that provide opportunities for United States firms consistent with AID’s primary mission to help developing countries with traditional development projects; (5) shall coordinate, where appropriate, funds available to AID for tied-aid purposes; and (6) shall play a special role in helping to meet the infrastructure needs of countries making the transition from nonmarket to market economies by meeting the challenge of infrastructure assistance provided by foreign governments to those countries, including by undertaking a comprehensive study of the infrastructure needs of the various countries making the transition from nonmarket to market economies— (A) to identify those sectors in the economies of these countries that are most in need of rebuilding, and (B) to identify the state of technology in these countries and the opportunity for United States high technology firms to help develop a technological infrastructure in these countries, including an assessment of export opportunities for United States high technology companies.