§ 262s–2 — Commercial Service Officers And Multilateral Development Bank Procurement

(a) The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall appoint a procurement officer, who is a representative of the International Trade Administration or a Commercial Service Officer of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, to serve, on a full-time or part-time basis, with each of the Executive Directors of the multilateral development banks in which the United States participates. (b) Each procurement officer appointed under subsection (a) shall assist the United States Executive Director with respect to whom such officer is appointed in promoting opportunities for exports of goods and services from the United States by doing the following: (1) Acting as the liaison between the business community and the multilateral development bank involved, whether or not the bank has offices in the United States. The Secretary of Commerce shall ensure that the procurement officer has access to, and disseminates to United States businesses, information relating to projects which are being proposed by the multilateral development bank, and bid specifications and deadlines for projects about to be developed by the bank. The procurement officer shall make special efforts to disseminate such information to small and medium-sized businesses interested in participating in such projects. The procurement officer shall explore opportunities for disseminating such information through private sector, nonprofit organizations. (2) Taking actions to assure that United States businesses are fully informed of bidding opportunities for projects for which loans have been made by the multilateral development bank involved. (3) Taking actions to assure that United States businesses can focus on projects in which they have a particular interest or competitive advantage, and to permit them to compete and have an equal opportunity in submitting timely and conforming bidding documents.