Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs

The Department of State Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs is a sub-agency within the cabinet department that administers foreign assistance and diplomatic programs across the Near East region, leveraging aid and cooperative agreements as tools of statecraft to advance U.S. economic, security, and diplomatic objectives with emphasis on commercial diplomacy and private-sector engagement. The Bureau operates through its Office of Assistance Coordination (NEA/AC), which manages most of the agency's transactional activity in grants and contract awards.

The Bureau maintains a substantial contract portfolio totaling 39,193 awards since 2004, with a combined potential value of $9.03 billion and $6.76 billion obligated to date. Over the last five years, contract volume has declined: 1,636 awards in 2022, 1,570 in 2023, 1,182 in 2024, 994 in 2025, and 620 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent award was issued on October 20, 2026. The contract competitive landscape is highly fragmented; the top contractors by award count over the last five years hold only 45 percent of recent awards, dominated by miscellaneous foreign awardees across multiple entries (1,179, 673, and 253 awards respectively), followed by New TECH Solutions, Inc. (375 awards) and Mediterranean Oil Shipping & Transport Company (Medco) S.a.l. (308 awards). By combined potential value over the same window, the top five contractors account for just 2 percent of dollar value, a signal that the Bureau transacts through small individual awards rather than large-value prime contracts. Nearly all awards—98 percent—carry no set-aside designation; small-business set-asides represent just 2 percent of the portfolio, with 8(a) sole source and competitive awards each under 1 percent.

The Bureau also administers a grant program totaling 5,263 awards since 2004, with $1.87 billion in federal dollars obligated and $2.08 billion in combined federal and non-federal share. Grant volume has contracted sharply in recent years: 374 awards in 2022, 359 in 2023, 292 in 2024, 20 in 2025, and 14 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent grant award is dated October 1, 2026. Grant recipients are highly fragmented; the top five by award count hold 19 percent of recent awards, led by America-Mideast Educational And Training Services, Inc. (73 awards, $7.5 million federal dollars), followed by miscellaneous foreign awardees. By federal dollars obligated, the top five hold just 2 percent: The American University In Cairo leads with $19.9 million across 9 awards, followed by International Research And Exchanges Board Inc. ($8.2 million, 10 awards). The grant portfolio is predominantly Project Grants (85 percent of awards) with a smaller share of Cooperative Agreements (15 percent).

Current grant opportunities from NEA/AC reflect the Bureau's commercial-diplomacy priority. The NEA/AC Regional Annual Program Statement (DFOP0018712, due September 30, 2026) accepts statements of interest from not-for-profit organizations, educational institutions, for-profit organizations, and public international organizations for innovative programs that advance U.S. commercial diplomacy in partner countries and champion American enterprise. The Egypt Annual Program Statement (DFOP0018819, rolling basis after initial August 31, 2026 deadline) solicits cooperative-agreement proposals addressing energy, trade facilitation, emerging technologies, critical infrastructure, and workforce training aligned with U.S. business needs. The Safeguarding U.S. Critical Minerals Supply Chains–Tunisia program (DFOP0019505, due September 2, 2026) targets private-sector-led investment in phosphate development and mineral processing to strengthen trade links with Tunisia.