Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs

The Department of State Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs is a civilian sub-agency within the State Department that procures and funds contracts and grants to support diplomatic operations, development initiatives, and educational programming across South and Central Asia. The Bureau awards contracts across a broad vendor base for logistics, services, and goods in-region and conducts grants for educational exchange, institution building, and development assistance through overseas and U.S.-based recipients.

The Bureau closed 1,175 federal contract awards in 2022, 1,185 in 2023, 852 in 2024, 548 in 2025, and 367 so far in 2026, reflecting a declining trend year-over-year. Total federal contract awards across the portfolio history stand at 31,887 since the first award in February 2001, with a combined potential value of $9.27 billion and $5.6 billion obligated to date. The competitive landscape is highly fragmented among domestic and foreign vendors. Over the last five years, Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees collectively dominate by award count at 1,457 awards across multiple entries (916, 386, and 155 awards respectively), followed by New TECH Solutions, Inc. with 334 awards and Ethan Allen Retail, Inc. with 155 awards; together these top entries represent 46 percent of recent award volume. When ranked by potential value, however, the top five entries account for only 1 percent of combined potential value, signaling that the Bureau's contract awards are heavily distributed across small-dollar transactions, Schedule task orders, BPA calls, or below-threshold purchases with potential values not reported in source data. The portfolio reflects minimal set-aside activity: 97 percent of awards carry no set-aside designation, while small-business set-asides (including 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, and WOSB) total 3 percent.

The Bureau obligated $432 million in federal grant dollars across 3,223 total grant awards since August 2012. Grant activity declined sharply: 410 awards in 2022, 349 in 2023, 335 in 2024, 47 in 2025, and 29 so far in 2026. Grant recipients are fragmented, with the top five entries accounting for 19 percent of recent award count but only 8 percent of federal dollars obligated over the last five years. American Councils For International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, Inc. leads by federal dollars with $27.6 million across 39 awards, while Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees collectively represent 170 awards with approximately $6.1 million combined federal share. The assistance mix is predominantly Project Grants at 73 percent of awards, with Cooperative Agreements comprising 27 percent.