The recipient shall support the vietnam wartime accounting initiative

The U.S.-Asean Business Council Institute, Inc. received a $500,000 cooperative agreement from the Office of the Secretary of Defense under the Past Conflict Accounting - Vietnam program (CFDA 12.015), awarded September 19, 2025, with completion scheduled for December 31, 2026. Under this agreement, the recipient supports the Vietnam Wartime Accounting Initiative through collaborative efforts with Vietnam's Ministry of Defense to account for military personnel missing in action from the Vietnam War era. The primary products and services delivered include digitization of archival information related to missing Vietnamese and American service members, facilitation of veteran-to-veteran exchanges between the two nations, and analysis of mass grave information to support identification and recovery efforts.

This cooperative agreement is part of a broader Department of Defense initiative leveraging institutional capabilities to strengthen Vietnam's capacity to locate and recover missing personnel while advancing bilateral engagement on war legacy issues. The award operates within a structured funding framework providing an initial one-year commitment with potential for up to four additional option years subject to fund availability. Performance of the agreement takes place in the United States and involves archival research, documentation efforts, and collaborative exchanges designed to draw public and stakeholder attention to the accounting mission through platforms for bilateral dialogue.