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Doing Business with USAID

With headquarters in Washington, D.C., USAID’s strength is its field offices around the world. Valuing diversity, USAID works in close partnership with private voluntary organizations, indigenous organizations, universities, American businesses, international agencies, small and disadvantaged businesses, other governments, and other U.S. agencies selected through a competitive process. USAID has working relationships with more than 3,500 American companies and over 300 U.S.-based private voluntary organizations.

USAID also recognizes the change of resource flows in development assistance (currently 85% are private, and 15% are public) and promotes the development of private-public alliances to encourage more effective problem solving and greater leverage of resources.

While various types of instruments are utilized to implement activities, in USAID/Serbia and Montenegro these are most typically implemented through contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements with American, Serbian and Montenegrin and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as well as for-profit companies.
Contracts
  • Contracts are used when the principal purpose is to acquire supplies or services for the direct benefit or use of USAID or any other Federal government entity; or
  • USAID determines in a specific instance that the use of a contract is appropriate; and
  • USAID plans to exercise a substantial degree of operational control.

Grants

  • Grants are used when the principal purpose is the transfer of money, supplies, services or anything of value to the recipient in order to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by law, and;
  • Substantial involvement is not anticipated between USAID and the recipient during implementation of the activity.

Cooperative Agreements

  • Cooperative agreements are used when the principal purpose is the transfer of money, supplies, services or anything of value to the recipient in order to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by law; and
  • Substantial involvement is anticipated between USAID and the recipient during implementation of the activity.
Worldwide business opportunities (in the form of solicitations for goods or services) can be found on the USAID Business site: www.usaid.gov/business. For information on how to find and apply for US government grants, please see: www.grants.gov. For procurement opportunities over $25,000, please see: www.fedbizopps.gov. For more information on programs underway in Serbia, please see our website: http://serbia.usaid.gov