The U.S. Department of State’s U.S. Mission New Zealand announces an open competition to implement a program to advance U.S.-Cook Islands and U.S.-Niue maritime cooperation, economic and cultural ties. The program is intended to support local solutions and build local capacity to: 

1.     Increase economic linkages with the United States

2.     Promote long-term economic prosperity through natural resource management

3.     Reduce threats against the United States and the Pacific region.

Projects are encouraged to include a plan to build capacity and technical expertise among local communities and organizations.

Projects may address one or more of the following areas, but are not strictly limited to the following topics:

·        Increasing economic linkages with the United States through exchange, education, work, and trade promotion programs;

·        Promoting long-term prosperity by incorporating best practices for natural resource management;

·        Advancing U.S.-Cook Islands and U.S.-Niue cooperation to enhance safety, especially in digital media, information technology, emergency preparedness, artificial intelligence, maritime, health, and other related sectors.

Projects may propose activities targeted through this solicitation in the following countries: Cook Islands and Niue.