Effective Use of United States Foreign Aid to Fund Infrastructure Projects

Foreign aid is one of the tools the U.S. Government uses to promote stability and economic growth around the world. U.S. Foreign assistance to the region is currently guided by the U.S. Strategy for Central America which was announced in 2015. According to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), average U.S. foreign aid to the Northern Triangle countries exceeded $400 million per year over the ten year period between 2008 and 2018. During this period approximately 10% of U.S foreign aid was used to fund infrastructure projects. Despite recent investment, the World Economic Forum ranks the infrastructure of the three countries in the Northern Triangle in the bottom half of all countries surveyed. With continued investment and unremarkable results over the past decade, it is useful to examine the efficiency of the investments and ensure available funding is effectively invested. USAID is the primary conduit for the distribution of US foreign aid. The United States Government works through several federal agencies outside the borders of the United States and much of this work is focused on security and military development in foreign countries. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is one such agency and is currently managing overseas operations around the world. The main overseas mission of USACE offices appears to be in line with the development of military construction projects for foreign governments. In this paper, researchers examine the basic tenets of the proposed arrangements for the US to engage in funding infrastructure projects in foreign countries to alleviate un-employment related issues. The said funding also enhances the construction talent in countries receiving such funding. This is a qualitative research exploring the success of the proposed funding in the Norther Triangle region of Central America. Results from interviewing key personnel and literature review reveal that this opportunity can be improved to the benefit of all parties. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Budapest University of Technology and Economics & Diamond Congress Ltd Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of the Creative Construction Conference 2020.