US aims to raise $200bn as part of G7 rivaling China’s Belt and Road – Henry Club

The United States aims to raise $200 in private and public money to finance essential infrastructure in developing countries under the G7 initiative, the White House said on Sunday. Billions to be raised.

US President Joe Biden will unveil the plans at his annual gathering to be held in Schloss Elmau in southern Germany this year along with another group of seven leaders, some of whom have already unveiled separate initiatives of their own.

More concerned about China, G7 leaders first planned the project last year, and are formally launching it now under a new title, “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment” while Biden for the first time. Abandoned the moniker “Build Back Better World”. His presidential campaign.

Read more: Biden suggests rival plan to ‘Belt and Road’

Biden will unveil a number of exclusive projects at the G7 side event, which will include leaders from the UK, Germany, Japan, the European Union and Canada, focusing on projects helping tackle climate change, as well as helping global health, gender will do. Improving equity and digital infrastructure. Notably absent would be French President Emmanuel Macron who formally participated in the Chinese infrastructure programme.

“The president is not thinking that we need to spend dollar for dollar versus China,” a senior US official told reporters.

The funds will be raised by leveraging grants, federal funds and private sector investment, the White House said, adding that hundreds of billions of additional dollars could come from multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, sovereign wealth funds and others.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) plan, which was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, includes development and investment initiatives in more than 100 countries, with a range of projects including railways, ports and highways.

White House officials say Xi’s plan to build a modern version of the ancient Silk Road trade route has provided little tangible benefit for many developing countries, with top jobs going to Chinese workers while forced and childless labor rates have increased.

Biden will highlight a number of key projects, including a $2bn solar development project in Angola with support from the Department of Commerce, US Export-Import Bank, US firm AfricaGlobal Schaefer and US project developer Sun Africa.

Along with G7 members and the European Union, Washington will also provide $3.3 million in technical assistance to the Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal as it develops an industrial-scale flexible multi-vaccine manufacturing facility in that country that will ultimately help with growth. COVID-19 and other vaccines. can produce. ,

The US Agency for International Development will also commit up to $50m over five years to the World Bank’s new Global Childcare Promotion Fund, a project aimed at bridging the gap in appropriate childcare infrastructure.