U.S. aims to raise $200 bln as part of G7 rival to China's Belt & Road
The United States aims to raise $200 billion in private and public funds over five years to fund needed infrastructure in developing countries under a G7 initiative aimed at countering China's multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road project, U.S. President Joe Biden said at the G7 on Sunday.
Biden unveiled the plans, flanked by other Group of Seven leaders, some of whom have already unveiled their own separate initiatives, at their annual gathering being held this year in southern Germany.
Increasingly worried about China, G7 leaders first floated plans for the project last year, and are formally launching it now under a fresh title, "Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment" while dropping the moniker "Build Back Better World" first coined by Biden during his presidential campaign.
Biden unveiled several specific projects at a G7 side event, joined by leaders from Britain, Germany, Japan, the European Union and Canada, vowing to focus on projects that help tackle climate change as well as improve global health, gender equity and digital infrastructure.
The funds would be raised through grants and federal funds, and by leveraging private-sector investments, Biden 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) scheme, which Chinese President Xi Jinping launched in 2013, involves development and investment initiatives in over 100 countries, with a range of projects including railways, ports and highways.
On Sunday evening the G7 leaders gathered for the last working session of the day at the secluded Castle Elmau in the south of Germany. Throughout the day leaders have demonstrated and praised the unity of the group. They announced to mobilise 600 billion dollars from the G7 by 2027 for infrastructure and sustainable development initiatives and stressed they wanted “to show the world that democracies, when they work together, provide the single best path to deliver results for our people and people all over the world”, as President of EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said earlier in the day.