G7 Launching Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership to Boost World Economy, Supply Chains
15:11 GMT 26.06.2022 (Updated: 15:39 GMT 26.06.2022)
© AP Photo / Lukas Barth
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G7 leaders are holding a summit in Germany's Bavaria on June 26-28, where they are expected to announce a new round of sanctions against Russia in connection with its special military operation in Ukraine.
The G7 nations are launching a new global infrastructure and investment partnership in order to strengthen world economy and supply chains, the White House announced on Sunday.
“At the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Schloss Elmau, Leaders will formally launch the Partnership for Global Infrastructure (PGII) to mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars and deliver quality, sustainable infrastructure that makes a difference in people’s lives around the world, strengthens and diversifies our supply chains, creates new opportunities for American workers and businesses, and advances our national security,” the statement read.
The White House emphasized that Biden would announce that the United States aims to mobilize $200 billion for the infrastructure project over the next 5 years through grants, Federal financing, and leveraging private sector investments.
Tune in as I deliver remarks with other G7 Leaders to formally launch our Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment – an effort that is critical to our economic and national security. https://t.co/I5YzaCRJbU
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 26, 2022
"Together with G7 partners, we aim to mobilize $600 billion by 2027 in global infrastructure investments. And this will only be the beginning. The United States and its G7 partners will seek to mobilize additional capital from other like-minded partners, multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, sovereign wealth funds, and more," the White House said shortly ahead of an official announcement by US President Joe Biden.
According to the White House, Biden will make public a presidential memorandum to implement the Partnership for Global Infrastructure across "four priority pillars that will define the second half of the 21st century," namely:
"Tackling the climate crisis and bolstering global energy security through investments in climate resilient infrastructure, transformational energy technologies, and developing clean energy supply chains across the full integrated lifecycle, from the responsible mining of metals and critical minerals; to low-emissions transportation and hard infrastructure; to investing in new global refining, processing, and battery manufacturing sites; to deploying proven, as well as innovative, scalable technologies in places that do not yet have access to clean energy;
Developing, expanding, and deploying secure information and communications technology (ICT) networks and infrastructure to power economic growth and facilitate open digital societies—from working with trusted vendors to provide 5G and 6G digital connectivity, to supporting access to platforms and services that depend upon an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable internet and mobile networks with sound cybersecurity;
Advancing gender equality and equity—from care infrastructure that increases opportunities for economic participation by women, to improved water and sanitation infrastructure that addresses gender gaps in unpaid work and time use – in order to boost the global economic recovery by ensuring that half the population is not forced to sit on the sidelines;
Developing and upgrading the infrastructure of health systems and contributing to global health security through investments in patient-centered health services and the health workforce; vaccine and other essential medical product manufacturing; and disease surveillance and early warning systems, including safe and secure labs. Addressing the current pandemic and preventing and preparing for the next one is crucial to U.S. economic and national security."
The project will be launched to rival China's Belt and Road initiative. According to John Kirby, a spokesman for Biden's National Security Council, other leaders are expected to announce the first projects that will benefit from what Washington views as an "alternative to infrastructure models that sell debt traps to low- and middle-income partner countries."
"The projects are also supposed to help advance U.S. economic competitiveness and our national security,'' Kirby said.
G7 leaders first floated plans for the project during last year's summit, but they have apparently decided to drop the name "Build Back Better World" coined by Biden during his presidential campaign, opting for "Partnership for Global Infrastructure."
POTUS and his G7 counterparts are using the June 26-28 gathering to discuss how to secure energy supplies and tackle skyrocketing inflation in their respective countries that was triggered by the fallout from their own sanctions on Russia.
