US aims to raise $200 billion to fund global infrastructure projects, rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative

France has officially joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative. (File)

Washington:

The United States aims to raise $200 billion in public and private funds over five years to fund much-needed infrastructure in developing countries under the G7 initiative, the White House said on Sunday. against China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road project.

US President Joe Biden will unveil the plans, along with other G7 leaders, some of whom have announced separate initiatives of their own, at this year’s annual meeting in Schloss Elmau, southern Germany.

Increasingly worried about China, the G7 leaders first laid out their plans for the project last year and officially kicked off the project now with the new title of “Partners in Infrastructure.” and Global Investment” while dropping the moniker “Rebuilding a Better World” first coined by President Biden. in his presidential campaign.

President Joe Biden will announce a number of specific projects at an event on the sidelines of the G7, attended by leaders from the UK, Germany, Japan, the European Union and Canada, pledging to focus on projects that help address climate change as well as improve global health, gender equality, and digital infrastructure. Notably absent is French President Emmanuel Macron, who has officially joined China’s infrastructure program.

“The president doesn’t think we need to spend dollars in exchange for dollars against China … although if you add up what the US and G7 partners are going to announce, the number is pretty close. with numbers,” a senior US official told reporters.

The money will be raised through grants and federal funds, and by leveraging private sector investments, the White House said, adding that hundreds of billions of dollars in additional funding will be raised. Supplements may come from multilateral development banks, development financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds and others.

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

White House officials say that Mr. Xi’s plan to create a modern version of the ancient Silk Road trade route has brought little concrete benefit to many developing countries, with jobs in the region. Chinese workers are at the forefront, while increasing rates of forced labor and child labor.

Joe Biden will highlight some of the top projects, including a $2 billion solar development project in Angola with support from the Department of Commerce, the US Export-Import Bank, the US company United States AfricaGlobal Schaffer and US project developer Sun Africa.

Along with G7 and EU members, Washington will also provide $3.3 million in technical assistance to the Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal as it develops a flexible multi-variable vaccine production facility. industrial scale in that country so that it can eventually produce COVID-19 and other vaccines. .

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will also commit $50 million over five years to the World Bank’s new Global Child Care Incentive Fund, a project aimed at addressing the gap in childcare. appropriate child care infrastructure.

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)