EU and US announce new investments in Asia-Pacific to counter China

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of USAJoe Biden, announced this Saturday new investments in Asia-Pacific as part of a mechanism created by the G7 to counteract China.

The biggest announcement was Von der Leyenwho said the European Union will provide $4 billion in loans for infrastructure projects in low- and middle-income countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

“In the G7 we want to be part of the solution to end the gap that exists in infrastructure investment. We want to put better deals on the table. If what exists is a competition, then we want to be in the lead”, he stated Von der Leyen at an event on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima.

For his part, Biden announced investments in different parts of the world and whose funds will come from both public coffers and the private sector.

The president did not offer a total number of investments from the United States, but gave several examples of the projects that his country is carrying out.

For example, he explained that his government plans to invest 25 million dollars in aid to Costa Rica to help it strengthen its defenses against cyber attacks.

Biden also mentioned an investment in Ecuador which was officially announced two weeks ago to help modernize Puerto Bolívar, in the southeast of the country and which is located near the areas of the country dedicated to agriculture.

The event in which von der Leyen and Biden spoke was meant to show the commitment of the G7 to the great infrastructure plan launched by the same group at their summit last year in Germany, known as the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment. (PGII).

Through this plan, the G7 committed to mobilize US$ 600,000 million in five years to counteract the Chinese mega-project “One Belt, One Road” (One Route, One Belt), launched in 2013 by the Chinese president, Xi Jinpingwith the aim of expanding China’s influence around the world through investments in infrastructure and telecommunications.

According to the White House, to date, the United States has mobilized $30 billion through public grants and private sector investment for infrastructure projects.

For its part, the EU has created an initiative called “Global Gateway” and whose objective is, within a period of six years (2021-2027) to mobilize US$ 330,000 million in investments, with a mixture of scholarships, concessional loans and guarantees .

Source: EFE