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Yellen convened Group of Seven finance and development ministers
and presidents of multilateral development banks on Tuesday for
talks on boosting infrastructure investment in low- and
middle-income countries, the Treasury Department said in a
statement.
"Secretary Yellen closed the event with a call to action for the
MDB leaders - with support from their shareholders - to
implement bold and innovative approaches to step up quality
infrastructure, including actionable plans to mobilize new
private capital within six months," it said.
The G7 economies - the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany,
Italy, France and Japan, plus the European Union - last year
kicked off a concerted drive to narrow the $40 trillion gap in
infrastructure funding https://www.reuters.com/world/g7-counter-chinas-belt-road-with-infrastructure-project-senior-us-official-2021-06-12
facing developing nations by 2035.
The G7's "Build Back Better World" (B3W) initiative aims to
mobilize public and private-sector investment in climate,
health, digital technology and gender equity, in what could be a
counterweight to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by
Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.
Treasury said Tuesday's meeting included top G7 ministers and
the leaders of the African Development Bank, Asian Development
Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank.
“We know that infrastructure investment - when done right-
drives sustained and sustainable growth ... and is essential to
deliver basic services to people, to keep trade flowing, and to
create jobs,” Yellen told the meeting.
She urged participants to leverage public funds to mobilize
private capital and to explore collective action solutions.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia
Freeland told participants the initiative could play a key role
in boosting physical and social infrastructure investments in
the countries that need it most, while assuring gender equality.
World Bank President David Malpass shared details of the bank's
new climate-related diagnostic tools and said they would
encourage investment in climate-smart infrastructure, including
for adaptation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Malpass, who has been sharply critical of nondisclosure
agreements required by Chinese lenders, also repeated his calls
for greater transparency about debt and lending as developing
countries expanded their infrastructure.
Yellen said she looked forward to seeing new private capital
mobilization targets from the multilateral development banks,
and their ideas on how to expand funding for infrastructure
initiatives.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Matthew
Lewis)
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