G7 leaders back developing world spending plan to rival China

G7 leaders back developing world spending plan to rival China

LONDON “” G7 leaders have backed a vast global infrastructure plan for developing and emerging countries to rival the Chinese "Belt and Road" project. The move came at the initiative of President Joe Biden, the White House announced. It comes on the second day of the summit of the Group of Seven nations “” the world's seven biggest economies “” in Cornwall in southwest England. Under the slogan "Build Back Better World" (B3W), the White House said the project would mobilize private sector capital in a "transparent infrastructure partnership" to meet the shortfall in the developing world that had been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. "B3W will be global in scope, from Latin America and the Caribbean to Africa to the Indo-Pacific," the White House statement said. The aim is to help countries recover from the pandemic, focusing on the climate, health, digital technology and the fight against inequality, it added. After the first face-to-face contacts and in-person socializing on Friday, G7 leaders entered the nitty-gritty of global issues on Saturday, focusing in particular on how to prevent future pandemics and defend multilateralism. As well as promising more vaccines for the world's developing countries, leaders are expected to make a