During the G7 summit, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, highlighted the credit that will be granted to modernize Puerto Bolívar.
In December, the Maersk-Sealand shipping company began operations in Puerto Bolívar.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Joe Biden announced new investments in Asia-Pacific, including in Ecuador’s Puerto Bolívar.
The initiative is part of a mechanism created by the G7 to counter China.
The announcement was made on Saturday, May 20, 2023. Von der Leyen explained that the European Union will provide USD 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 there is competition, then we want to be in the lead ,” Von der Leyen said at an event on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima.
The US will invest in Puerto Bolívar
For his part, Biden announced investments in different parts of the world. These 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, he gave several examples of the projects that his country is carrying out.
For example, the President mentioned an investment in Ecuador that was officially announced two weeks ago. This is USD 150 million financed by the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
The objective is to help modernize Puerto Bolívar, in the southeast of the country and which is close to 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. This initiative was presented by the G7 at their summit last year in Germany.
Through this plan, the G7 committed to mobilize USD 600 billion over five years to counter the Chinese mega-project “One Belt, One Road”, launched in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
According to the White House, to date, the United States has mobilized $30 billion through public grants and private sector investment for infrastructure projects.
