Trudeau pledges cash for drug manufacturing infrastructure in developing countries
Trudeau has earmarked $750 million for a Crown corporation to finance infrastructure projects in Asia over three years, starting next March.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced pledges on Nov. 15 to help developing countries improve their infrastructure, go green and make COVID-19 vaccines, at a G20 summit that has been overshadowed by geopolitics.
Trudeau has earmarked $750 million for a Crown corporation to finance infrastructure projects in Asia over three years, starting next March.
It’s the largest funding agreement the Liberals have made as part of their forthcoming Indo-Pacific strategy, and part of a G20 project meant to help low- and middle-income countries have safer and more sustainable cities.
“It will also make our supply chains stronger and create good jobs,” Trudeau said in remarks prepared for a closed-door event hosted by Indonesia, the U.S. and the European Union.
The funding will be administered by FinDev Canada, which currently has a mandate to operate in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. It will now also help fund projects in developing countries in Asia.
Trudeau told leaders that sovereign wealth funds can help governments abroad build schools and hospitals.
“If we want to close the infrastructure gap, we need to continue finding ways to incentivize greater private sector investment. No amount of public money can single-handedly fix this issue,” the prime minister’s remarks read.
Trudeau also announced $80 million for global health systems, with most of the funding going to a World Bank project that helps countries prevent pandemics and respond to them.
The funding will support projects that help developing countries manufacture COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.
Canada co-launched a partnership with G7 and Nordic nations to help Indonesia wean itself off coal, agreeing to put up $10 billion and soliciting the same amount from the private sector.
Indonesia is one of the world’s heaviest emitting countries, and has agreed to “the accelerated retirement of coal plants, conditional on international support.”
Yet geopolitics will likely overshadow the pledges leaders make at the summit, as countries debate how to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s growing assertiveness.
Canada is among the most forceful of countries pushing for G20 leaders to call out Russia for contributing to worsening inflation and threatening global security through its war in Ukraine.
