US leads investment plan to counter China’s Belt and Road

• 23 September 2018
• Construction Focus
• 1401 Views

In a bid to compete with China’s US$1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the US has been joined by Japan and Australia to launch their own Asia-focused investment programme.

The initiative was announced in early August by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who told the Indo-Pacific Business Forum that US$113 million of US government funds would be used on energy and infrastructure development as part of America’s “Indo-Pacific Economic Vision”.

A new agency, the US International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC), has been established to provide up to US$60 billion in loan and guarantees to private investors.

The plan is designed to check China’s growing influence in the region, particularly in the disputed South China Sea area, and allow the US leverage to make it “free and open”. China, however, welcomed the move saying, “We hope these countries can offer some real money and real measures to improve regional connectivity and help with the development of countries in the region.