On Sept. 21, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen co-hosted the Inaugural U.S. Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) Investor Forum. President Joe Biden formally launched the PGII during the 2022 G7 Leaders’ Summit to mobilize up to $600 billion by 2027 for infrastructure financing for low- and middle-income countries. The initiative aims to catalyze funding for quality infrastructure from federal financing and grants, as well as the private sector to support four areas: energy and climate, health and health security, digital technology, and gender equality and equality. PGII’s format follows an economic corridor approach by focusing projects on developing geographic regions to provide support for their transportation, clean energy supply chains, agricultural systems, health and health security as well as information and communications technology to boost their economic developments. PGII also collaborates with like-minded global partners such as the European Commission’s Global Gateway, the British International Investment, sovereign wealth funds, as well as multilateral development banks and development finance institutions. PGII was also launched with a group of flagship projects with support from the Department of Commerce and the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Current Projects
This year, during the 2023 G7 Summit, President Biden announced that the PGII would expand their support for the Lobito Corridor to further economic collaboration with the African continent. The announcement also praised the mobilization of $30 billion of grants, federal financing and private sector investments toward PGII as well as the release of new projects for infrastructure investments. One initial investment includes providing DFC support for an open access rail line to connect Angola’s Lobito Port with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia to transport copper and cobalt deposits mined in the latter two nations to an Atlantic Ocean access point. Another entails the DFC’s loan facility working with Africa Data Centers to construct a first-of-its-kind data center in Ghana. USTDA is also conducting feasibility studies in Kenya to improve health care access, as well as collaborating with USAID to provide early-stage support to fiber network expansion in the DRC. EXIM will also finance two solar projects set to help Angola access clean energy resources and meet its climate commitment and they will facilitate up to $500 million in export financing through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tanzania. President Biden also announced the release of projects for Ecuador’s Yilport Port, expanding digital access in Costa Rica and supporting clean energy supply chain solutions such as small modular reactors (SMR) in Indonesia and Romania.
Just prior to the Sept. 21 PGII Investor Forum, President Biden announced further initiatives while at the G20 in India to support renewable energy generation and infrastructure funds, supply chain diversification, telecommunication and 5G expansion, and expanding health manufacturing to make insulin more globally accessible. USTDA also has investment projects to modernize the container terminal in El Salvador and expanding vessel traffic management in the Philippines. PGII will also work with the DFC to finance graphite mining and processing in Mozambique as well as USAID’s Women in the Digital Economy Fund (Wi-DEF) to advance digital access, affordability and literacy.
During the G20 in September, President Biden announced the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC), an ambitious project that will link the regions via rail, shipping and ports, energy, and digital connectivity. Leaders from the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, France, Germany, Italy and the EU signed the IMEC MOU, demonstrating the geostrategic importance of this project. The new corridor will help to establish reliable and secure regional supply chains and will facilitate increased trade.
During the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), President Biden attended the inaugural C5+1 presidential summit with the presidents of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to discuss security, trade and investment as well as increasing regional connectivity and the respect of sovereignty, territorial integrity and ongoing reforms to improve governance and the rule of law. The meeting between leaders of the United States and Central Asia also included the announcement of a C5+1 Critical Minerals Dialogue as part of a continued effort to expand investments of the Trans-Caspian Trade Route, also known as the Middle Corridor, through PGII.
These projects, in addition to establishing necessary infrastructure and linking countries, necessary for economic growth and development, will serve as a balance to China’s Belt-Road Initiative and will bring with them Western business practices, human rights values, environmental standards and good governance procedures.
Identifying New Opportunities
The PGII provides a tremendous opportunity for U.S. firms looking to expand in the international arena, particularly in South and Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The Biden administration is looking for companies willing to work in these regions to help establish the infrastructure necessary for economic growth and development in clean energy, agriculture, critical minerals, health care and telecommunication expansion. The Brownstein International Practice has had significant success in introducing both United States and international companies to the Biden administration PGII team and working with them through the financing process with the DFC, EXIM and other U.S. agencies involved. Brownstein is in a unique position to assist U.S. companies to collaborate with PGII to expand their operations to a great number of developing economic regions to support supply chain resiliency programs, infrastructure investment and modernization initiatives and sustainability goals. For more information on how to engage with the administration and PGII to identify new business opportunities, please contact Samantha Carl-Yoder and Lauren Diekman.
THIS DOCUMENT IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING PGII FUNDED PROJECTS AND FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES. THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT ARE NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE SPECIFIC LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT OR IF YOU NEED LEGAL ADVICE AS TO AN ISSUE, PLEASE CONTACT THE ATTORNEYS LISTED OR YOUR REGULAR BROWNSTEIN HYATT FARBER SCHRECK, LLP ATTORNEY. THIS COMMUNICATION MAY BE CONSIDERED ADVERTISING IN SOME JURISDICTIONS.