The European Union (EU) will boost global infrastructure projects to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The EU will host the Global Gateway on Sept. 25 and 26. Leaders from more than 20 countries, including Bangladesh, Senegal, Namibia and Moldova, will attend the event, Bloomberg reported on Oct. 19 (local time).
The Global Gateway, conceived by the EU in 2021, is a policy to stabilize supply chains between the EU and other countries and promote economic cooperation between them. It is an international cooperation project to respond to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The EU said with regard to the Global Gateway that it will invest 300 billion euros to strengthen smart, clean and secure connectivity in the digital, energy and transportation sectors through the Global Gateway.
The Global Gateway Forum will bring together the EU’s institutions, member states and partner countries and European companies willing to invest in the project. Companies expected to join the project include Orange, Allianz, Alstom, Danone, Enel, Siemens and Telefónica.
“The forum will come one week after China gathers representatives from more than 130 countries to mark the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative,” Bloomberg reported. “The EU and its allies are competing with countries like China to develop infrastructure and connectivity projects in emerging economies.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping characterized the Belt and Road Initiative as an alternative to the U.S.-led global order. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also a participant of the Belt and Road Initiative. The Initiative is estimated to have attracted US$1 trillion over 10 years, Bloomberg said, making it difficult for the EU to compete with the initiative.
The EU Commission wants to make the Global Gateway Forum a smaller but more targeted summit than China’s Belt and Road Forum and about 20 announcements will be made in order to kick off the Global Gateway, an EU official said.