SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, good afternoon, everyone. And to all of our partners from across governments, financial institutions, from regions around the globe, welcome. Thank you for being here this afternoon.
Since 2022, the United States and other G7 members have been working together to finance infrastructure projects that support economic growth all around the world. We've been bringing together governments, business, financial institutions to pool our resources, to pool our expertise.
And the goal, the objective, is to build quality, sustainable infrastructure - from roads to clean energy to fiber optic cables.
We're doing this with the highest standards of transparency, labor and environmental protections, in partnership with communities, to make sure that we're being responsive to their needs.
And just over the last two years, the United States has mobilized some $60 billion to support projects around the world, from South America to Southeast Asia to Africa.
The Lobito Corridor - connecting Angola, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo - is one of our biggest projects.
The ultimate goal is infrastructure connecting the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.
The coalition that we've built includes three African countries, two of our G7 partners, and the Africa Finance Corporation and African Development Bank.
We look forward to welcoming Italy, which has already made significant investments on the continent through its own Mattei Plan.
So far, the United States and our partners have committed over $4 billion to Lobito Corridor projects.
Together we're expanding access to clean energy, the internet, healthcare, and we're upgrading and building railways, roads, bridges.
And we're already seeing results.
It used to be that it took up to 45 days to get shipments to port by truck. Now, just a fraction of that time by train.
Today, multiple international shipments are running every week - including to the United States - bringing, for example, copper, helping to fuel the clean energy transition.
Regional shipments will soon include agricultural products to strengthen food supply chains.
In January, I had a chance to visit Angola. I saw the benefits of this development firsthand.
I heard from CEOs about investments they're making in the corridor, like developing solar grids to bring clean, affordable energy to more than a million people.
Just moments ago, several members of the group announced new steps forward to build a railway connecting Zambia and the Port of Lobito, including: signed agreements between Angola, Zambia, and the Africa Finance Corporation to continue developing the project; the U.S. Trade and Development Agency providing more than 2 million in grants for environmental and social impact assessments to uphold standards, building on recently completed feasibility studies.
Today, Tanzania is also joining conversations about the Lobito Corridor for the first time - something we very much welcome.
This afternoon, we'll have a chance to discuss how we can expand the Lobito Corridor and also lay the groundwork for the convening of leaders in Angola, led by President Biden and President Lourenço.
So I'm very eager to have this conversation, to get a chance to hear from our colleagues. This is an incredibly positive endeavor, one that's already showing results. But as I had a chance to see for myself, the possibilities are extraordinary. And the challenge before us is to continue the work to actually realize them.
With that, thank you very much and I'll hand it over to you.
