Latest news with #US-dominated
Arab Times
18-05-2025
- Business
- Arab Times
Colombia seeks to join China-based development bank
MIAMI, May 18, (AP): Colombia's government has applied to join a China-based development bank, another sign of Latin America's drift away from the U.S. as the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts, trade barriers and crackdown on immigration spurs many leaders in the region to seek closer ties with Washington's geopolitical rival. Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrapped up a visit to China this week with a stop in Shanghai, where he met with former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the head of the New Development Bank. The multilateral lender was set up a decade ago as a project of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - the so-called BRICS nations of major developing markets - as a counter to US-dominated institutions like the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. To date, the New Development Bank has approved loans for 122 infrastructure projects totaling more than $40 billion in areas such as transport, sanitation and clean energy, according to Rousseff. Petro, speaking to reporters in China on Saturday, said that Colombia is committed to purchasing $512 million worth of shares in the bank. He said that he was especially excited by the possibility of securing the New Development Bank's support for a 120-kilometer (75-mile) canal, or railway, connecting Colombia's Atlantic and Pacific Ocean coastlines that he said would position the country at the "heart' of trade between South America and Asia. Colombia is the second Latin American country to try and join the bank after tiny Uruguay sought membership in 2021. But Colombia's traditional role as a staunch US ally and caretaker in the war on drugs is likely to raise eyebrows in Washington. The US State Department this week said that it would "vigorously oppose' financing of projects linked to China's Belt and Road Initiative in Latin America. Petro signed up to the initiative during a summit with fellow leftist leaders from Brazil and China. Petro, a former leftist guerrilla, said he wouldn't be dissuaded by U.S. pressure and reaffirmed that Colombia seeks to remain neutral in a new era of geopolitical wrangling. "We made this decision freely,' Petro told reporters from Shanghai. "With the United States we can speak face to face, with China too.'
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First Post
18-05-2025
- Business
- First Post
Colombia moves to join China based development bank as Latin America reorients geopolitical ties
Colombian President Gustavo Petro concluded his vacation to China this week with a trip in Shanghai, where he met with former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the president of the New Development Bank read more Colombia's government has applied to join a China-based development bank, marking another sign of Latin America's shift away from the United States, as the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts, trade barriers, and immigration crackdown drive many regional leaders to seek closer ties with Washington's geopolitical rival. Colombian President Gustavo Petro concluded his vacation to China this week with a trip in Shanghai, where he met with former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the president of the New Development Bank. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The international lender was established a decade ago as an initiative of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — the so-called Brics nations of large emerging economies — to fight US-dominated institutions such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. According to Rousseff, the New Development Bank has authorised financing for 122 infrastructure projects totalling more over $40 billion in categories including transportation, sanitation, and renewable energy. Petro told reporters in China on Saturday that Colombia has committed to purchase $512 million in bank shares. He stated that he was particularly excited about the prospect of obtaining the New Development Bank's support for a 120-kilometer (75-mile) canal, or railway, connecting Colombia's Atlantic and Pacific Ocean coastlines, which he claimed would place the country at the 'heart' of trade between South America and Asia. Colombia is the second Latin American country to apply to join the bank, after Uruguay's application in 2021. But Colombia's traditional role as a staunch U.S. ally and caretaker in the war on drugs is likely to raise eyebrows in Washington. The U.S. State Department this week said that it would 'vigorously oppose' financing of projects linked to China's Belt and Road Initiative in Latin America. Petro signed up to the initiative during a summit with fellow leftist leaders from Brazil and China. Petro, a former leftist guerrilla, said he wouldn't be dissuaded by U.S. pressure and reaffirmed that Colombia seeks to remain neutral in a new era of geopolitical wrangling. 'We made this decision freely,' Petro told reporters from Shanghai. 'With the United States we can speak face to face, with China too.'
AU Financial Review
01-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Construction pins its turnaround hopes on defence spending boost
Contractors and consultants are counting on a pick-up in defence spending to boost demand for buildings and infrastructure as new figures show total project value of the country's largest builders dropped 8 per cent last year. Increasing demands for more Australian defence facilities in a world where the US-dominated post-WWII geopolitical order was changing and pledges by local politicians to boost defence spending made the sector 'a sleeper' that could wake up soon, BESIX Watpac chief executive Mark Baker said.
Bloomberg
24-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Private Lenders in Europe Want In on the ‘Sell America' Movement
They've long been a second thought in the US-dominated world of private credit, but fund managers in Europe are now getting a spike in interest from global LPs — and they're eager to grab a piece of the 'Sell America' movement. Limited partners, the investors at the top of the private credit investment chain, are turning to the region as a way to hedge volatility in their US assets. It's part of a wider shift in allocations away from American investments at the center of trade wars and into Europe, which is less exposed.
South China Morning Post
19-04-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Will Trump's chaos galvanise the Global South?
As speakers at the recent Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey sought to galvanise the international audience to respond to the crumbling of international institutions and two grinding wars, there were frequent references to the 'Global South'. Advertisement The appeal for solidarity among the countries beyond the advanced industrial West is understandable. Trust in a global order dominated by the United States and Europe has eroded in the face of their wilful failure to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza . Now, the chaos and confusion wrought by the Trump administration's tariff tantrums have forced even friends of the US to rethink their ties. US-dominated international institutions such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization have been a disappointment. Many countries on the periphery have long dreamt of a new order that is fairer to what has been accurately termed the 'majority world'. That spirit resulted in the Non-Aligned Movement, which unfortunately petered out after the end of the Cold War and the embrace of neoliberal pro-market reforms by most countries. The Global South is now a popular, affirming self-image and a rallying cry for nations once called the Third World or least developed countries (LDCs). The term originates from the fact that the US and Europe are in higher latitudes, while the nations they lorded over were mostly to their south. Unlike the LDC label, Global South is often worn as a badge of pride, alluding to cultures to be proud of, and an unyielding determination to chart one's own course. The Antalya forum last weekend was a gathering of more than 6,000 participants mostly from Africa, Middle East, Asia and the less wealthy countries of Europe. Several panels emphasised the need to meaningfully reform the membership of the UN Security Council beyond the five current permanent members and to drastically change the rules of the General Assembly itself. A UN Security Council meeting during the 79th General Debate of the UN General Assembly last year. Photo: dpa With the institution marking its 80th year this October, the UN itself has a reform agenda filled with many ideas, but just which will get approved and implemented remains to be seen.
