G7's Build Back Better spending plan destined to fail: Tom Fowdy

Build Back Better spending plan, which is an "alternative" proposed by the G7 to counter Beijing-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, ultimately comes nowhere near BRI, said an op-ed published on RT, a Russian TV network, on June 14.

"It's better described as a glorified PR stunt that fails to appreciate the structural factors that have underscored the success and appeal of the BRI in the first place." said Tom Fowdy, a British writer and analyst of politics and international relations with a primary focus on East Asia, adding that the plan is impossible to take seriously because it intends to use private finance.

The motivation behind private investments is the potential to make a profit. However, the G7 countries have not invested themselves, making it questionable who is going to invest billions in projects in poor countries, said the article.

What's more, the fact is that China does not attach "political strings" to the investments, it noted, allowing those nations to get ahead without making concessions to Western governments and institutions that have enforced vast political and economic changes to them in the past.

The conclusion is obvious: the Build Back Better Initiative is promising a lot but hasn't presented any feasible way of delivering on its aims, said the article.

"The project is not taking seriously the implications and challenges of building infrastructure across the developing world, and seems simply to be another way to oppose China," Fowdy said in the op-ed.