February 14, 2021 President Biden to Participate in G7 Virtual Engagement

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 14, 2021 President Biden to Participate in G7 Virtual Engagement   On Friday, February 19, President Joe Biden will join fellow G7 leaders for a virtual meeting in the first gathering of G7 leaders since April 2020. This virtual engagement with leaders of the world’s leading democratic market economies will provide an opportunity for President Biden to discuss plans to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, and rebuild the global economy.  President Biden will focus on a global response to the COVID pandemic, including coordination on vaccine production, distribution, and supplies, as well as continued efforts to mobilize and cooperate against the threat of emerging infectious diseases by building country capacity and establishing health security financing. In January, on President Biden’s first day in office, he announced that the United States would re-engage with the World Health Organization to strengthen global health. His first National Security Memorandum was focused on COVID-19 and the relationship between a safe and secure United States, defeating COVD-19, improving global health, and advancing domestic and global health security to prevent, detect and respond to future biological catastrophes. The administration has pledged the United States will join the COVAX initiative, to purchase and distribute vaccines globally and through a multilateral mechanism. These global efforts reinforce the President’s progress to address the COVID pandemic at home, including increasing the pace of vaccinations, instituting public health measures for safe travel, and providing schools with scientific guidance for safe operations.   President Biden will also discuss the global economic recovery, including the importance of all industrialized countries maintaining economic support for the recovery and collective measures to build back better. As we build back better, we must ensure that the recovery is inclusive and benefits all workers, including women and members of historically disadvantaged groups, and all parts of our country. President Biden will also discuss need to make investments to strengthen our collective competitiveness and the importance of updating global rules to tackle economic challenges such as those posed by China. Finally, President Biden and other leaders will also discuss a robust agenda of measures to address the global climate crisis, a key priority for the administration.   The February 19 virtual engagement will be hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as part of this year’s UK’s G7 Presidency, and ahead of the planned G7 summit in June 2021.