Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken co-hosted a virtual Supply Chain Ministerial forum with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo July 20 centered around strengthening supply chains.
“We’re engaging with allies and diverse stakeholders to make sure critical products are getting to Americans who need them,” Blinken said in a post on Twitter. “Today’s #SupplyChain Ministerial shows how diplomacy can tackle global challenges caused by the pandemic and Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
The Supply Chain Ministerial forum brought together stakeholders and key partner nations to discuss an action plan toward building a resilient supply chain. Blinken identified two main goals for the ministerial which were to identify immediate steps that could be taken to reduce supply chain disruptions as well as formulate plans which focus on building “the long-term foundation” to build and cultivate resilience, according to his remarks, which were published on the State Department website.
Participants of the forum released a joint statement in which they pledged to work together on crisis response to alleviate supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks, according to a State Department release. The countries that issued the statement were Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The joint statement outlined global supply chain principles which the participants pledged to follow. The first principle was transparency, which essentially boils down to bolstering communication between different levels of government and stakeholders, including in the private sector.
Secondly, they pledged on diversification, meaning supporting multiple, reliable, sources of materials and goods, according to the joint statement. They also pledged on security, which entails cooperation in addressing mutual vulnerabilities in the supply chain and eliminating corruption.
Finally, they pledged in that joint statement on sustainability, which branches into climate, environment and upholding human rights in relation to product production.
