Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the call for collaboration between nations in strengthening supply chain resiliency before the Alliance for Development in Democracy (ADD).
The ADD met in New York on Sept. 20 to discuss its progress and what looms for the future of the Alliance, according to a State Department news release.
“We are coming together to tackle critically important questions in the five focus areas that we’ve agreed on," Blinken said according to the release. "[These are] how can we collectively strengthen our democracies and other democracies throughout the hemisphere, how can we deal with the root causes of migration, while providing humanitarian assistance to migrants, how can we spur genuinely inclusive economic growth in our countries, especially as we all rebound from COVID-19.”
He welcomed Ecuador to the ADD, which joined the alliance in June. Blinken also discussed the supply chain memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by participating members in July, the release reported.
“We're following through in the memorandum of understanding that we signed in July to strengthen our supply chains,” he said, according to the release.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently launched a survey among U.S. CEOs to get a better understanding of companies' priorities and existing supply chains, Blinken told the ADD representatives. Through the information collected by the survey, the secretary said they would be able to identify business opportunities across the Americas, the release reported.
Implementation of the CHIPS Act that Congress passed a few weeks ago will fund additional development of the supply chains that exist between ADD countries, Blinken said. The funding will enable investment in the components necessary in the hemisphere, including in Latin American and Caribbean countries. As a critical part of the CHIPS Act, good-paying jobs will be created in the process, the release said.
