Canada’s G7 goal on development: luring private capital to poor nations
OTTAWA — When G7 finance and international development ministers convene in British Columbia next week, Canada hopes the meetings will generate fresh ideas on how aid money can be leveraged to entice the private sector to boost investments in poorer parts of the world.
The challenging search for solutions will take place in Whistler, where finance and international development ministers will gather together for the first time at formal G7 meetings.
Many countries, including G7 members like the United States and the United Kingdom, have been working for some time to lure more private capital into developing nations as a way to help make up for inadequate levels of foreign aid.
Canada has been a late bloomer in this area. Earlier this year, it became the last G7 country to create a development finance institution to operate alongside its government-run foreign aid program.