Do you know what B3W is? It is not a brand of lubricants, as it may seem. It is the initiative launched by the U.S. during the G7 summit to counter the famous Belt & Road Initiative, a billion-dollar bet by China for the construction of infrastructure that already involves some 2,600 projects for US$3.7 trillion (millions of millions) in more than 100 countries. B3W, however, aims beyond pure infrastructure. "Through B3W, the G7 and other like-minded partners will coordinate to mobilize private sector capital in four focus areas: climate, health and health security, digital technology, and gender equity and equality, with catalytic investments from our respective development finance institutions," says the White House summary of the project (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/12/fact-sheet-president-biden-and-g7-leaders-launch-build-back-better-world-b3w-partnership/).

B3W has not set specific investment amounts for the initiative. It only notes that it will seek to help close the US$40 trillion infrastructure gap that the developing world needs to close by 2035.