DIPLOMACY DC INTERNATIONAL
Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman Participates in the 105th Meeting of the Development Committee Plenary in Washington, D.C. | Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 105th Meeting of the Development Committee Plenary in Washington. Items on the agenda included digitalization and development, making debt work for development and macroeconomic stability, and the discussion of the World Bank’s response to the global impacts due to the war in Ukraine. At the session, the finance minister stated that India’s economic growth in the current year is robust and highest among all large economies and reflects India’s resilience and strong recovery. (Embassy of India) Final Event of the Italy-USA Cooperation Project and Bridge the Pond Project | On May 5th, the Embassy of Italy hosted the final event of the Italy-USA Cooperation Project. This project which ran during the 2021/2022 school year, included the Parentucelli-Arzela’ Institute of Higher Education in Sarzana (La Spezia) and Annapolis High School in Maryland.
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Three scholarships were awarded to Italian students who will spend three weeks in October at the “twin” school in Annapolis. In spring next year, three American students will visit their counterpart in Italy. About sixty students from the Parentucelli-Arzela’ Institute and ten students from Annapolis High School participated in the ceremony virtually. Seventeen students from the Walt Whitman High School in Maryland, and two of its teachers, attended the event in person at the Embassy. The project was supported by the Italian Embassy by an in-part contribution assigned from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Casa Italiana Language School of Sarzana. It was an opportunity to strengthen ties and exchanges and allow students to broaden their reciprocal cultural knowledge, enhance dialogue between the two cities and countries, and strengthen language skills. (Embassy of Italy) America’s Pivot to Asia 2.0: The IndoPacific Economic Framework | On his Asia trip, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that Japan, India and 10 other countries have committed to join the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic
Framework (IPEF). Those countries include Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Not included, at least for now, are Taiwan, three ASEAN member states (Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar) and China (obviously). But the door to their future membership remains (at least theoretically) open. Through IPEF, the United States hopes to economically engage the Indo-Pacific and counter China’s increasing economic and political influence in the region. With around 60 percent of global population, the region is going to be the main driver of economic growth in the world in the next few decades. According to the White House, the region “supports 3 million American jobs” and is “the source of nearly $900 billion in foreign direct investment in the United States,” while U.S. FDI in the region totaled around $969 billion in 2020. What’s more, the United States is the “primary exporter of services to the region.” (The Diplomat)
