Seventeen countries held a Supply Chain Ministerial Forum this week to address supply chain disruptions that hamper economic recovery and fuel inflation.<\/p>\n
The United States hosted the the virtual two days event with the participation of Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, and the the United Kingdom. The European Union was also present.<\/p>\n
The virtual event also convened stakeholders from labor, industry, civil society – including historically underrepresented voices – and subnational officials to address both short-term bottlenecks and longer-term supply chain challenges.<\/p>\n
The participants acknowledged that to ensure efforts on supply chains are effective and reach those most in need, they must build solutions from the bottom up, with industry, unions, labor, and civil society, including representatives from minority and indigenous populations, underserved communities, and subnational governments.<\/p>\n
At the Ministerial Plenary on July 20, the United States, allies, and partners made political commitments to work together to address near-term supply chain disruptions. They aim to cooperate on building long-term supply chain resiliency by supporting transparency, diversification, security, and sustainability by adherence to high environmental and labor standards, including the prevention of forced labor, coupled with workforce development to meet tomorrow’s needs.<\/p>\n