I would like to thank Julien Bengui, Gitanjali Kumar, Lori Rennison and Eric Santor for their help in preparing this speech.

Introduction

Thank you for your kind introduction. I'm very pleased to be here with you, virtually at least. I look forward to the day when we can meet in person again. But the need to invest in international cooperation can't wait. And I know we'll have some thoughtful and engaging conversation despite the virtual format.

My hope is that we can take inspiration from the cooperation among researchers who developed effective vaccines against COVID-19 in record time. Their efforts and collaboration are saving lives and livelihoods and are underpinning the global economic recovery. This is international cooperation at its very best.

Tragically, there hasn't been nearly as much success in ensuring the equitable global distribution of vaccines, especially to developing countries. This is the biggest health and economic risk facing the world, and-as the G20 highlighted in July-governments and the private sector must work together to make vaccines available to all.

(Full text available at BIS，8 October 2021)