U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks ahead of President Joe Biden's signing of an executive order to reform federal and local policing on the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd, during an event at the White House in Washington, U.S., May
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks ahead of President Joe Biden's signing of an executive order to reform federal and local policing on the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd, during an event at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 25, 2022. Reuters / KEVIN LAMARQUE

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has pooled $3.2 billion in corporate pledges aimed at addressing some of the economic factors driving migration from Central America, her office said on Tuesday, lending impetus to measures to be discussed at the Summit of the Americas this week.

The new commitments from companies, including Visa Inc and the apparel company Gap Inc, exceed $1.9 billion, adding to $1.2 billion made in December. The latest round of corporate investments announced by Harris are intended to create jobs, expand access to the internet and bring more people into the formal banking system.

The pledges form a major part of President Joe Biden's plan to address "root causes" of migration from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, a region known as the Northern Triangle.

Biden, who travels to Los Angeles on Wednesday for the U.S.-hosted summit, will also promote a new economic plan for the Western Hemisphere building on existing trade agreements, U.S. officials said.

The Democratic president wants to use the summit to repair Latin America relations damaged under his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, and to counter China's growing influence in the region. But the administration's decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, which prompted the president of Mexico to stay away, has threatened to overshadow Biden's agenda.

However, U.S. efforts to stem migration from the Northern Triangle have been hampered by corruption, with projects likely worth millions shelved and some private sector engagement stalled.

Further complicating matters, the presidents of Guatemala and Honduras have signaled they will not attend the summit and will instead send other officials. Whether El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele will attend remains unclear.

Several thousand migrants, many from Venezuela, set off from southern Mexico on Monday on a journey to the United States timed to coincide with the summit.

At least 6,000 people, according to Reuters witnesses, left the city of Tapachula, near Mexico's border with Guatemala.

The latest corporate pledges includes $270 million from Visa focused on bringing 6.5 million people into the formal banking system, and a $150 million pledge from Gap to increase materials sourced from the region.

The other firms span a variety of sectors, including auto-parts, agriculture, telecommunications and digital services.

A CEO summit running parallel to the leaders' gathering could yield commitments for further investment in economically troubled Latin America, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and is struggling to recover.

Harris also announced an initiative with the private sector that aims to connect 1.4 million women to the financial system and train more than 500,000 women and girls in job skills.

Additionally, Harris unveiled a $50 million project called the Central American Service Corps designed to give young people in the Northern Triangle paid community service opportunities in areas such as education and violence prevention.

Despite friction over summit invitations, most leaders in the Americas plan to attend, including Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso, who called for more international support to combat drug trafficking. Lasso, who has just marked his first year in office, has struggled with rising insecurity and prison violence his government blames on drug gangs.