BEIJING - “The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will extend its membership to nearly 100 countries and regions by the end of the year, making it a truly international financial institution with the mission of ensuring multilateral benefits of all members,” AIIB President Jin Liqun said.
Speaking to around 30 editors from Asia’s major media outlets, who gathered in Beijing for the annual board meeting of the Asia News Network, he said up to 30 countries were waiting to join the AIIB, and around 20 of them had expressed their firm commitment.
Pakistan is a founding member of the world’s largest emerging financial institution. The Bank has also reported first projects in Pakistan it is co-financing, a choice that its financial chief said was not related to close ties between China and Pakistan. The financial level of these projects is expected to be around $300 million. The China-led multilateral development bank has identified a series of co-financing projects with the Asian Development Bank, according to a statement released by both banks.
Jin’s comments also came ahead of the Bank’s first annual meeting to be held on June 25 and 26 in Beijing. Governors and representatives of the Bank’s 57 founding members will attend the event. The projects in Pakistan, to be co-financed by the AIIB, include construction of M4, a 64-kilometer stretch of motorway connecting Shorkot to Khanewal in Punjab.
The agreement sets the stage for jointly financed projects. The AIIB and ADB are already discussing projects for co-financing in road infrastructure and water sectors.
Replying to questions on whether the projects in Pakistan had been chosen first as a result of close ties between China and Pakistan, the Bank’s financial chief had said this had come about just by chance.
“The Pakistan project is the most mature one. There is a series of forthcoming projects, which will probably be approved and announced this month,” he had added.
The AIIB expects to approve around $1.2 billion of financing this year, including 12 projects with the World Bank and the ADB.
Meanwhile, China is executing its $46 billion plan for China-Pakistan economic corridor.
A Financial Times report had said earlier that besides the aforesaid projects of Pakistan, the AIIB was also considering financing a road project in Tajikistan and a ring road in Almaty, Kazakhstan.