The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) is looking to team up with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to co-finance projects in Sri Lanka and several other nations, a local media report said on Wednesday.
ADB President Takehiko Nakao who was in Sri Lanka on a two-day official visit this week told reporters here that the ADB was happy to co-finance with the AIIB and Sri Lanka was one possible country to start co-financing.
He said the China-proposed AIIB was expected to be soon up and running and the ADB had office and staff in place who had technical capacity and knowledge which could be used by the AIIB.
Already the Exim Bank of China and China Development Bank have been large financiers of infrastructure in Sri Lanka. China is also Sri Lanka's largest development partner.
In discussions held with President Maithripala Sirisena in the capital on Tuesday, Nakao discussed the ADB-funded development projects in the island nation.
The ADB last week expressed keenness to increase its funding portfolio by more than 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in the next three years. A new Country Partnership Strategy is also on the cards to cover the period 2017-2021.
