FORGING NEW PATH
"AIIB is now the only multilateral development bank in the world that the developing countries dominate with a combined total of over 60 percent of the shares. It has been playing a unique role in global governance," said Zheng Quan, director general for Policy and Strategy of AIIB.
For Sir Danny Alexander, vice president and corporate secretary at AIIB, the charm of AIIB lies in its mission to invest in infrastructure, which supports sustainable economic development in Asia and is also good for the whole world as Asia has the most people in the world, most of economic growth in the world and also a lot of growth potential.
According to Zheng, part of the bank's charm also comes from its forging a new path, including providing financing to both sovereignty-backed and non-sovereignty backed infrastructure projects, and investing in countries across all income levels which gives the bank more flexibility.
The bank has also established a non-resident board, which, while giving the board more autonomy and responsibility, is more cost-efficient, according to Zheng.
The new mechanism and business models are based on learning from the experiences and lessons of other multilateral development banks.
"We are quickly moving upwards on the learning curve," said Jin.
Jin also stressed that AIIB, as the "newest member of the family of multilateral financial institutions and development banks," has been working with its "sister MDBs."
"AIIB is an important multilateral development bank as it tries to fill the gap between demand and supply in infrastructure and to mobilize more money from the private sector to promote sustainable growth in Asia," said Tadashi Yokoyama, head of External Representation Office for Asia of the African Development Bank.
"We are looking forward to working with AIIB to co-finance good projects in the African continent," said Yokoyama.
TO BUILD A BETTER FUTURE
AIIB, while winning acclaim from all over the world for its good work and potential, is also conscious that it still has a long way to go.
The annual meeting of the Board of Governors is AIIB's supreme decision-making body in which chief delegates of members discuss directions and make major decisions on the bank's management.
This year's meeting, with the theme "Sustainable Infrastructure," saw the release of the bank's strategy in the energy area, which voiced strong support for its members to transit toward a low-carbon future.
"We are committed to the principles of sustainable development in the conceptualization, design, and implementation of our investments," Jin said at the annual meeting.
Other strategic focuses of the bank include promoting cross-country connectivity and mobilizing more money from the private sector.
The bank announced on Thursday three new projects, including its first equity investment, which, according to D.J. Pandian, vice president and chief investment officer of AIIB, is another significant milestone and will enhance the bank's potential to source and fund high quality, private sector projects.
"We will realize our grand vision of a future of shared benefits across Asia and beyond. We have every reason to be optimistic about our ability to accomplish what we have set as our goals," said Jin.
