LUXEMBOURG, July 14 (NNN-XINHUA) – The three-year-old Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), on Saturday, further expanded its membership to 100, with the approval of the African newcomers of Benin, Djibouti and Rwanda.
The decision was made unanimously by AIIB’s Board of Governors, at its fourth annual meeting held in Luxembourg.
The three prospective non-regional members will officially join the AIIB, once they complete the required domestic processes and deposit the first capital instalment with the bank.
In the meantime, the bank’s meeting elected Chinese Finance Minister, Liu Kun, as chairman of the board.
With its approved membership increasing to 100, and the volume of approved financing expanding to 8.5 billion U.S. dollars, the AIIB has become an important member of multilateral development system, said Liu.
The China-initiated multilateral financial institution began operation in Jan, 2016, with 57 founding members, with an agenda focused on supporting sustainable development through infrastructure and other productive sectors in Asia and beyond.
Lauding the progress the AIIB has made over the last three years, Liu said, the AIIB has been granted permanent observer status by the United Nations General Assembly, issued its first U.S.-dollar-denominated global bond, as well as, developed a series of important strategies and policies.
“AIIB members collectively account for 78 percent of the world’s population and 63 percent of global GDP. With the backing of all of our members, we are building a lean, clean, and green institution, that can help to support their sustainable development,”said AIIB President, Jin Liqun.
On the bank’s continuous enlargement, AIIB Vice President and Corporate Secretary, Sir Danny Alexander, commented, “That another 43 members have joined in the last three years is recognition that AIIB has established itself as part of the rules-based international system, with strong governance and high international standards.
“We now have members on every continent, and we welcome the growing interest of African countries in AIIB. We look forward to working with Benin, Djibouti and Rwanda to support their development in the years to come,” he said.
The bank’s board of governors decided to hold its fifth annual meeting in Beijing, on July 2-3, 2020.– NNN-XINHUA
