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The region’s major multilateral lenders, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), have agreed to cooperate to help speed up the development of Asia, mainly through the joint financing of projects.
ADB President Takehiko Nakao and AIIB President-designate Liqun Jin met recently in the offices of the Multilateral Interim Secretariat of the AIIB in Beijing to discuss deepening cooperation between the two institutions.
During the meeting, Jin thanked Nakao for the ADB’s support for the AIIB Multilateral Interim Secretariat since their first meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, during the ADB’s 48th Annual Meeting in May, particularly in the preparation of the AIIB’s operational policies, including procurement and environment and social safeguards.
They renewed their commitment to working together for the development of Asia, and agreed to start the process to identify the ADB’s future projects that AIIB may be able to co-finance. “The ADB will be happy to share with the AIIB our long experience and expertise in the region, including support for regional cooperation and integration, sustainable and inclusive development, and climate-change adaptation and mitigation,” Nakao said.
“The AIIB appreciates the ADB’s support in this formative phase of its development. We look forward to working together with the ADB and other development partners to deliver timely and efficient financing to meet critical infrastructure demand in Asia,” Jin said.
During their meeting in May, they acknowledged the large infrastructure gap in the region, the critical role of infrastructure in supporting sustainable development and poverty reduction, and the importance of strong policies to ensure the environmental and social sustainability of projects.
Nakao extended an invitation to Jin to visit the ADB headquarters in Manila in the near future to deepen their partnership.
The ADB is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.
Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region. In 2014, ADB assistance totaled $22.9 billion, including cofinancing of $9.2 billion. TMM