3rd Annual Meeting of AIIB held in Mumbai

The 3rd Annual Meeting of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) concluded in Mumbai, Maharashtra in optimistic note to raise its lending capacity to boost prosperity and security in Asia. The meeting was jointly organised by Department of Economic Affairs under Union Finance Ministry and AIIB.

Key Facts

The theme of third meeting was ‘Mobilising Finance for Infrastructure: Innovation and Collaboration’. It was attended by over 3,000 delegates from 86 member countries of AIIB.  It was held on high note to improve connectivity within region and in turn enable citizens in the region to reach their potential and enjoy prosperity and security. It had several concurrent sessions that discussed critical issues pertaining to environment, low carbon emissions, connectivity through railway network across borders among several others.
The first AIIB board of governors annual meeting was held in Beijing, China in 2016  and second in Jeju, South Korea in 2017 . The fourth annual meeting will be held in Luxembourg in July 2019. Luxembourg is a founding member of AIIB. It is also leading international financial center in Europe and facilitator of investments between Europe and Asia.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

AIIB is multilateral development bank initiated by China. Its purpose is to provide finance to infrastructure development and regional connectivity projects in Asia-Pacific region. It is viewed as Asia’s response to West-dominated Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB).
It was officially established in December 2015 with mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond and opened for business in January 2016. It is headquartered in Beijing, China. Its goals are to boost economic development in Asia-Pacific region, provide infrastructure, and promote regional cooperation and partnership. It priorities investments in energy, power generation, transport, rural infrastructure, environmental protection and logistics in Asia.
So far it has 86 members including India (US is not its member of AIIB but its allies Canada, Germany, UK, Australia and South Korea have joined it). It has an authorised capital of US $100 billion. China is largest shareholder of AIIB with 26.06% voting shares. India with 7.5% vote share is second largest shareholder followed by Russia, Germany and South Korea.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2018