What's new

AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank) news

A Top Trump Adviser Is Rebuking Obama For Giving Asia's 'World Bank' the Cold Shoulder
by TIME
NOVEMBER 10, 2016, 11:58 PM EST

gettyimages-514486166.jpg

The logo of The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on March 9, 2016 in Beijing, China.

James Woolsey calls the rejection of the China-led AIIB a ‘strategic mistake.’

Donald Trump can be expected to give a “much warmer” response to China’s “One belt, One Road” trade initiative than President Obama, according to a top adviser to the U.S. president-elect.

James Woolsey, a senior adviser to Trump on national security and intelligence, also referred to the Obama administration’s rejection of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a ‘strategic mistake,’ in an opinion piece published in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post Thursday.

“It is widely accepted in Washington today that the Obama administration’s opposition to the formation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was a strategic mistake and I hope that the next administration’s response to the Belt and Road initiative will be much warmer,” he wrote.

Woolsey also said, “We will not become isolationist.”

On the campaign trail, Trump lambasted China and threatened to declare the country a currency manipulator, but analysts said that an American about-turn on the AIIB would be viewed as a sign of goodwill in Beijing, the Post reports.

Former Chinese vice-commerce minister Wei Jianguo told the Post that despite Trump’s rhetoric, he might be open to China-backed investment programs, and that if he embraced the AIIB more deals could follow. “There is huge potential for cooperation between China and the U.S,” he said.

Washington’s attempt to squash the AIIB was considered a sign of mistrust in Beijing and an attempt to stymie China’s regional economic power. The floundering Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP), which froze China out of a deal that would have included the U.S., Japan, Australia, and Vietnam, was regarded similarly.
 
Economically I believe that Trump will target more on Japan, Korea, India with heavy protection and weak external penetration. Trump may loose more technology bans on China to improve trade imbalance since this kind of bans usually only help China establish independent industries with the leaking from so called US alliance and don't benefit United States. Better Sino-USA relations ahead as long as Sino-US work to establish mutual beneficial and stable economic partnership. That's why Chinese Americans with mainland origin are the extremely mobilized to support Trump.

Well, from I have heard, the biggest reason a lot of mainland-origined chinese population supported Trump is because Hillary is proposing AA style for university admission slots by ethnicity. Since mainland Chinese has a lot better education on average, equalizing the available admission slot by ethnicity just means less slots for Chinese parents and their children. That is pretty much the very last thing you want to mess with.
 
Last edited:
Well, from I have heard, the biggest reason a lot of mainland-origined chinese population supported Trump is because Hillary is purposed AA style for university admission slots by ethnicity. Since mainland Chinese has a lot better education on average, equalizing the available admission slot by ethnicity just means less slots for Chinese parents and their children. That is pretty much the very last thing you want to mess with.
Child education is the last thing Chinese will give up.
 
AIIB head Jin Liqun says HK to become member in coming months
Nov 8, 19:24

2016110819262981932contentPhoto1.jpg



Hong Kong is expected to become a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in the coming months, the head of the China-backed development bank, Jin Liqun, said today.

He was speaking at a seminar, organized by the Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Jin said Hong Kong's application to become a member of AIIB was progressing well.

"We welcome Hong Kong's application for AIIB membership. Hong Kong, among other applicants, is expected to become a member of AIIB in the coming months. We look forward to new members playing an active role in the bank."

Jin added that AIIB has plans to issue bonds to support infrastructure financing at an appropriate time. "As a world-class financial center with a robust business architecture, deep and active capital markets, AIIB will certainly consider Hong Kong’s strengths when it issues bonds," he said.

HKMA Chief Executive, Norman Chan, said, Hong Kong welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with AIIB in its bond issue.-The Standard
 
AIIB president says US under Trump may join bank
By Ikenna Emewu (People's Daily Online) November 14, 2016

FOREIGN201611141122000300565523288.jpg


AIIB President Jin Liqun, file photo.

The president of the young Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Mr. Liqun Jin, is an exciting personality with sure words and mastery of the details of his office and firm.

The former top chief of the World Bank exudes firmness in his grasp of what the bank is and targets. It was a delight interviewing him at the AIIB headquarters in Beijing last week weekend. The bank was created last year mainly at the behest of China on Christmas Day and commenced operation on January 17 this year. Apart from the founding member states, new members have joined including Canada that came in September after China hosted the G20 Summit. Egypt and South Africa are the only two African countries currently in the AIIB.

"The letter ‘A’ in AIIB can stand for Asia, Africa or America"

He hinted that irrespective of the phobia for the AIIB by the US at its inception, the possibility of the country joining the bank when the president-elect, Donald Trump, is in power cannot be ruled out.

He said: “I have heard a certain senior official of the President Barack Obama speak good of the AIIB and after Donald Trump won, I was told that many in his team have an opinion that Obama was not right not to join the AIIB, especially after Canada joined, which was a very loud endorsement of the bank. So we can’t rule out the new government in US endorsing the AIIB or indicating interest to join as member.”

Canada’s membership became the 22nd non-Asian state member among the present 57 members. However, the test of the bank’s popularity that started with a capital base of $100b, some 50% of that of the World Bank, is the line-up of close to 20 new countries intending to be part of the bank and most of them from outside Asia. At least, five of the new applicants are African countries. The Bank in October appointed Nigerian renowned economist, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala an adviser among nine others from all over the world.

The president restated the bank’s willing to welcome new members as the old members with higher shareholding would drop more of their stakes to allow the new members have some shares, but after the next batch of members are admitted, Jin said there would hardly be any shares left for more countries to join. Very soon, the curtain would be drawn on the shortlist of the new members whose membership will take effect from January next year.

But the bank chief wants more African countries to join as he assured that the objectives of the AIIB includes assisting in the development of the smaller economies of the world no matter where located. To underscore the openness and overrule the phobia for it by US, Jin joked that “the letter ‘A’ in AIIB can stand for Asia, Africa or America. They all start with and that means the bank is for all of them.”

“Our major consideration in extending facilities to governments or state members is whether such projects the fund would be used for will in any benefit of Asia and assist in bettering Asian economy and also that of the borrowing country. But we have a duty and obligation to ensure that we don’t give impossible conditions to enable them utilize the funding and incentives of the bank. Every member state borrowing right is based not on the GDP but on shareholding and China has highest shareholding with 30% of the total volume. Right now, China is like a non-borrowing state member because if it does, it might crowd out other members that somehow need the fund more. But for the qualified borrower, the major plank for consent is on need and importance and not on shareholding capacity only. That implies that if a state needs to borrow and the AIIB is convinced that the need is compelling and there is prospect for profit in the targeted project the funding will be used for, the request would be granted as long as there is the collateral especially that of the economic potential of the project.”

AIIB funding of project is predicated on factors like the sustainability, the environmental friendliness which implies how the project would not cause a serious imbalance in environmental protection. But in situations where the importance would impact and encourage development and fight poverty, the environmental impact factor might be played down provided it is not so weighty to create another big problem. The last factor is the social acceptability - implying that the people of the community the project is to be sited must be ok with it and it must target to improve on their livelihood.

“AIIB structure, projects and funding must be lean, clean and green. By these I mean that the membership must be manageable and not too bogus, and we believe that the more the better. The project funding must be clean and that means there must be no form of corruption in the process leading to the funding and in the execution. It has to be clean to the extent of encouraging a clean and non-polluted environment. As I said earlier, on this we also consider the benefits when the environmental impact is bearable. For instance, in the USA today, most of the states, or almost all the so-called ‘Red States’ still rely on coal power station for electricity and it is not foreseeable in the next 30 years that fossil fuel would be done away with because of the carbon emission. What is steadily done is ensuring its effect is minimized. So in a place we find that coal power plant for instance is needed as the only way the people would be assured of power supply enough to encourage economic growth, we will find a way of minimizing the emission effect and go ahead with the project to strike a balance.”

US initial fear

Jin admitted that: “At the formation of the AIIB, the US, the base of the Bretton Wood Institutes that manage the world economy including the World Bank and the IMF, saw the new body as a threat to its dominance and importance in the world economic order. They raised issues on whether the bank’s functions would be consistent with fundamental human and environmental rights of the borrowers or state members. We did our best to convince them that we were no threat or rivals or either naive as not to know the basic rules of operations. And moreover, we believe there is enough space in the global economic theatre for several bodies to operate, and many regional development banks operate side by side the World Bank and there is no reason the AIIB would be the violator. We rather need to work with and benefit each other to create a better world.

“For instance, Asia alone needs as much as $1tr infrastructure funding every year and the World Bank hasn’t such pool of money to pick the bills therefore the need for an alternative. Moreover, if the AIIB exists just like the World Bank, there is no time the new body would embark on a project of building a power plant, airports, roads or seaport to boost the economy of any country that the World Bank will still vote funds for the same project. So if the AIIB handles one project and the World Bank takes another that is a lot better for the world towards defeating poverty and hardship.”

On the management of the bank, the president stated that right now, the AIIB operates a lean workforce of about 90 workers and operates solely from the head office in Beijing as a strategy to save cost and may continue that way for a long time. He however hinted that with time as the need arises, the bank may operate little outlet offices just to handle needs as it would stick to the rule of cost effective management.

To make its operations adapt to global best practice standards, he said the AIIB adopts universal procurement approach to get the best manpower and equipment and also recruits experts from everywhere in the world based on their competence irrespective of whether the country of origin of such expert is a member of the AIIB or not. That way, it is sure to harness the best hands to run its operations.

***

So perhaps out goes Obama's fearmongering "If we do not write trade rules, China will" rhetoric.
 
Chile wants to join AIIB as soon as possible

11.23.2016, China.org.cn

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday said her country wants to join the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) at the earliest date possible.

Bachelet made the remarks when meeting with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping who arrived in Santiago on Tuesday afternoon for a state visit.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the two countries agreed to lift bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and to start talks on an upgrade of their free trade agreement (FTA) as soon as possible.

"An upgrade of the FTA between Chile and China will give economic and trade cooperation between the two countries a strong boost," Bachelet said.

Chile welcomes Chinese enterprises to increase their investments in the Latin American country, she said, adding that her country is willing to join the AIIB as soon as possible.

Chile is the last leg of Xi's three-nation Latin America tour, which has already taken the Chinese president to Ecuador and Peru. He also attended the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, capital of Peru.
 
Good news for Africa.

========
AIIB expects to support African industrialization in cooperation with UNIDO
2016-11-22 10:33 | Xinhua | Editor: Mo Hong'e

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) expects to cooperate with UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in boosting industrialization development in Africa in the future, Jin Liqun, President of AIIB on Monday told Xinhua.

Attending 50-year anniversary of UNIDO in Vienna, Jin said AIIB shares the inclusive and sustainable industrial development mandate with UNIDO, and could cooperate with the organization in the future to support the industrial development in African states.

"We expect that in near future we could carry out our business in Africa, and could cooperate with the world bank, the African Development Bank and UNIDO," Jin told Xinhua.

Although AIIB mainly focuses on the development of Asia, but African seems to be an attractive continent for its investment.

The AIIB president said compared to the other region like Latin America, Africa needs more help, many of the African countries still depend on exporting resources, therefore the industrialization is quite important for African countries.
 
China-backed AIIB to fund projects in Africa in ‘near future’
JANNE SUOKAS
2016/11/22

aiib-president-jin-liqun.jpg

AIIB chief Jin Liqun has said the bank expects to fund projects in Africa in the near future. (Photo: Feng Yongbin, China Daily)


The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is reportedly expecting to fund projects in Africa in the near future, a move that would mark the first time for the Beijing-based bank to extend its business beyond Asia.

AIIB President Jin Liqun, who was attending the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in Vienna on Monday, said that the bank could co-operate with other lenders to help African countries to meet their development needs.

"We expect that in near future we could carry out our business in Africa, and could cooperate with the World Bank, the African Development Bank and UNIDO," Jin told Xinhua.

The AIIB chief said that his bank shares the same inclusive and sustainable development mandate with UNIDO and could cooperate with it to support the industrial development in Africa in the future.

The AIIB was founded on Chinese initiative last year with 57 member countries and US$100 billion in capital to finance infrastructure projects across Asia.

The bank has so far approved six loans worth US$829 million to road and energy projects in Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and Tajikistan, with five of them being co-financed with other lenders including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

But underlining the openness of the AIIB – which was initially regarded by some as China’s alternative to the Washington-based World Bank and the Japanese-led ADB – Jin said in an interview last week that the bank would consider borrowing requests from all member states.

“The letter ‘A’ in AIIB can stand for Asia, Africa or America. They all start with 'A' and that means the bank is for all of them,” Jin told People’s Daily, adding that the bank would consider the economic potential, sustainability and environmental impact of each funding request.

Egypt and South Africa are so far the only African members in the AIIB, but Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan could reportedly also join at the start of the next year when the bank is expecting to take in up to 30 new members.

Renowned Nigerian economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed in October to the bank’s international advisory panel, which includes several top politicians and government officials from countries in Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa.

China is the largest stakeholder in the bank, followed by India, Russia, Germany and South Korea.
 
This news is a few months old, but still important. Deserves to be published.

***

b-hatoyama-a-20160627-870x593.jpg

Yukio Hatoyama | YOSHIAKI MIURA

Former Japanese leader Hatoyama to buck precedent, join advisory panel of China-Led AIIB
  • The Japan Times, Jun 26, 2016
BEIJING – Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will sit on an international advisory committee of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, it was learned Saturday.

AIIB President Jin Liqun confirmed Hatoyama’s appointment to the panel.

Japan, together with the United States, stopped short of joining the AIIB as founding members when the development bank was set up in December.

By appointing a former Japanese prime minister as an adviser to the AIIB, China may be attempting to weaken the collaboration between Japan and the United States, which are key players in the rival Asian Development Bank and World Bank.

The international advisory committee will hold its first meeting this autumn. Committee members will be tasked with advising the AIIB’s president and vice presidents on a broad range of issues.

The panel is expected to be made up of about 10 former heads of state or government, including from nonmember nations. Jin has been in charge of selecting the members other than Hatoyama, a source said.

Last year, there was debate in Japan over whether or not to follow other U.S. allies such as Britain, Germany, France and Italy and join the AIIB as a founding member. Hatoyama strongly supported Japan joining the body.

Jin, then head of the AIIB’s preparatory office, met Hatoyama in Beijing last autumn and asked him to be a member of the advisory committee, according to the source.

Since the AIIB’s December establishment, details of the panel have been discussed within the organization.

Currently, the AIIB consists of 57 member nations, including developing countries in Asia and advanced nations in Europe. At least 24 more countries have informed the AIIB of their willingness to join the institution.

The total of 81 member nations would surpass the 67 members of the Asian Development Bank, which is led by Japan and the United States.
 
PH Senate votes to ratify AIIB membership
By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) | Updated December 1, 2016 - 12:00am

senator-loren-legarda-6.jpg
The Senate on Tuesday approved on second reading the report of the Sub-Committee on Foreign Relations for the AIIB Treaty after Sen. Loren Legarda sponsored it on the floor. File photo


MANILA, Philippines – The Senate is set to make a final vote next week on its concurrence to the Executive Branch’s ratification of the Articles of Agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), from which the Philippines can tap billions of dollars in funding for projects.

The Senate on Tuesday approved on second reading the report of the Sub-Committee on Foreign Relations for the AIIB Treaty after Sen. Loren Legarda sponsored it on the floor.

Legarda, who chaired the hearings of the sub-committee, said membership to the AIIB would help achieve the country’s growth targets through accelerated infrastructure spending.

“Development of infrastructure is crucial for enhancing our trade competitiveness. Resilient and adequate infrastructure will reduce the costs of trade and strengthen our competitiveness. These would impact on our future growth,” the senator said.

“Let us take, however, this crucial step to be part of the AIIB to help address one of the most pressing issues facing our infrastructure sector,” she said in asking her colleagues to concur with the ratification.

The agreement was ratified by former president Benigno Aquino III last February. It was also ratified by President Duterte last Oct. 19.

The AIIB is a multilateral institution that consists of 57 member countries, 37 of which are in Asia. It was formally established in November 2014 when 22 Asian countries gathered in Beijing to sign a memorandum of understanding on the bank.

It aims to boost lending for infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific region, including energy, urban construction, transportation and logistics as well as education and healthcare.

It has an authorized capital stock of $100 billion.

The Duterte administration has set aside P4 billion in the proposed budget for 2017 as the Philippines’ initial contribution to the AIIB.

‘’In the end, we can see a 400 percent to 1,150 percent return on investment (ROI) of our required paid-in capital of $196 million (P9.8 billion) in five years,’’ Legarda said.

‘’AIIB aims to supplement and not crowd out private sector financing since it will focus on vital financing projects that are unable to avail of reasonable financing terms and conditions,’’ she said.

Legarda said the Philippines ranked 95th out of 138 economies in the 2016-2017 World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness index on infrastructure, highlighting how much the country has lagged behind other economies.

“The absence of good infrastructure – from road networks, transportation systems, airports and seaports, electrification, water supply, to telecommunications – has had dire consequences on our nation’s growth; above all, on our people’s well-being,” she said.

The World Bank estimates that a 10 percent increase in capital investment in infrastructure projects contributes to a one percent growth in GDP.

Citing a study by the ADB, the Department of Finance estimates the Philippines needs $127.12 billion from 2010 to 2020 for its infrastructure needs.
 
Senate approves PH membership in AIIB
posted December 05, 2016 at 10:01 pm by PNA
Manila Standard

THE Senate on Monday approved on its final reading the ratification of Articles of Agreement of the China-led international financial institution, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Senate Resolution No. 241 was passed on third reading with 20 affirmative votes, one negative vote from Senator Risa Hontiveros and zero abstention.

The resolution was sponsored by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and co-sponsored by Senator Loren Legarda, chairperson of the Senate Subcommittee on the AIIB ratification.

“The Agreement considers the importance of regional cooperation to sustain growth and promote economic and social development of the economies in Asia and thereby contribute to regional resilience against potential financial crises and other external shocks in the context of globalization,” the resolution said.

It further stated that the Agreement “realizes that the considerable long-term need for financing infrastructure development in Asia will be met more adequately by a partnership among existing multilateral development banks and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.”

The AIIB is formed by 57-founding member states like China, India, Russia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The Philippines signed the Articles of Agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank last Dec. 31, 2015 in China.

President Rodrigo Duterte himself ratified the Agreement last October 19 and accordingly submitted it to the Senate for concurrence, in accordance with the 1987 Constitution.
 
AIIB approves loans for transport projects in Oman
2016-12-11 10:05 | Xinhua | Editor: Feng Shuang

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved two loans totaling 301 million U.S. dollars for transport sector projects in Oman, the bank's first in the Arabian Peninsula.

The financing comprises 265 million dollars to maritime infrastructure at Duqm Port and 36 million dollars to the country's first railway system, the AIIB said in a statement.

The projects are expected to enhance Oman's economic prospects and maritime trade links with other countries, the AIIB said.

"I am pleased the bank will be able to help the government of Oman diversify its economy through the approval of these two projects," AIIB President Jin Liqun said.

The two projects bring the total amount of loans approved so far by the bank to 1.13 billion dollars since it started operation in January.

"We have a strong pipeline of investments for next year, and we will continue working hard to help develop the sustainable infrastructure that Asia needs," Jin added.

The Beijing-based AIIB is a multilateral development bank initiated by China and supported by a wide range of countries and regions, which provides financing for infrastructure improvement in Asia.
 
PH eyes $300M to $500 million from China-led AIIB in 2017
By: Ben O. de Vera - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:13 PM December 12, 2016


Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III
(INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA — The government is planning to borrow $300 million to $500 million from the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in 2017 to fund ready-to-implement projects, according to the Department of Finance.

In a statement, the DOF quoted National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan as saying that the government “may now request that AIIB send a mission to the country to discuss the proposed list of projects prepared by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for the bank’s financing.”

Last month, NEDA Director General Jonathan L. Uy said that as a whole, 31 projects have been in the pipeline for financing by the Chinese government, including the AIIB.

Tan also told the Senate in November that membership in the AIIB would allow co-financing with the Manila-based multilateral lender Asian Development Bank of the EDSA bus rapid transit (BRT) project, as well as with the World Bank for the Metro Manila flood control project.

“These are the projects that are the most prepared in terms of government approvals, feasibility studies and other requirements, and are already in the pipeline. So these projects can be processed most expeditiously for co-financing by AIIB,” Tan explained.

“Funds from AIIB will serve as an additional source of concessional financing to support our growing infrastructure requirements. Its terms and conditions are comparable to those of other multilateral development banks,” according to Tan.

The Duterte administration plans to spend P860.7 billion or 5.4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) on hard infrastructure next year, en route to bringing the infrastructure spending-to-GDP ratio to 7.2 percent by 2022.

Last Dec. 5, the Senate voted 20-1 to ratify the Philippines’ membership in the Beijing-headquartered AIIB, ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline for submission of prospective members’ instruments of ratification.

Tan, who attended an AIIB meeting last week, had said the government would pay the initial tranche of paid-in capital worth $40 million or about P2 billion before yearend, to be sourced from budgetary savings.

The Philippines was required to contribute to the AIIB a total of $200 million or about P9.3 billion in paid-in capital, payable in five tranches until 2019. The AIIB’s total capitalization was $100 billion.

The second and third installment payments worth P3.72 billion were already included in the proposed P3.35-trillion 2017 national budget.

The country will have a total voting power of 12,821 votes or 1.1 percent of the total voting power across all members, as well as join the proposed constituency comprised of Bangladesh, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal and Thailand.

Since it was established in January, the AIIB already approved loans for seven projects worth $1.13 billion, of which four were co-financed with other multilateral lenders such as the ADB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank.

The DOF noted that Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III had early on “strongly backed” the country’s AIIB membership, which he said “would provide the government another source of long-term funding at very reasonable interest rates for the Duterte administration’s unprecedented infrastructure buildup,” citing the need for about P8 trillion in investments needed to fill the infrastructure gap over the next six years.

“Achieving full membership in the AIIB is a significant milestone. Completing our domestic procedures for ratification puts us in solidarity with 56 other countries,” the finance chief said.

“AIIB serves as the only multilateral development bank that focuses on infrastructure. The operations and policies of the bank are designed to be lean, clean and green. It is committed to principles of transparency, independence, openness and accountability,” Dominguez added.

DOF documents earlier noted that the AIIB “can provide an annual financing window to the Philippines of about $200-500 million, representing a 400-1,150 percent return on investment of our required paid-in capital of $200 million in five years.

The financing that could be provided by the AIIB would dwarf the $11.56 million in investments needed by the country yearly to narrow the infrastructure gap until 2020, as earlier projected by the ADB, the DOF earlier said. SFM
 

Pakistan Affairs Latest Posts

Back
Top Bottom