ADB willing to work with China on ‘One Belt, One Road’ plans

YOKOHAMA: The Japanese-led Asian Development Bank (ADB) is willing to cooperate, rather than compete, with China’s development finance and infrastructure plans under its “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) initiative, the bank’s head said yesterday.

ADB president Takehiko Nakao’s comments were made at the start of the bank’s four-day annual meeting here, where China’s rising influence is expected to be among key topics of discussion.

However, he warned creditors about the costs of projects in economies that are targeted by China’s high-profile OBOR initiatives.

“It’s a good idea to connect countries and to promote activities in this region,” Nakao told reporters, when asked about how the ADB should deal with OBOR.

“We can cooperate because we have similar ideas,” he said at a news conference kicking off the annual meeting. He added that he discussed areas of cooperation with Chinese Finance Minister Xiao Jie, who will be in Tokyo for a meeting with his counterparts from Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian nations today.

Nakao said the vast need of infrastructure finance in Asia meant that the ADB and the AIIB could ooperate and complement each other, instead of considering each other as rivals. The ADB and the AIIB have agreed to co-finance three projects - two last year and one this year, he added. – Reuters