AIIB welcomes 13 new members
BEIJING: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said yesterday that it had approved 13 applicants, including Canada, Hong Kong and Sudan, to join the China-led institution launched about a year ago, expanding its membership to 70.
The new members will officially become part of the Beijing-headquartered bank once they complete necessary procedures.
As widely expected, the number of AIIB members is now set to outstrip that of the Asian Development Bank, led by Japan and the United States, which has 67 members.
It is the first time the board of governors of the AIIB has approved new members since it formally started operations in January last year with an authorised capital stock of $100 billion and 57 founding members.
“The interest in joining (the) AIIB from around the world affirms the rapid progress we have made to establish the bank as an international institution,” Jin Liqun, president of the lender, said in a statement.
Aside from Canada, Hong Kong and Sudan, the other prospective AIIB members are: Afghanistan, Armenia, Belgium, Ethiopia, Fiji, Hungary, Ireland, Peru, East Timor and Venezuela.
“I am very proud that the AIIB, aimed at responding to fast-growing infrastructure needs across Asia, now has members from almost every continent,” Jin said.
The bank said it expected to welcome more prospective members throughout the year.
Besides the founding members, more than 30 countries had been reportedly interested in joining the AIIB, whose largest shareholder is China.
China sees the AIIB’s success as being vital for Beijing’s overarching goal of connecting countries along the ancient Silk Road more closely, under the “One Belt and One Road” initiative, as it tries to expand its political and economic influence to as far away as Africa.
The creation of the AIIB was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2013. Its inception was further evidence of China’s rise and seen by some as a rival to the Western-dominated multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank and the ADB.
Japan and the United States have opted not to join the AIIB, partly because of skepticism over its governance and lending standards, while Britain, Germany and many European major countries eventually decided to be part of the China-initiated institution.
With the entry of Canada, Japan and the United States are the only ones among the Group of Seven industrial powers that have not joined the AIIB.
Japan and the United States are the two largest shareholders of the Manilabased ADB, founded in 1966, which, however, provides assistance to the AIIB to carry out joint co-financed projects in Asia.