ASIAN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT BANK (AIIB)

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Context: Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman recently attended the 7th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of AIIB via video conference.

 

Details:

Background:

• For the first time, China's head of state XI Jinping proposed an Asian Infrastructure Bank at the APEC Summit in Bali in 2013.
• It is a multilateral development bank working to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond.
• Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel is a Vice President of the bank.

Shareholders and voting rights:

• China is the AIIB’s largest shareholder with a 26.5% voting share.
• India is the second-largest, with 7.5%, followed by Russia, which has a 5.97% voting share.

Membership:

• AIIB began operations in 2016 with 57 founding members(37 regions and 20 non-regions).
• Currently, there are 105 members.
• India is a founding member.

 

Headquarters: Beijing, China.

Structure:

• Banks are run by a governing body consisting of a governor and a vice president.
• All the power of a bank rests with the board of directors, the highest decision-making bodyunder the articles of incorporation.
• Bank staff are elected by AIIB shareholders for a five-year termand are headed by a president who can be re-elected once.
• The president is supported by five vice presidents in charge of policy and strategy, investment operations, finance and management, as well as senior management including the corporate secretariat and legal advisors.

Objective:

• To create prosperity and improve infrastructure connectivity in asia through investment in infrastructure and other production sectors to promote sustainable economic development.
• Promote regional cooperation and partnerships in tackling development challengesthrough close cooperation with other multilateral and bilateral development agencies.

 

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1870995