Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank annual meet to focus on collaborations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the third annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Mumbai on Monday. The meeting will be on Monday and Tuesday.

Modi will be accompanied by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal and Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg.

A new forum, called the Asian Infra Forum, will be inaugurated during the event. About 3,000 people are expected to attend the annual meeting. The first two annual meetings happened in Beijing and Jeju, which is in South Korea. 

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With a vote share of 7.5 per cent, India is the largest shareholder in the AIIB after China (26.06 per cent). Russia and Germany are the other major shareholders. 
 

 

The AIIB has 64 confirmed members and 22 prospective members. Till June, it approved 25 projects and gave loans of $4.39 billion. In the run-up to the main event in Mumbai, several related events are being carried out in various parts of India. The two-day event in Mumbai will be held in various places. There will be an infrastructure expo and a guided tour of the exhibition on Sunday. “The theme for this year’s meeting is “Mobilising Finance for Infrastructure: Innovation and Collaboration” that will see leaders from varied organisations and levels of government to share ideas and experiences for creating a sustainable future through sound infrastructure investment,” AIIB said in a statement. 

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Top policymakers, ministers of AIIB member countries, participants from partner institutions, and representatives of private-sector and civil-society organisations will attend the two-day meeting. 

The main event will have several themes, starting with mobilising finance for infrastructure. India as a host country will hold discussions on evolving strategies and collective actions around collaboration and partnerships. Gender and infrastructure will be a separate discussion point. 

Connectivity within and beyond Asia will be discussed. This is significant because China is enthusiastic about its One Belt One Road Project (OBOR), in which India has so far not shown much of an interest. There will be a roundtable discussion on leveraging finance for Asia’s infrastructure.  

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Chief ministers of various states will be in a panel to discuss infrastructure development in India. There will be talk on lower carbon emission, sustainable energy, developing railways infrastructure, and technology.