Myanmar joins Asean infrastructure fund

Myanmar has become a full member of the Asean Infrastructure Fund (AIF), joining other countries and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a senior official said Friday.

Myanmar's membership is an important step towards its further integration into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the global economy as well as helping the country to access funding to invest in infrastructure to support its long-term development, Xinhua quoted U Maung Maung Win, the AIF director for Myanmar, as saying.

On Thursday, the AIF Board passed a pipeline project for 2015 and discussed the indicative pipeline for 2016-17, covering the priority sectors of water, transport and energy, a report said.

The AIF has so far financed a total of $165 million for the infrastructure projects of power transmission and sanitation in Indonesia and Vietnam.

Asian Development Bank (ADB), a shareholder in the AIF with $150 million equity, acts as the overall administrator of the AIF, providing support in a number of areas such as establishment of various frameworks to guide AIF operation.

Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.