Infrastructure financing: AIIB to help regional development, says Dar

Says bank could tap China’s excess savings for developing other parts of Asia

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said that Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) would provide financing support to developing countries in Asia including Pakistan for infrastructure development to promote regional connectivity.

"We believe that the bank will constitute an important platform to convert the abundant savings available in the region into investment to help regional economies in sustainable and rapid development, and to contribute to the world economy," he told Chinese daily Global Times after the decision of the establishment of AIIB in Beijing the other day.



In his interview with Global Times, he said that he had attended the ministerial meeting of the prospective founding members of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) after the signing of the MoU for the establishment of AIIB. The ministerial meeting, he said, discussed setting up of the Multilateral Interim Secretariat which will carry out the work on the Articles of Agreement of the proposed Bank.

"We also discussed the roadmap so that this work is completed by the end of 2015 and the bank is up and running by the beginning of 2016," he remarked.

The AIIB will provide financing support to developing countries in Asia for infrastructure development in order to promote regional connectivity. "As China eases restrictions on inflows and outflows of capital and the RMB becomes convertible, the bank could be important for tapping China’s excess savings and putting them to good use in developing other parts of Asia", he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2014.