Starting today, the AIIB held its first annual meeting in Beijing, with 57 founding members and 28 observer countries that formally submitted their applications attending. This year’s annual meeting will focus on the investment planning, supporting projects and capital structure of the AIIB.
△ AIIB President Jin Liqun attended the opening ceremony (Source: CFP)
Yesterday, the AIIB released a message.The board of directors of the AIIB officially approved four projects with a total investment of 509 million US dollars.Where have all these funds been invested? Who will benefit from it?
Pan Di ‘an, vice president and chief investment officer of the AIIB, revealed that the AIIB is expected to invest about US$ 1.2 billion in infrastructure construction in 2016.
Paying attention to cooperation is a prudent and safe start.
The first investment of the AIIB was not independent action, but chose full cooperation with the international community. Of the first four projects invested, three are in cooperation with other multilateral development banks.This shows that the benign interaction between the AIIB and institutions such as ADB and the World Bank has entered a substantive stage. For an emerging multilateral development bank like the AIIB, it is a cautious and safe start.It has been more than two years since the establishment of the AIIB, and now the first batch of investment has been released. However, compared with the mature multilateral development banks such as the World Bank and ADB, it is young after all, and choosing a mature partner has also laid a good foundation for success.
At the end of last year, the Council of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development passed a resolution to accept China to join the bank. Over the past six months, EBRD and AIIB have cooperated more and more. Besides joint financing, EBRD has also shared its governance experience with AIIB in many aspects, such as processes, mechanisms, procedures, communication, standards and environmental protection. In the past, the international community raised standard questions about the establishment and operation of the AIIB. Now, the investment of the AIIB has taken the first step steadily, and it is a powerful response to these questions to strive for win-win cooperation with other institutions!
The results of the first batch of investment concentration will appear faster and more effectively.
The first batch of investment projects mainly focus on infrastructure construction, spanning the sectors of energy, urban development and transportation. The countries invested are Central Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia, all within the scope of Asia.In the initial stage of investment, focusing on one region will show the effect more quickly, fill the funding gap of key infrastructure in the region more quickly and effectively, and strengthen regional connectivity.
The smooth progress of the first batch of infrastructure projects will also give people from all walks of life more confidence in the follow-up investment in telecommunications, agriculture and health. According to the prediction of the Asian Development Bank, from 2010 to 2020, the capital demand for infrastructure construction in Asia will be about 8 trillion US dollars. From this point of view, the AIIB will make great achievements in the future.
How do the investment projects of the AIIB affect you?
When a country develops to a certain level, it will be able to provide public goods for the development of the world economy and share them among regions. The AIIB is a public product provided by China. Although it was initiated by China, its goal is common prosperity for its own economy and its region.
Creating employment opportunities and stimulating economic development
The first direct impact of an investment project is to create jobs. Infrastructure construction needs labor, whether it is power facilities or the construction of roads and railways, it needs a lot of manpower and material resources. The landing of big orders will certainly have a pulling effect on the economy.
Travel and tourism will have more choices.
At present, the areas invested by the AIIB are relatively backward. With the advancement of infrastructure construction, the environmental quality and safety will increase accordingly. In the future, everyone will have more choices and more protection for travel and tourism.
Trade more frequently ushered in a win-win situation.
After the infrastructure is perfect, it will not only solve the problems of food, shelter and transportation, but also play an important role in strengthening trade between regions. A larger and more frequent trade era is coming. The construction of infrastructure is a long process, and the longer it takes, the better the effect will be.
In the past, because of the lack of various infrastructure, some commodities that were difficult to enter the market, such as wood and rubber in Southeast Asia, were supplied internally and demanded externally, and what was lacking was just the middle channel. Now the channels are smooth and will usher in a win-win situation.
How many points will the rating world of the AIIB give?
As the AIIB is a new multilateral development institution, it has not yet been rated by an international rating agency. At the first annual meeting, the president of the AIIB, Jin Liqun, said that he was "full of confidence in the rating of the AIIB". Indeed, although the business projects of the AIIB have not yet reached the stage of assessment,However, from the analysis of existing indicators, the rating of the AIIB will not be low in the future.
First of all, the AIIB is not only oriented to Asia, but even more open than other multilateral banks.Among the 57 founding members, there are Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania and South America, as well as developing countries, developed countries and underdeveloped countries.
△ 57 founding members of the AIIB. (Source: CFP)
Secondly, from the perspective of investment projects, the AIIB will not only invest in infrastructure construction, but also have capacity cooperation in the future.From articles of association to ideas to cooperation, everything is efficient, and in the near future, the advantages of backwardness will surely appear.
Wen Yi CCTV Review Special Contributor Chen Fengying
The author is an expert on world economic issues at the Institute of Modern International Relations.