Asian countries need to join hands
At a panel discussion held as part of the third Annual Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Dr. D.J. Pandian, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, AIIB pointed out that Asia accounts for 50% of the global populace but only constitutes 30% of the world GDP. Making countries, many of which are land-locked, more connected through rail and road network using the resources of AIIB, to boost trade and economic growth, can reduce the disparity. The Bank has so far in its short span of just over two years offered infrastructure funding of around US$4.4 billion. Union Minister for Finance, Piyush Goyal said, India is looking forward to investments in 9 more projects from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank after having picked up almost 28% of the bank’s total lending so far, amounting to US$1.4 billion for 7 projects. Welcoming delegates from 86 countries, Shri Goyal pointed out that in just three short years, India has hosted three major events for international multilateral banks; the New Development Bank (NDB), African Development Bank (AfDB) and now the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in quick succession. The first day of the Annual Meeting saw a number of events including the Host Country Seminar namely, “Forging Collaboration and Partnerships: Evolving Strategies and Collective Actions”, which delved into the importance of establishing collaborative partnerships in order to drive efficient infrastructure development.
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