The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is set to be operational by the end of this year, prospective founding members said yesterday following a three-day meeting in Singapore to discuss policies.
The chief negotiators’ meeting, involving the AIIB’s 57 prospective members, “concluded discussions and finalized the articles of agreement for the AIIB,” a statement by the bank’s interim multilateral secretariat said.
The articles of agreement are expected to be “ready for signing by the end of June and the AIIB would be operational by the end of this year,” the statement said. “In the three-day meeting, the chief negotiators also discussed the draft environmental and social framework and draft procurement policy framework, among other topics.”
The meeting in Singapore, the fifth round of talks since the bank was mooted in October last year, was co-chaired by Chinese Vice Minister of Finance Shi Yaobin (史耀斌), and Singaporean Ministry of Finance Deputy Secretary of Policy Yee Ping Yi.
The conclusion of the meeting came a day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a US$110 billion investment plan for infrastructure projects in Asia in an apparent move to counter the launch of the AIIB. The sum is just slightly higher than the expected US$100 billion capital of the AIIB. Japan and the US were the biggest standouts earlier this year when Beijing began courting members for the AIIB.
China is likely to take a 25 to 30 percent stake in the AIIB and India is likely to be the second-largest shareholder, delegates attending yesterday’s meeting said.
China’s share in the US$100 billion lender is set to be less than 30 percent, an Asian delegate attending the meeting said. A second delegate said India’s share would be between 10 and 15 percent. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
In all, Asian countries would own between 72 and 75 percent of the bank, while European and other nations are set to own the rest.
There was no immediate comment from the AIIB or Chinese officials on the discussions in Singapore.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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