AIIB AIIB kicks off annual conference on Jeju
By Park Hyong-ki
SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island ― The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will kick off its second annual conference under the theme of “Sustainable Infrastructure” at the International Convention Center here.
Around 2,500 government officials, corporate executives and journalists will participate in the three-day forum.
Ministers representing 25 countries, including Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam and India will be meeting with China’s Finance Minister Xiao Jie to discuss ways to boost cooperation via the multinational development bank.
As the host nation, Korea’s Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon will also meet his counterparts from AIIB member states.
The conference will begin with a discussion about infrastructure financing in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and on the efficient management of this.
There will also be forums on ways to promote and develop renewable energy through infrastructure financing.
Participants will include Polish economist Pawel Samecki, who served as the European commissioner for regional policy in 2009; Laurence Carter, senior director of the World Bank’s public-private partnerships; and Rachel Kyte, chief executive of Sustainable Energy for All.
The AIIB was established a year-and-a-half ago as an alternative to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
China sought to create an infrastructure financing platform where even a poor country could raise its voice.
The World Bank and ADB led by the United States and Japan have been criticized for their governance, which restricted underdeveloped economies in having a say on matters of infrastructure development and financing.
Nevertheless, the World Bank and ADB have pledged strong support for the AIIB, which is currently financing 13 infrastructure projects. Eight of them are being carried out with the World Bank and ADB.
The AIIB has 77 members. China has a 32.33 percent stake in the bank, followed by India’s 9 percent and Russia’s 7 percent.
Korea has a 4 percent stake with a voting right of 3.73 percent.
Annual demand for infrastructure development in Asia's developing and underdeveloped economies is expected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2030, according to the Bank of Korea, citing ADB data.
Hopes are running high that the China-led bank can fill the financing gap of $460 billion for underdeveloped economies. The AIIB conference ends this Sunday. India will be hosting the next one in 2018.
It remains to be seen whether President Moon Jae-in will attend the meeting, the first one outside of its head office in Beijing. Jeju has asked the new head of state to participate but Cheong Wa Dae has yet to announce any decision.