AIIB AIIB meeting to advocate solidarity, cooperation in Asia-Pacific
By Won Hee-ryong
The second annual general meeting for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will begin on Jeju Island today. The AIIB is a multilateral development bank officially launched in 2016 to support infrastructure development and investment in Asia.
The capital requirements needed for infrastructure development in the Asian region is expected to reach $26 trillion through 2030. With its foundation led by China, the AIIB was joined by 77 member countries in the first year after its launch, including India and some G7 countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom.
The AIIB is expanding its influence, swiftly chasing the Asian Development Bank, an institution with a 51-year history. This second annual meeting held on Jeju is an opportunity to discuss the success of the AIIB since its launch, and its future path.
It is also expected to be a paramount chance for the AIIB to solidify its stature as a new international organization specializing in infrastructure development.
Korea is a founding member of the AIIB, and is the fifth-largest shareholder with a share of 3.81 percent, following China, India, Russia and Germany. This year’s meeting on Jeju is significant for Korea in that it is the first AIIB meeting held outside China, after its inaugural meeting in Beijing last year.
Having achieved world-class infrastructure competitiveness through comparatively rapid economic development, Korea has become able to support infrastructure development and economic growth in Asia with its experience and knowhow.
This AIIB meeting will center on the theme of “Sustainable Infrastructure.” In accordance with the shift to a more nature- and human-centered, environmentally friendly development paradigm, the AIIB seeks to build green infrastructure with core values of growth, infrastructure, sustainability and the earth.
Such an aim agrees perfectly with the sustainable development goal sought by Jeju, which places purity and coexistence as its core values.
After Jeju’s “2030 Carbon-free Island” strategy was introduced as a major example of Korea’s new energy business nurturing at the 2015 U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP21), Jeju Island is actively implementing this. The carbon-free island strategy aims to replace 100 percent of provincial electricity use with new and renewable energy such as solar-power and wind-power and to operate electric cars at 100 percent, and is being initiated step by step.
As a result, half of the electric cars in Korea are being operated on Jeju, and the island is seen as the fastest and most innovative region in Korea.
Pertaining to the New Climate Change Regime Paris Agreement adopted by COP21, each country aims to maintain global temperature rise at below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Individual countries must also submit national climate action plans with updated greenhouse gas emission goals every five years. A global evaluation starting in 2023 to assess collective progress is also scheduled.
To reach the lower carbon emission and temperature goals, countries are actively introducing green infrastructures. A successful implementation of Jeju Island’s carbon-free island project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 90 percent of today’s emission level by 2030.
Economic benefits amounting to tens of trillions won for individuals, corporations, and the government will also follow, including the creation of 50,000 new jobs, fuel costs and certified emission reduction costs.
Jeju Island is operating a “green big bang” strategy that can heighten the synergy between electric cars, energy storage systems, new and renewable energy, and smart grids. The world’s largest demonstration project is also in place on Jeju Island.
The Jeju “green big bang” is a global showcase of green growth and new energy business, nurturing a policy sought by the world, and is also a model applicable to 2,439 cities worldwide. Therefore, through this second AIIB annual meeting, Jeju Island will once again inform the world of its possibilities as a global test bed for future energy industries, and strengthen diplomatic and economic interconnectivity.
The AIIB aims to build infrastructure in developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region. With reinforced economic and diplomatic interconnectivity among the 77 member countries, however, distrust and conflicts are forming. The role of the AIIB is critical in that it may lead a conversion to the state of trust and cooperation through this Jeju meeting and bring peace and co-prosperity in the region.
The second annual AIIB general meeting is expected to bring about an expansion of the green big bang strategy with goals of purity and co-existence to member countries, and to connect each member country with solidarity and cooperation.
More than 2,000 finance ministers, heads of international organizations, business leaders, press and scholars are expected to participate in this annual meeting. This could serve as a valuable opportunity for Korean companies to explore their possible global expansion.
Companies and financial institutes related to Korea’s domestic infrastructure will meet and interact with infrastructure business owners of developing countries, AIIB personnel on investment financing and overseas infrastructure managers to promote Korean companies, to showcase their technologies and business capabilities.
It will be an outstanding opportunity to lead and create a potential environment for participating in future AIIB projects. Moreover, building up communication channels with China to start resolving the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) row, and thawing China-Korea relations is also strongly hoped for.
Won Hee-ryong is governor of Jeju.