The authorized capital of the organization amounts to $ 100 billion. The Bank set up to Finance infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific region.
BEIJING, 16 Jan –, Zhanna Manukyan. Representatives of 57 countries-the founders of the China-initiated Asian infrastructure investment Bank (AIIB, AIIB) will gather in Beijing to give the official start of its work.
Saturday and Sunday will be held the opening ceremony, the governing Council will elect the Board of Directors and the Bank President. The events will be attended by Chinese President XI Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.
With the idea of creating a Bank for the first time in October 2013 were made by XI Jinping. At the end of 2014, 22 countries signed the agreement on the Foundation of the Bank, by 31 March 2015 number of countries-founders reached 57. The agreement on establishing the AIIB was signed on 29 June 2015. In August 2015, ex-Deputy Minister of Finance of China Jin Liqun was elected President of the Bank. The Statute of the new financial Institute formally came into force on 25 December 2015. It is expected that the first projects will be approved by the Bank in the second half of 2016.
The headquarters of the Bank established to Finance infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific region, will be based in Beijing. The authorized capital is 100 billion dollars.
The Chinese response to the IMF and the WB
The Bank AIIB became the object of attention of world mass-media after in March 2015, the UK was the first Western economies have expressed the desire to become a country-founder of the Bank. Her example was followed by other Western countries, including France and Germany. From participation in the Bank refrained the U.S. and its closest ally in the Asia-Pacific Japan.
Experts see the AIIB as a potential rival to the International monetary Fund and the world Bank, which are dominated by the USA.
According to Professor of political science and international relations Bakalskoe University in the US Ju Chicoine, China, which generally cooperates with and supports the institutions of the Bretton woods international monetary system, was disappointed that existing multilateral institutions “that restrict its global ambitions”.
“Stalled reform of the IMF and the WB, which dominates the West, do not give China and other developing economies to play a greater role in the international political economy. The AIIB will help China to change the situation and increase its status as a world power,” says the Professor in an article for the Diplomat.
Official Beijing has repeatedly stated that the new Bank will complement existing international institutions, and stressed his openness and willingness to cooperate with other financial institutions. The managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, while in China, stated that the IMF stands ready to cooperate with the AIIB. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim also welcomed the establishment of the AIIB and did not exclude the cooperation between the two institutions on infrastructure projects.
Russia in AIIB
About Russia’s decision to join the AIIB on March 28, 2015, announced first Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov at an economic forum in Boao on South China’s Hainan island. Application Russia as the country-the founder of the Bank was approved on April 14. After signing the statutory documents of 29 June the largest share of votes in the Board of Directors of the Bank received China, India and Russia. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin on 15 December signed a law on ratification of the agreement of AIIB.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia’s participation in the establishment of the Bank will raise funds for investment projects in the far East and Eastern Siberia and strengthen relations with Nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
According to the Vice-President of the world Chinese merchant Association, Sergei Millian, the establishment of the AIIB will contribute to the strengthening of the role of the BRICS and Russia in global energy markets. “Obviously, this Bank would buy up cheap money worldwide to Finance friendly projects. As a result of its creation will contribute to the growing influence of the BRICS and Russia in global energy markets,” said Millian.
The expert expressed confidence that the AIIB “will be a strong competitor to all banks and international financial institutions”. According to him, “this is especially real if it is associated with BRICS”. Moreover, according to the specialist, “in the future will be to Fund projects not only in Asia but also in other continents”. A Millian believes that the Bank will be “successful and useful for Asia project” and “Europe and America will be less money in the Asian market”.
