World Bank to welcome China's new AIIB
Both banks could work together to fight poverty and to fund infrastructure projects as well as to foster regional integration processes.
Updated : 10:01
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim welcomed on Tuesday China's new Asian Investment and Infrastructure Bank (AIIB) as a partner in the world of development.
Speaking at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday, Kim assured that the AIIB and the New Development Bank (NDB) could become major players in the co-development of infrastructure projects and play a key role in regional integration processes.
"With the right environment, labour and procurement standards, the AIIB and the New Development Bank, established by the BRICS (Brasil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, have the potential to become great new forces in the economic development of poor countries and emerging markets," Kim said.
The announcement came ahead of the spring meeting to be held by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, whose chief also said to she would be "delighted" to work with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Read more: IMF chief "delighted" to work with AIIB
The bank will begin with an initial subscribed capital of at least $50bn (£33.7bn) and authorised capital of $100bn (£67.45). Asian countries will hold 75% of the bank's participation, while the rest of countries, including EU state members, will control 25% of it.
More than 40 countries applied to become a funding member of China's new bank, including the UK, Germany, Denmark, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan and Brazil. The US and Japan opposed to join the bank and showed their fears over governing standards and regulatory practices, although some sources pointed out that their main fear was that the AIIB could undermine the leading role of other international financial institutions.
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