by Edgar Allan J. Tac-an

The (AIIB) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was created in October by 21 countries, led by China, to fund Asian energy, transport and infrastructure projects.

Today 57 countries signed articles to determine each member’s share capital. The UK, Germany, Australia and South Korea are among the founding members. The UK hopes that its investment in the bank will give British companies an opportunity to invest in the fastest growing markets of Asia.

Accordingly, the AIIB begins with authorized capital of $50bn (£31.8bn) to $100bn. They are confident to start functioning before the end of the year.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said the IMF would be “delighted” to co-operate with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Japan and the US on the other hand, opposed the AIIB. The US as the largest shareholder of the WB sees the AIIB as a rival to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. It views the Chinese effort as a plan to dilute US control of the banking system as well as a tool for China to spread its influence in the region.

Despite the US and Japan’s opposition more than 50 countries join the AIIB. The President of the World Bank said, the AIIB can have an important role in fighting extreme poverty if it establishes high standards for its projects.

With regard to the competition the AIIB would give to ADB or World Bank, there are still plenty of infrastructure projects in Asia that needed funding.

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Tidbits:

What happened in the US was incredible, many deeply conservative about matters of sexual identity still regard homosexuality as a foreign phenomenon. It is the new calamity that turns a city into “Sodom and Gomorrah.”

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