AIIB Expands Membership to 100 in Three Years

Date: 14 July 2019 - 21:48

News ID: ۶۸۱۰۹

LUXEMBOURG (Xinhua) – The China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has further expanded its membership to 100 with the approval of three African newcomers – Benin, Djibouti and Rwanda.
The decision was made unanimously by AIIB's Board of Governors at its fourth annual meeting held in Luxembourg.
The three prospective non-regional members will officially join the AIIB once they complete the required domestic processes and deposit the first capital installment with the bank.
In the meantime, the bank's meeting elected Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun as chairman of the board.
With its approved membership increasing to 100, and the volume of approved financing expanding to $8.5 billion, the AIIB has become an important member of multilateral development system, said Liu at the bank's annual meeting.
The China-initiated multilateral financial institution began operation in January 2016 with 57 founding members, with an agenda focused on supporting sustainable development through infrastructure and other productive sectors in Asia and beyond.
Lauding the progress the AIIB has made over the last three years, Liu said that the AIIB has been granted permanent observer status by the United Nations General Assembly, issued its first U.S.-dollar-denominated global bond, as well as developed a series of important strategies and policies.