5th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of AIIB held virtually; Jin Liqun Reelected President of AIIB

On July 28, 2020, the 5th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was held virtually from Beijing, China, was originally planned to be held in-person there, focusing on “Connecting for Tomorrow”. The meet saw the re-election of Jin Liqun as AIIB President, and a roundtable discussion on the theme “AIIB 2030-Supporting Asia’s Development over the Next Decade”. Notably, India’s Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman was the Lead Speaker at the roundtable discussion.

• This 5th annual meet was the first virtual for AIIB and also in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• During the meet AIIB’s efforts were appreciated for fast tracking financial assistance of about $10 Billion to its member countries including India to combat COVID-19 pandemic.
• The objective of the annual meeting of the Board of Governors is to take key decisions that impact the Bank’s future. 

Jin Liqun Reelected President of AIIB

During the meet, Jin Liqun was elected President of AIIB for a second five-year term commencing January 16, 2021. The election result was announced by chair of AIIB’s Board of Governors, Liu Kun, who is a Minister of Finance, People’s Republic of China.

• Under President Jin’s leadership, AIIB has grown from 57 founding members to 103 approved members from around the world.

AIIB to Hold its First Annual Meeting in the Middle East in the UAE in 2021

During the meet it was also decided that the sixth Annual Meeting will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Oct. 27-28, 2021 which will be the first annual meeting in the Middle East. It will take place in parallel with the Dubai World Expo.

• UAE was also one of the founding members of AIIB.

AIIB’s Membership grew to 103; Liberia joined

During the meet, the Board of Governors approved the application of Liberia to join the Bank. With this AIIB now has 103 approved members from around the world.

• Also, now AIIB has 10 members and nine prospective members from Africa. 

Suggestions to AIIB from India

During the round table discussion, Nirmala Sitharaman suggested for introducing new financing instruments, mobilising private sector finance, providing financing for social infrastructure to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, among the following:

• Integrating development of climate resilient and sustainable energy access infrastructure into the recovery response to the COVID-19 crisis. 
• Establishment of Regional Presence which would aid in effective project management and implementation.

Indian Government efforts highlighted in meet

Towards World:

—COVID-19 Emergency Fund for SAARC: The Indian government has created a COVID-19 Emergency Fund for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Nations and supplied critical medical health kits to tackle the COVID-19.

—India’s participation in G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI): In April, 2020 the World Bank’s Development Committee and the G20 (Group of Twenty) Finance Ministers endorsed the Debt Service Suspension Initiative in response to a call by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to grant debt-service suspension to the poorest countries to help them manage the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

–India is now supporting global efforts of COVID-19 vaccine trials.

Towards India:

–The GoI took various measures to respond the COVID-19, including the $23 Billion Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKP) and $295 Billion Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package (ANBP), which aim at protecting all sectors and sections of the economy. 

–Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased the monetary policy and introduced liquidity in the economy to the extent of almost 3.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

–To give a boost to the infrastructure development, India has launched the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) 2020-2025 with estimated expenditure of $1.4 trillion

Recent Related News:

On May 8, 2020, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a multilateral development bank, has approved a loan worth of $500 million for India’s ‘COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project’ to assist nation’s efforts to stop, detect, and respond to the risk posed by coronavirus (Covid-19).This is the first-ever health sector support from AIIB to India.

About Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB):
Initiated– 2016
Headquarter– Beijing China
Currently, India has a 7.65% vote share in the AIIB, while China holds 26.63% stake in the organisation.