ADB looks forward to closely cooperating with AIIB
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Bhushan said that the ADB is willing to cooperate with the AIIB, with possible co-financing in some projects.
The Articles of Agreement (AOA) for AIIB has been finalized and should be ready for signing by the end of June. The China-proposed bank is scheduled to be launched by the end of the year with planned authorized capital of $100 billion.
As one of the biggest development banks in the region, ADB would be willing, if requested, to provide some suggestions to AIIB, according to Bhushan.
The ADB, with Japan as its major contributor, approved $22.93 billion in development assistance in 2014.
"We hope AIIB's projects will provide maximum social and economic benefits to the countries it assists. In a recent meeting with Liqun Jin, secretary general of the Multilateral Interim Secretariat on Establishing the AIIB, both ADB and AIIB reaffirmed the importance of environmental and social safeguards for projects, " Bhushan said.
To build a "lean, clean and green" AIIB, Jin said that China will adopt some "good experiences" from existing multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank and ADB.
"But in the meantime, on our own we will seek improvements and innovation on the management of the new bank," Jin said. ■