Member-only story
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is helping member countries respond to the debilitating socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, with an increased focus on social infrastructure.
Since it began operations five years ago this month, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has — as its name suggests — focused on financing infrastructure. The bank’s articles of agreement state it will “foster sustainable economic development, create wealth, and improve infrastructure connectivity in Asia by investing in infrastructure and other productive sectors”.
Its long-term strategy, approved last year, describes a mission of “financing infrastructure for tomorrow”. So far, the AIIB’s operations have been almost exclusively concentrated in developing Asia and the Pacific, although it has eligible borrowers on other continents.
The bank’s laser focus on infrastructure has enjoyed the strong support of its membership, and makes good sense in a global region with an estimated annual need of some $1.7 trillion in infrastructure financing through the year 2030. AIIB’s early operations highlighted the strong orientation toward infrastructure finance, particularly in the energy and transport sectors, which together accounted for 70% of the 23 projects approved in 2016 and 2017.
