China Declares Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank on Track to be Operational before the End of 2015
On January 2, the Chinese Ministry of Finance announced that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was on track to become operational by the end of 2015. Several days later, New Zealand signed a memorandum to become the 24th member. According to reports, AIIB‘s current launch schedule sees the founding nations of the bank completing negotiations by June 2015 on charter subscriptions and AIIB regulations. Additionally, decisions on operations, staffing and governance will need to take place before opening.
While China continues to encourage new members to join, the United States and Japan have been lobbying aggressively against it. Headquartered in Beijing, AIIB ultimately aims for $100 billion in authorized capital and $50 billion in initial subscribed capital. China has already pledged half of the amount. For perspective, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved $12.6 billion in infrastructure financing over 2013.
Current committed members of the bank include: Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and the Maldives.