AIIB president: patient in waiting for US decision

Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, said on Friday that he is patient in waiting for the United States to decide on whether to join the bank. "Even if you decide not to join, that does not mean we cannot work together," Jin said in a panel discussion with other multilateral bank leaders at the Boao Forum for Asia, which runs from Tuesday to Friday in Hainan Province. The AIIB, a not-for-profit multilateral development bank initiated by China, was officially established in December last year with 57 founding members. Jin said that there are more than 30 countries waiting to join and that "the new members problem will be solved by the end of this year." The AIIB has good cooperation with other multilateral development banks, said Jin, adding that the world economy is so big that there is room to support new development banks. He compared the establishment of the AIIB to the opening of a new restaurant on a street to meet growing demand. "I strongly believe AIIB should not be a new hotspot for the frictions between China and the United States. It is actually just the contrary. AIIB should be a new platform for China, the United States, Japan and many other countries to work together," he said. Jin said there were indeed concerns over issues such as governance when the bank was first proposed, but China has earned the trust of others and cooperation has been good. "You cannot talk people into believing you. You have to convince people by your performance," Jin said. The AIIB will adopt the practice of universal procurement to create a level playing field for all, he said. Leaders of other multilateral development banks agree there is room to support the arrival of new development banks. Leslie Maasdorp, vice president and chief financial officer of the New Development Bank, said the new institutions have adopted a more democratic way of working together, with no one having veto power. Maasdorp said that the emerging market is under-represented in terms of governance at large multilateral institutions, but this does not mean that the institutions are rival bodies, as they all have similar objectives such as supporting infrastructure and sustainable development. "We are working closely together with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank because, as you know, there is such a big demand for infrastructure. There is not enough capital to fill all the gaps in terms of funding," he said. The Asian Development Bank estimates that Asia alone needs 800 billion US dollars of infrastructure investment per year from now to 2020.