Nepal is board member of AIIB

Kathmandu January 17- Nepal has been selected as a board member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a newly established financial institution which started its operations on Saturday.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, Nepal is one of 11 board members.
Other board members are China, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Australia, Russia, India, South Korea and Turkey from Asia while the United Kingdom and Germany have been nominated as board members from outside Asia.

Baikuntha Aryal, joint-secretary at the Ministry of Finance, who is a member of the Nepali delegation taking part in the opening ceremony of the AIIB in Beijing, said that the development is important for Nepal because as a board member it can have a say in decision-making process and draw other members’ attention to least developed countries like Nepal.

Addressing the opening ceremony on Saturday, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel expressed hope that the bank would be instrumental in supporting Nepal not only to rise from the perils of the devastating quakes, but also to “respond to the pain of persistent poverty”.

Poudel added that Nepal as a member of LDCs was looking for a better voice, representation and participation in this new institution. “We are aspiring for this great institution to be inclusive and considerate to the specific needs of LDCs,” he said. “Nepal is also looking for a meaningful cooperation with the bank in graduating from its LDC status by 2022 and becoming a middle income country by 2030.”

China is the largest AIIB shareholder with about a 30 percent stake. With the authorised capital of $100 billion, the AIIB is expected to offer its first batch of project loans later this year. The AIIB is expected to offer a loan around $10-15 billion annually.

For Nepal, a new bank formed with the initiative of cash-rich China can be an additional source of finance for the country’s poor infrastructure sector.