AIIB will ‘fully assess’ risks of financing post-conflict nations

Business Wednesday 13/February/2019 13:19 PM
By: Times News Service
AIIB will ‘fully assess’ risks of financing post-conflict nations

Dubai: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will "make a full assessment of risks" before financing projects in post-conflict and unstable countries, President of the bank said on Tuesday.
In an exclusive interview with the Emirates News Agency, WAM, Jin Liqun has described safety and security as "the basis" to accomplish successful development projects in any member country.
"We are duty bound to support all members, particularly those countries which need our help," he said.
"On the other hand, we need to make a full assessment of the risks we may be facing in financing some of these countries," he added, answering a question of whether the bank is planning to invest in post-conflict or unstable countries.
"I hope the political situation will be stabilised, and as you know, safety and security are really the basis for development projects to be done successfully."
Headquartered in Beijing, the AIIB is a multilateral development bank, which began operations in 2016 to help meet Asia’s infrastructure needs.
The bank has currently 93 approved members, mostly from Asia.
Jin Liqun, who previously served as China’s Vice Minister of Finance, also spoke about cooperation and investment opportunities in the UAE, which is a founding member of the bank.
"We do believe that there are very good opportunities for us to invest in the UAE particularly in energy and transportation," he said.
"We can also work with the UAE in promoting the bank's support for other countries, as it has financial resources, a sovereign wealth fund and experience in developing its economy.
"We want to showcase the cooperation by doing projects together with the private sector investors and to have high-quality projects moving forward," he added.
About the UAE's present and future economy, AIIB President said, "The UAE is doing very well, but of course there are challenges like how to deal with a downward drift of the economy, how to handle this transition and intensive period to the renewable energy period, and how to diversify the economy. All these kinds of issues are very important for the government to handle."
"But I am very much confident that this country will be able to handle difficult issues given its past experience," he added.