AIIB to work with Malaysia to support infrastructure in ASEAN region

KUALA LUMPUR - The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will work with Malaysia, one of the founding members, to seek ways to support infrastructure development in the ASEAN region, said the bank's president Jin Liqun on Tuesday.

Jin was in Malaysia to attend the World Capital Market Symposium. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the event, he said potential projects in the region include transportation, power generation transmission, seaports and airports, which have created demand for the bank.

Jin noted that the success of ASEAN countries in reducing poverty has increased the demand for power and transportation.

"I think the region still needs to strengthen its investment in transportation, such as rapid rail, express ways, roads and seaports," he added.

Jin also highlighted that Malaysia has made huge progress in infrastructure development in the past decade.

"Given Malaysian companies capacity, we can work together to support infrastructure in neighboring countries or other parts of the world," he said.

He believed that Malaysia will continue to play a key role in development and working with the bank.

"There are a lot of ways we can work together. For instance, we are keen in recruiting Malaysian nationals to join the bank as Malaysia has good development experience over the last decade," he said.

Commenting on the existing international financial institutions - the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, Jin reassured AIIB is complementary instead of competition.

"We should recognize the tremendous contributions of the two banks to the region. Nobody could deny that the development of the Asian region owed a lot to these banks," he said, adding that AIIB is to fit into a niche in current financial system.

To him, AIIB focuses exclusively on infrastructure and other productive sectors.

According to Jin, within two years of operation, AIIB has successfully funded 22 projects with its loans reaching $4.2 billion in total.

On the concern of the bank's funded projects, Jin said the bank is focusing on high quality infrastructure projects which are financially stable and have local people support.