AIIB to invest $1.09bn in ASEAN countries to bolter interconnectivity

The 16th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and the China-ASEAN business and investment summit opened in Nanning, Guangxi last week. In CAEXPO, Jin said that the bank will play a more important role in promoting interconnectivity between China, ASEAN and other Asian countries, and highlighted the importance of the belt and road initiative in boosting interconnectivity in the ASEAN region.

Chinese vice premier Han Zheng stressed that ASEAN is a key area in belt and road construction, China will make efforts to further develop the connectivity of infrastructures and deepen innovation cooperation in e-commerce, digital trade, 5G internet, etc.

AIIB committed to providing strong support to ASEAN in 2017. In the past four years, AIIB has invested $1bn in 10 projects in six ASEAN countries. Statistics show that in the first half of 2019, the total value of China's imports and exports to ASEAN was $291.85bn, with a year-on-year growth of 10.5%, according to Asiaone.

Infrastructure expert James Harris of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law, said, "We are starting to see more and more interest from China in ASEAN energy and infrastructure projects. The AIIB is a natural player, along with other multilateral development organisations, looking to participate in this growing market."

AIIB was established in 2016 and is a Beijing-based multilateral development bank which focuses on infrastructure investment. Beginning operations in 2016, the bank has expanded its membership to 100 and approved 46 loan projects with a total amount of 8.5 billion dollars for its 18 members.