AIIB President-designate Jin Liqun and World Bank Group President Jim Kim deepen cooperation

AIIB President-designate Jin Liqun met with World Bank President Jim Kim and his senior management team in Washington DC this week to discuss project cofinancing and deepened institutional cooperation.

AIIB’s Multilateral Interim Secretariat and the World Bank have been cooperating closely since the formation of the Secretariat in November 2014. The World Bank has provided advisory and technical support to the Secretariat on a wide range of topics, including operational and financial policies, institutional governance, human resources management, administration, procurement and environment and social impact assessment and policies.

President-designate Jin met with the World Bank Vice Presidents responsible for programs in East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, and Europe and Central Asia to identify projects for cofinancing in 2016. These proposals will be refined in dialogue with AIIB’s member countries over the coming months. AIIB also expects to cofinance with other Multilateral Development Banks and bilateral agencies. The AIIB delegation also held discussions with senior World Bank managers responsible for finance and treasury operations, external communications, corporate governance and policy.

"The World Bank’s generous and timely support has enabled the AIIB to develop a strong policy and governance platform and to poise itself to commence operations early in 2016. We are very appreciative of this collegial cooperation and look forward to a strong and deep partnership on the ground", said Mr. Jin.

"I warmly welcome President-designate Jin to the World Bank Group," said Kim. "I look forward to further strengthening our existing strong relationship and identifying specific areas of future cooperation, including cofinancing opportunities."

During the visit AIIB President-designate Jin also met with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and her senior managers to share views on a variety of topics including global economic prospects, development finance and debt sustainability. The AIIB Secretariat delegation also held discussions in Washington and New York with policymakers, think tanks and the financial community.