Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) should broaden its investment in priority sectors of climate adaptation and resilience, infrastructure development, energy security, urban development and extend support for India’s next-generation reforms.
She also stressed upon the importance of continually incorporating finance plus and budget plus elements in AIIB’s project design and implementation.
FM Sitharaman held a meeting with the AIIB delegation, comprising 11 officials of the Board of Directors of AIIB from nine different constituencies, senior representatives of the AIIB Management who are on a visit to India. The Finance Minister is also Governor on the AIIB Board.
The key purpose of the AIIB Board visit to India is to provide the Board of Directors a holistic insight into the AIIB’s ongoing and planned investments in its member countries and provide an opportunity to engage with the government, private sector and other stakeholders.
Appreciating the AIIB for its remarkable growth over the past nine years, the Finance Minister underlined India’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals and its demonstrated leadership in creating and harnessing the power of digital public infrastructure.
Sitharaman mentioned that India’s experience of digital transformation can serve as a model for other countries seeking to harness digital solutions for inclusive growth and also India’s rich experience in disaster management, which can be of value to several vulnerable economies.
The Finance Minister stressed on the fact that India has a lot to offer in terms of sectoral best practices and AIIB should develop an institutional mechanism to facilitate transfer of knowledge and technology from India to other similarly placed countries.
She further suggested that AIIB should strive for greater provision of innovative financial tools and models and scale up its efforts for private capital mobilisation and assured the AIIB of India’s full support and cooperation in this regard and added that India could act as a sandbox for AIIB’s piloting of innovative financing models and technologies.
The Finance Minister encouraged AIIB to continue participating in the ongoing work on strengthening and reforming multilateral development banks (MDBs) in line with the recommendations of the Independent Expert Group established under India’s G20 Presidency, including the call for MDBs to work together as a system for greater impact and scale.
She pointed out that India remains committed to governance reforms in MDBs to ensure that MDBs are ‘fit for purpose’ to address contemporary challenges, while remaining inclusive and responsive to the needs of all members particularly of Low-Income Countries (LICs).
Prior to the meeting, the delegation visited the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project being financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), AIIB and the New Development Bank (NDB). The delegation will also visit other project sites in Bengaluru and interact with leading technology sector representatives.
Besides, the delegation participated in a roundtable discussion with other multilateral and bilateral agencies and project implementing agencies of India to facilitate a robust exchange of information and experiences focussing on India’s development priorities, investment landscape and operational challenges while exploring further opportunities for collaboration and investment.
