Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank founded to bring countries together to address Asia’s daunting infrastructure needs.
Headquartered in Beijing, AIIB began operations in January 2016 and has now grown to 97 approved members worldwide.
Fourteen of the G-20 nations are AIIB members including France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.
There are 27 prospective members including Armenia, Lebanon, Brazil, South Africa, Greece, etc.
Membership in the AIIB is open to all members of the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank and is divided into regional and non-regional members.
The first AIIB Board of Governors meeting was held in Beijing, China in 2016. The second was held in Jeju, Korea in 2017 and the third was held in Mumbai, India in 2018. In July, 2019 Luxembourg hosted AIIB’s first Annual Meeting to be held outside Asia.
Its mission is to improve economic and social development in Asia and beyond by investing in high-quality, financially viable and environmentally friendly infrastructure projects.
The Bank can lend outside Asia provided that it supports connectivity with Asia or it is for a global public good and that the loan significantly benefits Asia.
The Board of Governors consists of one Governor and one Alternate Governor appointed by each member country.
The Board of Directors are composed of twelve members who shall not be members of the Board of Governors.
AIIB staff is headed by the President who is elected by AIIB shareholders for a five-year term and eligible for reelection once. The President is supported by Senior Management which includes five Vice Presidents.
China is the largest contributor to the Bank, contributing USD 50 billion, India is the second-largest shareholder, contributing USD 8.4 billion.
China is the largest shareholder with 26.61 % voting shares in the bank followed by India (7.6%), Russia (6.01%) and Germany (4.2 %). The regional members hold 75% of the total voting power in the Bank.
