Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday urged the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to broaden its investments in priority sectors such as climate adaptation and resilience, infrastructure development, energy security, and urban development, while also extending support for India’s next-generation reforms.

In her meeting with visiting AIIB delegation, Sitharaman, who is also Governor on the AIIB Board, also stressed upon the importance of continually incorporating finance plus and budget plus elements in AIIB’s project design and implementation. 

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.

Sitharaman suggested that AIIB should strive for greater provision of innovative financial tools and models and scale up its efforts for private capital mobilisation.

She 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. 

Sitharaman underlined India’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals and its demonstrated leadership in creating and harnessing the power of digital public infrastructure. 

Remarkable Growth

She also appreciated the AIIB on its remarkable growth over the past nine years.

The visiting AIIB delegation comprised 11 officials of the Board of Directors of AIIB from 9 different constituencies, senior representatives of the AIIB Management and AIIB staff.

Sitharaman noted 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 of disaster management, which can be of value to several vulnerable economies. 

She 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 also 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. 

Sitharaman 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.

Related Topics