China-led AIIB to hold first annual meet next month

Beijing: The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in which India is a founding member will hold its first annual meeting of its board of governors on June 25 here in which the admission of new members was expected to be discussed.

Governors and representatives from the bank's 57 members, along with invited observers from the international partners will take part in the two-day meeting, the bank said in a statement on Friday.

While the bank did not offer details on the meeting, the South China Morning Post quoted its president Jin Liqun as saying in Hong Kong last month that the board would meet to discuss new membership in June.

Jin expected the AIIB could have an asset portfolio of USD 1.5 billion in the first year and potentially reach around USD four to five billion of lending after five years, the Post reported.

AIIB and World Bank reached a deal on joint projects, as China-led lender prepares to approve USD 1.2 billion of funds this year.

AIIB, a new global multilateral financial institution headquartered in Beijing, was formally established on December 25, 2015, and started operations on January 16.

While India besides and a number European countries including Britain and Germany joined the bank as founding members, US and Japan stayed away.