With AIIB, Cambodia diversifies funding options: local media
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Experts this week
welcomed Cambodia's membership to the nascent China-led Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), saying it would provide
much-needed diversity of funding for the nation's infrastructure and
connectivity needs, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.
Launched in Beijing last weekend, the multilateral development
bank aims to support infrastructure growth in the Asia-Pacific region
through the provision of loans, and supports the China-proposed "One
Belt, One Road" initiative to boost trade and connectivity across the
Eurasian landmass.
Last week, Cambodia's National Assembly ratified a
62.3-million-U.S.-dollar investment proposal in the
100-billion-U.S.-dollar capitalized bank, making Cambodia one of 57
prospective founding member states throughout the world.
"The more institutions that Cambodia can tap into for funding the
better," David Van, managing director at consultancy firm Bower Group
Asia, was quoted by the Cambodia Daily as saying.
"It wouldn't be surprising if the AIIB becomes the largest donor
(to Cambodia) considering the funds available...(and because) they are
keen to develop the Greater Mekong Sub-region," he said.
The bank is expected to approve its first loan within six months, and thereafter to lend between 10 billion U.S. dollars to 15 billion U.S. dollars per year to members for at least five years, according to its newly elected president Jin Liqun.
Its launch comes within a decade in which the Asian Development
Bank (ADB)-- dominated by Japan--estimates that developing countries in
Asia will require nearly 8 trillion U.S. dollars worth of infrastructure
investments to sustain development.
Phay Siphan, Cambodia's Council of Ministers spokesman, has
strong hopes that the AIIB will not only help to fund the country's road
and rail needs, but also support its ambitions to enhance the country's
regional connectivity.
"Infrastructure is a key policy for the government, both domestically and regionally," he was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
"We want to connect rural areas in provinces to cities, boost
connections between markets and consumers, and connect better to
regional markets like Thailand and Laos," he said.
For Hal Hill, a professor of Southeast Asian economies at
Australian National University, the AIIB is essentially a vehicle to
bring much-needed new funding sources and expertise to Cambodia and Asia
as a whole.
No comments:
Post a Comment