The AIIB is a multilateral financial institution led by China. (Photo : Getty Images)
Multilateral lenders World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU), agreeing to further foster their cooperation, a report from Reuters revealed.
The China-led AIIB will deepen its ties with the said organization in terms of "knowledge sharing, staff exchanges, analytical work, development financing and country-level coordination," the article said.
The MOU was signed during the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington.
The agreement comes a year after AIIB and the World Bank first created measures and mechanisms on how to co-finance various investment endeavors.
Since the groups' ties were established, they have already worked on five projects including giving power generation aid to Pakistan, making a natural gas pipeline in Azerbaijan, and rebuilding slum areas and improving dam safety in Indonesia.
In a joint statement, the two also revealed that they are already in talks for more undertakings that they will co-finance this year and in 2018.
For AIIB President Jin Liqun, "signing [the] memorandum of understanding fits into [their] vision of a new kind of internationalism. It deepens [their] relationship with the World Bank Group and sets up the mechanisms through which [they] can more easily collaborate and share information."
According to a World Bank spokesperson, the newly signed MOU does not contain yet the specific financing amounts or targets. The official remarked that these figures will be finalized through separate consultations and gatherings.
In an interview with Reuters, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim shared that the group is solidifying its goal to tap more private capital for development finance.
"Collaboration between development institutions is essential to make the best use of scarce resources, crowd-in the private sector, and meet the rising aspirations of the people we serve," Kim said in a statement released on Sunday.
