Luxembourg to be first nation outside Asia to host annual meeting of China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
- AIIB vice-president says no decision yet on role for Hong Kong in lender’s operations
Luxembourg, the first European country to apply to join the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, will host the AIIB’s annual meeting next month, the first time the gathering has taken place outside of Asia.
Luxembourg will also host the second annual Asian Infrastructure Forum, a networking event run by the bank.
Danny Alexander, the bank’s vice-president and former chief secretary of the British Treasury, said in Beijing on Wednesday that the meeting on July 12 and 13 would focus on connectivity between Europe and Asia.
In May, the bank raised US$2.5 billion with its first international bond issue, and Alexander said the lender would now start to meet demand for funding from member states.
Hong Kong joined the AIIB in March 2017 and lobbied the bank to open an office or move its treasury operations there, hoping for a boost to its financial and legal services sector.
Soon after the bank started business in 2016, AIIB president Jin Liqun expressed interest in Hong Kong’s potential as a fundraising and management centre.
Alexander said London was chosen for the five-year bond issue because the British capital was “very strong in that sector”.
AIIB raises US$2.5 billion from bond sale in London
“We want to make sure we have the best opportunity to tap the global market,” he said. “We see Hong Kong has an important role for the AIIB in the future to leverage its financial and legal services.”
He said the bank attached great importance to Hong Kong but avoided questions on whether the bank would set up an office there.
“When the time is right, we will consider how to develop the bank,” he said. “I can say we are very well aware of Hong Kong’s many strengths, but no decision has been made.”
Alexander said issues such as the economic headwinds affecting China, the largest shareholder in the bank, would not influence its decision-making.
While China said it would not be a major borrower, in 2017, the AIIB approved a US$250 million loan for construction of a natural gas distribution network in the Beijing area.
The bank was likely to fund more projects in China, Alexander said.
Since it started operations in January 2016, the AIIB has approved US$8 billion for 40 projects in 16 countries. It has 97 members in Asia, Europe and the Americas, while the United States and Japan are not involved.
