AIIB adds new member as development bank emarks on grand global mission

The Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Thursday welcomed its 110th member amid its efforts to take on a bigger role in helping some of the world’s poorest countries discover innovative ways of financing.

Following its launch in January 2016, the bank has moved to open its doors wider to the private sector, as well as nations from the Global South – a term for a loose grouping of developing nations.

And Nauru, a Micronesian island of around 12,000 people in southwestern Pacific Ocean, was confirmed as the newest member of the multilateral development bank during its ninth annual conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

The AIIB is the world’s second-largest multilateral development bank in terms of the number of members after the Washington-headquartered World Bank, representing 81 per cent of the world’s population and 65 per cent of global gross domestic product.

“The AIIB has become an integral part of the global financial landscape, actively contributing as a valued member of the multilateral community,” AIIB president Jin Liqun said on Wednesday.