Indonesia Joins China-Led AIIB

Posted by on Nov 6, 2014 in Blog | 0 comments

Over the past month, the Western press has hyped up the suggestion that three important countries – Australia, South Korea, and Indonesia – are staying out of the founding of the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and in so doing diminishing its credibility in the eyes of the world.

Well, Indonesia, the largest economy in ASEAN, has just decided to hop on the bank wagon and Australia said it may join if certain conditions are met.  And although the South Koreans deferred when China’s president visited the country, they may still join ranks in the offing.

Of course, the US and Japan are loathe to participate because they see the AIIB as an affront (which it is not) to the ADB and other US-led multilateral financial institutions.  However, note that India, a large economy, and key Southeast Asian allies of the US, Singapore and the Philippines, are also founding members. (The ADB is based in Manila.)

 

China (yesterday) welcomed Indonesia’s decision to join the Beijing-sponsored Asian  Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which India along with 21 other countries  joined as founding members.
“China welcomes Indonesia’s formal decision  to join the  AIIB as a  founding member at an early date,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman  Hong Lei told a press briefing here.
Indonesia’s announcement came after the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister,  Wang Yi, where he interacted with the new government.
The Beijing-based bank is expected to be operational by next year.
Calling  Indonesia  an important economy in Asia, Hong said China has called for joint efforts with countries involved, including Indonesia, to promote early establishment of  the AIIB which would serve as a multilateral platform for cooperation.
The 21 countries which signed the MoU include Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia,  China, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal,  Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand,  Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

– PTI