Deputy Prime Minister and Minster for Finance, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam Signs MOU on Establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
24 Oct 2014Date: 24 October 2014
1. Singapore and twenty other countries[1] signed the intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on 24 October 2014 in Beijing. Singapore was represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Minster for Finance, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who also attended the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting held from 21 to 22 October in Beijing.
2. The AIIB will be a multilateral financial institution focused on infrastructure development in Asia. Singapore is playing its part in contributing to regional development though the AIIB.
3. DPM Tharman said that “The AIIB is a positive development which will help meet the immense infrastructure needs in Asia. Singapore looks forward to partnering other members to establish the AIIB as a resilient multilateral institution, complementing and drawing on best practices of existing players like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, so as to promote sustained growth in Asia.”
4. The MOU outlines the basic framework of the AIIB and covers the key elements relating to the Bank’s mandate, operations, capital, membership, and governance structure. Discussions on countries’ respective subscriptions are ongoing. The AIIB will be headquartered in Beijing.
5. After signing the MOU, the signatories will participate in the negotiations for the AIIB’s Articles of Agreement (AOA). Countries that subsequently sign and ratify the AOA will officially become founding members of the AIIB. The AOA negotiations are expected to be completed by end 2015.
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Issued by Ministry of Finance
Singapore
24 Oct 2014
[1] The twenty countries are Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.