The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has expressed interest to finance infrastructure projects in Pakistan in various sectors including energy, transport, seaport and urban development.
Addressing a news conference along with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday, AIIB President Jin Liqun said Pakistan had great potential in infrastructure sector, which will pave the way for sustainable economic development.
Liqun said the bank was looking forward for closer cooperation with Pakistan’s public and private sector.
The bank’s officials will be visiting Pakistan soon to discuss collaboration in different projects,” he added.
The AIIB president said the bank will work with other world institutions, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to achieve the objective of progress and prosperity.
In his remarks, Dar said Pakistan will welcome the AIIB funding for the Diamer Bhasha Dam.
Chinese banks are already financing the projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and the AIIB will meet about 70 per cent infrastructure funding needs of Asia, he added.
Earlier in June this year, Pakistan had signed the articles of agreement (AoA) of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) during a ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
PM MEETS JIN:
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the government has invested a lot of resources in the energy and infrastructure projects with help of China.
Talking to President Designate of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Jin liqun in Islamabad on Wednesday he said work on some of these projects had already been started.
The prime minister said linking Pakistan with CentralAsianRepublics through a quality road network was priority of the government. He said Gawadar was also being upgraded as a modern sea port to provide access to the central AsianRepublics.
He highlighted the government’s economic policies and said that the economic mangers were committed and focused to provide conducive empowerment to the private sector. He said that economy of Pakistan was turning around and they had good economic growth rate.
