The ASEAN Infrastructure Fund (AIF) is set to begin its lendingoperations in the second half of 2013, with a pipeline of around 1billion USD for infrastructure projects in the next three years.
The information was released by the AIF Board of Directors at itsmeeting on May 1, which took place on the sidelines of the 46th AnnualMeeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The AIF meetingalso discussed the progress of infrastructure projects identified forthe pipeline, the development of financial policy, risk-managementframeworks, and efforts to support public-private partnership (PPP) ininfrastructure development.
Key areas of progress include receiptof the contributions from the shareholders and the completion of allnecessary administrative arrangements for the full operations of thefund.
Bambang Brodjonegoro, head of the Fiscal Policy Agencyunder Indonesian Ministry of Finance and also the AIF’s Co-Chair, saidthat AIF had an active year and what AIF has accomplished was to lay thegroundwork for projects to come and the progress to be made in theyears ahead.
According to Arjun Goswami, Director of the RegionalCooperation and Operations Division of the ADB’s Southeast AsiaDepartment, the projects have been carefully selected to reflect theAIF’s priorities and the ADB’s emphasis on poverty reduction, inclusivegrowth, environmental sustainability, and regional integration.
Set up in Malaysia in April 2012, the AIF initially planned toprovide annual loans of 300 million USD. Its shareholders includeBrunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines,Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and ADB.
According toAIF, Southeast Asian countries have enjoyed decades of strong growth,but even with recent economic gains, its infrastructure stands behindthe Asian average and is much weaker than that of advanced economies. Itis estimated that ASEAN needs 60 billion USD a year from 2010-2020 todevelop its infrastructure.-VNA
The information was released by the AIF Board of Directors at itsmeeting on May 1, which took place on the sidelines of the 46th AnnualMeeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The AIF meetingalso discussed the progress of infrastructure projects identified forthe pipeline, the development of financial policy, risk-managementframeworks, and efforts to support public-private partnership (PPP) ininfrastructure development.
Key areas of progress include receiptof the contributions from the shareholders and the completion of allnecessary administrative arrangements for the full operations of thefund.
Bambang Brodjonegoro, head of the Fiscal Policy Agencyunder Indonesian Ministry of Finance and also the AIF’s Co-Chair, saidthat AIF had an active year and what AIF has accomplished was to lay thegroundwork for projects to come and the progress to be made in theyears ahead.
According to Arjun Goswami, Director of the RegionalCooperation and Operations Division of the ADB’s Southeast AsiaDepartment, the projects have been carefully selected to reflect theAIF’s priorities and the ADB’s emphasis on poverty reduction, inclusivegrowth, environmental sustainability, and regional integration.
Set up in Malaysia in April 2012, the AIF initially planned toprovide annual loans of 300 million USD. Its shareholders includeBrunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines,Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and ADB.
According toAIF, Southeast Asian countries have enjoyed decades of strong growth,but even with recent economic gains, its infrastructure stands behindthe Asian average and is much weaker than that of advanced economies. Itis estimated that ASEAN needs 60 billion USD a year from 2010-2020 todevelop its infrastructure.-VNA
