YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — The massive needs for spending on infrastructure and support for poverty
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — The massive needs for spending on infrastructure and support for poverty alleviation mean the Asian Development Bank can work with, not compete against China’s new infrastructure lender, ADB President Takehiko Nakao said Thurday.
Speaking as the ADB began its annual meeting Thursday in Yokohama, Japan, Nakao told reporters he hopes for more cooperation with the Beijing-backed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.
“We can complement each other, ” Nakao said. “The financing needs are so large so we don’t need to regard the AIIB as a kind of a rival in that regard. We can cooperate, ” he said, noting that the two lenders have already agreed on three co-financing projects.
The ADB has been led by Japan and the U. S. since its founding in 1966, and China joined in 1986. Japan and the U. S. have not joined the AIIB, and some critics question China’s motives, concerned it may use its financial heft to further its geopolitical influence without enough regard for the benefit or financial health of countries that may borrow from it.
Nakao said it was important for the projects supported by AIIB to be economically sound.
As a developing country, China still borrows from the regional lender, though these days much of that financing goes to mitigating the impacts of climate change, Nakao said.
The ADB has worked for a half-century to fight poverty and support the Asia-Pacific region’s ascent as a global center of growth, but poverty remains a daunting problem for such lenders.
