Twenty-one Asian countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which has authorised capital of up to 100 billion USD and a proposed initial subscribed capital of around 50 billion USD.
The 21 countries are Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
The bank, initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 2013 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, will be based in China which contributes a majority of the initial capital.
The AIIB, expected to be formally established by the end of 2015, will provide funding for infrastructure development including the building of roads, railways, power plants and telecommunication networks in the region.-VNA
