On July 28, 2018, the fifth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was organized virtually between the AIIB headquarters in Beijing, China and 102 member countries. Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) attended the Meeting as Alternate Governor representing the SBV at the AIIB.
At the Official Session, the AIIB’s Board of Directors submitted to the Board of Governors for consideration and approval of the Resolutions on the 2019 Annual Report; the poll results for the AIIB’s Board of Directors for the term of 2020 – 2022; the adoption of the Republic of Liberia as a new member of the AIIB; the plan of organizing the AIIB’s Annual Meeting in 2021, and the votings for the next term senior management.
Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong speaks at the Meeting
In her speech, Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong emphasized that this Annual Meeting marked the fifth anniversary of the AIIB’s establishment and was taking place in an unprecedented time. The Covid-19 pandemic has been affecting all aspects of the socio-economic life throughout the world, freezing many economic activities, breaking supply chains and causing a dramatic decline in the global trade. The world economy is projected to be in sharp recession in 2020; many important and positive socio-economic achievements that countries and the whole world have made in the previous years, especially in 2019, are at risk of being wiped off.
In this context, Vietnam highly values the AIIB's quick response and active participation in the global efforts with the launch of the Covid-19 Crisis Recovery Facility (CRF) to support the member countries facing difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Within a period of four months since the adoption of the CRF, the AIIB has approved 16 projects with a total value of USD 5.96 billion, promptly supporting borrowers from 12 member countries, including the USD 100 million loan co-financed by the AIIB together with the IFC, which was provided to Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) to fund small and medium enterprises in response to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a time when the AIIB's operations are also facing many challenges due to the impacts of the pandemic, Vietnam and other member countries highly value the efforts of the AIIB’s Board of Directors and its staff in ensuring the AIIB’s operations, meeting promptly the new and urgent needs of the member countries.
Also within the framework of the 5th AIIB Annual Meeting, the Board of Governors voted for the AIIB President for the term of 2021-2026. Accordingly, Mr. Jin Liqun, the current AIIB President, was successfully re-elected. The Board of Governors also agreed to hold the 6th AIIB Annual Meeting in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on October 27-28, 2021.
Following the Meeting program, a Roundtable Discussion with the theme "AIIB 2030 - Supporting Asia’s Development over the Next Decade" was organised with three main sub-themes of: (i) Long-term investment trends and short-term macroeconomic changes in Asia; (ii) AIIB's approach in supporting member countries in the short term, especially in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic; and (iii) AIIB's approach in supporting member countries in the medium and long term, with a vision to 2030. At the Discussion, representatives from the member countries made important proposals and orientations for the AIIB operations in the medium and long term, in order to realize the goal of renovating and flexibly deploying the investments in the AIIB's key areas, namely transport infrastructure, energy, sustainable urban development, as well as to ensure the adaptability to unforeseen global challenges such as the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Photos of several AIIB member countries attending the Meeting
On the sidelines of the AIIB Annual Meeting, on the afternoon and the evening of July 29, 2020, the AIIB organized several virtual forums with the themes of: Infrastructure and digital technology; Mobilizing private investment into emerging markets; AIIB and the foundation of multilateral organizations of the 21st century; The future of regional connectivity; AIIB's investment initiatives for climate change responses, etc.
Le Hang