AIIB, World Bank to deepen cooperation

Reuters reports the World Bank Group and the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said on Sunday they agreed to deepen their cooperation with a framework for knowledge sharing, staff exchanges, analytical work, development financing and country-level coordination. The memorandum of understanding signed at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings in Washington comes a year after the two multilateral lenders established mechanisms for cost-sharing and co-financing of investment projects. Since then, the AIIB and the World Bank have co-financed five projects, supporting power generation in Pakistan, a natural gas pipeline in Azerbaijan, and projects in Indonesia to rebuild slums, improve dam safety and develop regional infrastructure. They said in a joint statement that they are discussing more projects to be co-financed in 2017 and 2018. A World Bank spokeswoman said the knowledge-sharing memorandum was similar to one that was in place during the AIIB’s early development stages.