ADB, AIIB sign agreement on cofinancing arrangement for further cooperation

MANILA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signed Thursday the Cofinancing Framework Agreement for Sovereign Operations that will guide overall cofinancing arrangements between the two institutions going forward.

ADB President Takehiko Nakao and AIIB President Jin Liqun met on Thursday in ADB's headquarter in Manila and discussed a range of strategic and operational issues, the ADB said in a statement.

So far, the ADB and the AIIB have cofinanced five projects, comprising four sovereign loans in Bangladesh, Georgia, India and Pakistan, and one collaborative transaction in Myanmar through the ADB's Private Sector Operations Department.

"Further cofinancing for sovereign and non-sovereign projects is being actively pursued," the ADB said.

The ADB said it has shared with the AIIB its experiences and practices regarding environmental and social safeguards, procurement, treasury operations, institutional issues and governance.

The delegation of AIIB also had discussions with ADB vice presidents and senior staff from ADB's Office of Cofinancing Operations, Strategy, Policy and Review Department and regional departments, the statement added.

Established in 1966, the ADB is composed of 68 members, and 49 of which are from the Asia Pacific region.

The AIIB, a multilateral development bank headquartered in Beijing, began operations in January 2016.

The ADB and the AIIB signed the Memorandum of Understanding for Strengthening Cooperation in May 2016.