The Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
The Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) opened for business in 2016 and rapidly became a major actor in global finance. By the end of 2020, the AIIB could count 103 approved member countries. The AIIB’s business is financing large-scale infrastructure projects such as power plants, dams, and transportation corridors. Such investments by their very nature carry high environmental and social risks. They are also often associated with corruption and high levels of debt. In addition to it the AIIB plays an important role in China’s efforts to shape a new form of multilateralism in which it defines the rules.
This paper provides an overview of the institution’s close alignment with China and examines the AIIB’s policy provisions on transparency and disclosure as the institution positions itself to enter a dynamic growth phase.
Read also the related article, showing why the bank must intensify its efforts to inform the public in a timely manner about the environmental and social risks of its projects.
Product details
Table of contents
Executive Summary 4
Overview 6
A brief introduction to the AIIB 6
Why the AIIB's Specific Context Matters 9
Shaping a New Type of Multilateralism 9
A New Governance Model: Concentration of Decision-making Power 11
Toward Global Leadership in Infrastructure Finance 13
The AIIB's Transparency-related Policy Provisions 17
The Policy on Public Information 17
The Environmental and Social Framework of 2016 19
Examples of the weak implementation of the current ESF 22
The Revised Environmental and Social Framework (effective as of October 1, 2021) 26
The Authors 32