at a joint press conference with the bank’s president-designate Jin Liqun here.
Pakistan has already initiated the mega project, as land is being acquired and its PC-1 has been approved by the ECNEC (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council). The government has also focused on simultaneously working on Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Dasu Dam [which has reached its financial close].
In the last 60-70 years in this region, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank have provided to the region around 30 percent of their total infrastructure projects funding, while the region’s requirement is about 70 percent. The AIIB will help boost the funding and plug the gap by providing funding to infrastructure projects, Dar said.
Jin Liqun is currently on Pakistan’s visit and has met the prime minister and other government officials. He informed the minister that a team of AIIB officials would soon visit Pakistan to meet Pakistani officials and ascertain ideas about the possible areas/projects where the AIIB could provide funding.
“We hope to begin lending in the first half of next year. Clearly identifying which projects we can or cannot support will take some time. I am confident that it wouldn’t be long before the AIIB would finance its first project here in Pakistan,” Jin Liqun said.
“Our bank, with close collaboration of existing banks including WB and ADB, will finance infrastructure projects in the region. We believe we have a great future,” he said.
Jin Liqun said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would not only benefit Pakistan but also the whole region. He hoped that India would support the CPEC, as the project was for regional connectivity and not specific only to Pakistan and China.
Pakistan is an important regional prospective founding member of the bank. Along with 21 other countries, Pakistan signed the original Memorandum of Understanding on establishing the AIIB in Beijing almost exactly one year ago. Since then, 35 more countries have already applied to join the bank.