AIIB plans to double financing by 2030. Can it bridge Asia’s infrastructure gap?

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) plans to double its annual financing to about US$20 billion by 2030 as the Beijing-headquartered multilateral lender enters its second decade, its president said on Monday.

Announcing the target at the opening of the bank’s 11th annual meeting in Doha, Qatar, AIIB President Zou Jiayi said member economies had voiced a “remarkably consistent” need for greater project funding.

“They need more infrastructure and more financing to build it,” Zou told reporters at a press conference, adding that she had visited about 30 member countries since taking office.

Zou, a former vice-minister of finance in China, said member states increasingly viewed modern infrastructure as a “force of transformation” that could strengthen their economies over the long term rather than simply as physical assets.