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Azerbaijan signs agreement for Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Economy Materials 29 June 2015 11:00 (UTC +04:00)
Representatives from 57 Prospective Founding Members (PFMs) of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), including Azerbaijan, gathered on June 29, 2015 in Beijing at a Signing Ceremony of the Bank's Articles of Agreement at the Great Hall of the People
Azerbaijan signs agreement for Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Baku, Azerbaijan, June 29

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

Representatives from 57 Prospective Founding Members (PFMs) of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), including Azerbaijan, gathered on June 29 in Beijing for a Signing Ceremony of the Bank's Articles of Agreement at the Great Hall of the People.

From Azerbaijan, the Minister of Finance of Azerbaijan Samir Sharifov, who is currently on a visit to China, signed the financial agreement, the Azerbaijani Finance Ministry told Trend.

The AIIB, which will be headquartered in Beijing, will initially have an authorized capital stock of $100 billion, said the message published on the website of the bank. Reflecting the regional character of the bank, its regional members will be the majority shareholders, holding approximately 75 percent of shares.

It is expected that the AIIB will be operational by the end of 2015.

China, the share of which is 26.06 percent of the voting shares will become the largest shareholder of the bank.

The share of Azerbaijan's participation in the bank's capital will amount to 0.25 percent, $245.1 million will be invested in their purchase.

The Azerbaijani government officially expressed interest in becoming one of the AIIB founders March 31, 2015. In April, Azerbaijan has been confirmed as one of the countries that joined AIIB.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is being created as a multilateral development bank that will render financial assistance for more qualitative development of the production infrastructure in Asia.

The objectives of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank are to promote the economic development and cooperation in Asia by investing in infrastructure and other productive sectors, which will be considered as appropriate; to develop the regional cooperation and partnership in addressing the tasks in the field of development, to closely cooperate with other multilateral financial institutions.

The investments in infrastructure of developing regional members, including the power engineering, transport and telecommunications, agriculture, water supply, environment, urban planning and other productive sectors will be the priority areas of AIIB funding.

As the operations of the bank grow, it is planned to open regional structures and offices, according to Xinhua News Agency. AIIB Director will be elected from among representatives of the Asian countries, which are members of the bank, for a period of five years, with a possible re-election for another five-year term.

Signing the agreement does not mean the opening of the bank. Not all the delegates from the founding members of the bank signed the agreement. Founding countries that have not signed the agreement must go through the necessary procedure in the country until late 2015. All founding members will be able to become full-fledged members of the bank after their parliaments ratify the agreement by December 31, 2016.

Edited by CN

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Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli

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