The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was signed by Finance Ministers or their authorized Representatives of the 21 prospective Founding Member countries on 24 October 2014 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.  Following the Signing Ceremony, the delegates met with the Chinese President Xi Jinping.  Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to China, Ranjith Uyangoda signed the MoU on behalf of Sri Lanka. 

The AIIB is envisaged to be an inter-governmental regional development institution modeled to operate as a Multilateral Development Bank (MDB).  It will be tasked to fund infrastructure development projects in the Asian region.  The AIIB will complement the work of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other multilateral and bilateral development institutions to promote regional cooperation and partnership by addressing development challenges.  The authorized capital of AIIB will be US$ 100 billion and the initial subscribed capital is expected to be around US$ 50 billion. 

In October 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the proposal on setting up the AIIB.  After several rounds of consultations between China and other regional and non-regional countries, the following prospective Founding Member countries signed the MoU: Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. 

By signing the MoU the Parties jointly decided to establish the AIIB and will accelerate the negotiation process of the Articles of the Agreement (AOA) of AIIB.  It is expected that the negotiations on the Articles of the Agreement (AOA) will be finalized by mid 2015 and the AIIB will be formally established and operational by the end of 2015.  The Headquarters of AIIB will be located in Beijing. 

Sri Lanka was invited by China to be a Founding Member of the AIIB. Countries that sign and ratify the Articles of the Agreement of AIIB will officially become the Founding Members of the Bank. 

Embassy of Sri Lanka

Beijing

29th October 2014