2015-06-29

THE SULTANATE PARTICIPATES IN SIGNING THE ASIAN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT BANK AGREEMENT

 The Sultanate, represented by Oman Investment Authority (OIA), participated with 57 countries, in the signing ceremony of the Articles of Agreement of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) that was held on Monday in Beijing, China. The agreement, on behalf of the Sultanate, was signed by H.E. Abdulsalam Al Murshidi, Executive President of OIA, and attended by H.E. Sheikh Abdullah bin Saleh Al Sa’di, Ambassador of the Sultanate to the People’s Republic of China.

 The agreement was signed by the representatives of the prospective founding members which include: Sultanate of Oman, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. The Articles remain open for signing by the remaining Prospective Founding Members until the end of 2015 and before the start of bank’s operations.

 The Bank, which will be headquartered in Beijing, will initially have an authorized capital stock of $100 billion. The Bank’s foundation will be built on international best practices and the lessons and experiences of existing Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs). Its activities will complement and supplement the programs of both the existing and newly established MDBs, such as the New Development Bank, and Asian Development Bank in projects development and promoting regional cooperation, investment integration and constructive partnerships to address the challenges facing the development and investment growth in the region.

 In October 2014, the sultanate participated in the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding related to the establishment of AIIB with the representatives of 21 Asian countries, which was followed by a series of preparatory meetings to agree on the articles of the agreement of AIIB, aiming to be a powerful regional investment bank, in addition to an open invitation to any country in the world that wishes to join the bank. This has resulted in a number of European, African, and Latin countries joining the bank with maintaining minimum of 75 percent of shares in the hands of the regional members.