The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a new international financial institution (created in 2015) that aims to meet infrastructure needs in Asia. AIIB is financing the construction and improvement of infrastructures, particularly in the energy and transport sectors, to ensure development in the Asia-Pacific region.
This investment bank is a Chinese initiative. Although not officially associated, the AIIB and the OBOR are complementary. AIIB will be able to finance infrastructure projects that will allow trade to increase in Asia, but also between Europe and Asia.
Inaugurated in 2016, the AIIB has more than 50 members states. The European Union is an important partner of the AIIB; fourteen members of the European Union are involved in this organization. Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom (December 2016) are members of the AIIB and represent 19.04% (or 16.13% with the exception of the UK) of the organization’s votes. Only China with 26.06% of the votes is more powerful than EU within the AIIB.
To influence the AIIB’s decisions, -AIIB being a financial institution as important as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank-, members of the European Union must be able to coordinate their actions in order to be fully involved in the development of the Asian continent.