OSLO: Norway says it intends to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a prospective founding member in a move that could help the country’s frozen relations with China thaw.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Boerge Brende said the country wishes to join other countries to “further refining the structure and mission of the AIIB.”
Brende said the bank will help address a “widely acknowledged infrastructure funding gap in Asia” adding that the Chinese-led initiative “highlights the increasing weight of the new and emerging powers.”
Norway has actively promoted closer political and economic ties with the Asia–Pacific region, and our decision to join the Bank forms part of that strategy” he said.
Beijing proposed the creation of the bank in 2013 to finance infrastructure investments in developing Asian countries and has pledged to put up most of its initial $US50 billion ($A65 billion) in capital.
The Asian bank has attracted interest from dozens of governments, despite US objections it might undercut the World Bank and other international financial institutions.
In a diplomatic coup for Beijing, US allies Britain, Germany, Australia and Taiwan have broken with Washington and announced plans to join, but some countries remain holdouts.
A senior US Treasury official said on Monday that Washington welcomed China’s increased role in infrastructure finance, but urged the bank to work in partnership with the World Bank and other existing institutions to ensure high standards.
Japan has remained absent from the list and has expressed concerns about whether or not the new body would adopt a high standard code of conduct.
Norway’s Brende said his country expects the bank to “work closely” with the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and after the terms of governance and accountability have been set, will make a final decision on joining.
For Norway, the move could help bolster relations with China which have remained frozen since 2010 when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
Diplomatic ties were broken off and Norwegians have struggled to get visas to visit China, which also restricted imports from Norway.
