LAHORE: The Pak-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI), lauding the launching of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), has termed it better for the developing countries like Pakistan.
PCJCCI President Shah Faisal Afridi appreciated the formation of another international bank, while talking to Huang Xingiang from Yantai Jiarong Trading Company Ltd and Gao Wantai from Penglai City Puntacents China.
Faisal Afridi affirmed that with the emergence of AIIB, resource crunch in the developing Asian countries for infrastructure development would be parted and governments would be free from external socio-political pressures and undue interference of multilateral financial Institutions in the internal affairs of countries.
He asserted that the AIIB will be an important platform to convert the abundant savings available in the region into investments to help regional economies including Pakistan achieve sustainable growth.
Faisal Afridi said, “The developing world’s infrastructure investment needs are too huge for any single institution. The world spends about 1 trillion US dollars a year on infrastructure, but the vast majority of that goes to developed countries. Emerging markets and low-income countries face an annual gap of 1 trillion to 1.5 trillion dollars in infrastructure spending.”
Gao Wantai said that South Asia needs to spend $2.5 trillion on infrastructure by 2020 to bring its power grids, roads and water supplies up to the standard needed to serve its growing population,” Pakistan requires investing up to 0.71 percent of its GDP in telecom every year, 1.23 percent of the GDP in transport and 0.83 percent of the GDP in irrigation.
Huang Xingiang from Yantai Jiarong Trading Company pointed out that the success of the AIIB needs not only adequate financial instruments but also political will. China has enough reasons to be confident in this regard and the international community could rest assured. He said that the formulation of AIIB is moving in a right direction, it brings in a lot of expertise.
