AIIB won’t be used for Pakistan link
Print Edition
CHINA does not plan to use either the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or Silk Road fund to finance the US$46 billion Pakistan-China Economic Corridor, with money to come from both countries instead, a senior diplomat said yesterday.
President Xi Jinping’s trip to Pakistan next week is expected to focus on the corridor, a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking Pakistan’s deep-water Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea with China’s far-western Xinjiang region.
It would shorten the route for China’s energy imports, bypassing the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, a bottleneck at risk of blockade in wartime.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao said the project would be good for Pakistan’s economic development, but he did not give financing details.
“Several different facets will be utilized for the financing of these projects. Both sides will increase cooperation, to jointly provide financing support,” he told a news briefing.
“As to whether the AIIB or the Silk Road fund will be used, at present these are being looked into, or are in the planning stages. So at the moment we are not considering using these mechanisms or platforms or financial organizations to provide financing,” Liu said.
“The money needed is quite large, and China is willing to provide financing support to Pakistan,” he added, saying that details would be released during Xi’s visit.
China said it would contribute US$40 billion to set up the Silk Road infrastructure fund to boost connectivity across Asia.
Projects under the plan include a network of railways, highways, oil and gas pipelines, power grids, Internet networks, maritime and other infrastructure links across Central, West and South Asia to as far as Greece, Russia and Oman, increasing China’s connections to Europe and Africa.
Xi’s trip will also include Indonesia, where he will attend the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, a gathering of Asian and African leaders opposed to colonialism.
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