Jeddah / Beijing, 7 October 2021 – The Presidents of Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) met virtually today and discussed ways and means for broader cooperation on infrastructure development in their 26 common member countries.

In their meeting, IsDB President Muhammad Al Jasser and AIIB President Jin Liqun agreed to  capitalize on each other’s networks and resources to  scale up joint operational engagement and  co-financing in  mutual member countries.

Both Multilateral Development Bank (MDBs) are south-led institutions with a strong focus on infrastructure development. The ongoing cooperation between the two global development powerhouses has seen joint investments in the energy sector  in Bangladesh and Turkey, with  prospective investment in  the transport and water sectors. 

“Scaling up co-financing with partners, especially MDBs like AIIB is a top priority for the IsDB going forward and we look forward to bringing our co-financing level with AIIB to the same level of co-financings that we have with other MDBs,” IsDB President stated adding: “IsDB-World Bank co-financing has exceeded US$ 4 billion in the past five years with an additional US$ 3 billion from ADB and AfDB.”

The two MDB Chiefs also discussed the new partnership around the Multilateral Cooperation Centre for Development Finance (MCDF), a China-led and KSA-supported project preparation & capacity development facility designed to support cross-border connectivity upstream work. A joint AIIB-IsDB virtual start-up workshop to stimulate demand from Central Asia is already being planned for November this year.  Climate change, global environmental stewardship and support to economic diversification to energy exporters across the region also featured prominently in the engaging and candid exchange between the two development finance leaders. It is worth pointing out that the AIIB President took over from the IsDB President the Chair of the Heads of MDBs in 2021.