The Kuwaiti National Assembly approved Monday a draft law on the state of Kuwait's contribution to the capital of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), based in China, with a share of $536 million provided by the state reserve.
KUNA said that the parliament approved the proposal for Kuwait to invest in the capital of AIIB with 43 out of 51 members voting in favor.
The bill was approved by Finance Minister Nayef al-Hajraf, who, during the discussion of the bill, said that the move would preserve Kuwait's right as founder of the bank, which he described as "the third largest development bank in the world."
He stated that this bank is aimed at supporting and improving development projects in the Asia Pacific by investing in infrastructure projects and networks, KUNA said.
The bank's authorized capital is $100 billion and the paid-up capital amounts to $20 billion, Hajraf explained, indicating that Kuwait’s stake stands at $536 million with paid capital of $107.2 million to be covered annually at a rate of $21.4 million.
The total shareholders in the bank so far are 65 countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, UK, Germany, Finland, France, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
Hajraf said that the bank follows the principles of sustainable development through its investment activities, which support infrastructural plans and structural network.
He stressed the importance of Kuwait's contribution to the AIIB because China is the second largest economy in the world and will be the first economy in the world in the next few years. Therefore, Kuwait needs to expand and strengthen the bridges of international cooperation with it.
"The importance of this contribution is to link Kuwait with commercial, developmental and economic interests in the world's largest growing economies and the importance of China's role in Kuwait’s Vision 2035," said Hajraf.
