The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: What Can It Learn From, and Perhaps Teach To, the Multilateral Development Banks?

A striking phenomenon of recent global economic change is the emergence of new development actors, with alternative development experiences and development financing capacity. These actors are now creating collective institutional capacity with the aim of contributing to other countries’ development. They are also increasingly influencing the path of global development. One of the most important examples is the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The AIIB has a number of important features which distinguish it from existing institutions. Most of its capital is provided by emerging and developing governments, for example. Also, the composition of its membership means that it is likely to mainstream the alternative development experiences of these members, as well as emerging countries’ knowledge of the development process more generally. The AIIB therefore has much to contribute to our understanding of development in general, and development financing in particular. The opportunity for developing and emerging economies to benefit from this new source of knowledge, policy and practice as they chart their own development paths is significant.