PH urges closer ADB cooperation with AIIB

YOKOHAMA—The Philippines urged the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to increase cooperation with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) after the ADB said Asia needed $1.7 trillion in infrastructure investments every year.

“The world seems a lot more hostile to our progress today. In the West, economic nationalism and hostility to globalization appear to be on the rise,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.

“The member-economies of the ADB will be harmed by this emergent trend. We must prepare our economies to meet the challenge,” he said, noting that Manila will host the bank’s annual meeting next year.

“In Manila next year, we will expect the bank to begin the process of reinvention. The world has changed; the bank must realign its programs to meet new realities,” Dominguez said at the launch of ADB’s Metro Manila meeting next year.

Dominguez noted the bigger role of the Asia-Pacific region in global growth and stressed the need to ensure its sustainability.

Dominguez made the appeal after ADB president Takehiko Nakao said on Saturday that the region would need $1.7 trillion in infrastructure investments every year.

Nakao had said the ADB was open to co-financing with the AIIB and was already cooperating on at least three projects.

“The economic balance of power has shifted. Asia is now expected to lead global growth. We cannot simply be content to track the development experience of the West. We have to rethink our strategies for growth,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez said next year’s ADB meeting “will be an opportunity for us to showcase our achievements.”