Indonesia to Be Eighth-Largest AIIB Shareholder With $672 Million Stake

Jakarta Globe, Gayatri Suroyo & Fransiska Nangoy, Jun 28, 2015

Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, second left, is heading to Beijing on
 Monday to represent Indonesia as a founding member of AIIB. (Antara
Foto/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)

Jakarta. Indonesia will sign up as a founding member of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, with an investment of $672.1 million paid over five years, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Indonesia will be the eighth-largest shareholder in the AIIB, the statement said, without detailing what percentage its share would represent. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro is scheduled to travel to Beijing to sign the agreement on Monday.

The AIIB will begin with authorized capital of $50 billion, eventually to be raised to $100 billion.

Reuters

Beijing encourages more companies to build Indonesia's infrastructure

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-04-24

Xi Jinping shakes hands with Indonesian finance minister Bambang
Brodjonegoro at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, April 21.
(Photo/Xinhua)

President Xi Jinping in China said on Wednesday that Beijing will encourage more companies to participate in infrastructure construction and operations in Indonesia.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with Indonesian president Joko Widodo in Jakarta during the two-day Asian-African leaders' meeting held here. He also promised to encourage more Chinese citizens to travel to Indonesia.

Widodo welcomed Xi's proposal to increase investment in Indonesia's infrastructure. The two presidents witnessed the signing of cooperation documents for a high-speed rail project after the meeting

Noting that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, Xi said the conference is of epoch-making significance and he is willing to work with Widodo to inherit and carry forward the Bandung Spirit, and strengthen solidarity, friendship and cooperation among developing countries.

Stressing that this year also marks 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Indonesia, Xi said following Widodo's successful visit to China last month, the two countries should work together to translate the consensus reached into tangible results.

China and Indonesia should maintain the good momentum of close communication at all levels to step up the implementation of agreements already reached between the two countries, he said.

He urged the two countries to achieve trade balance through a comprehensive approach and well implemented bilateral currency swap agreement.

China will continue to support the building of ASEAN community, he said, pledging that China will support ASEAN to play a leading role in the regional cooperation of Southeast Asia.

Widodo welcomed Xi to attend the Asian-African summit and the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference in Indonesia.

He said Indonesia hopes to expand cooperation with China in various fields and is willing to discuss the opportunities for cooperation brought by China's "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" initiative and Indonesia's new development strategy.

The Asian-African leaders' meeting opened here Wednesday with the aim of carrying on the Bandung Spirit and promoting common development of the two vibrant continents.

Xi arrived in Indonesia late Tuesday for the summit and commemorative activities for the historic 1955 Bandung Conference.

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US 'screwed up' handling of AIIB, says Albright

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-04-01

Madeleine Albright addresses the Senate Armed Forces Committee on
Jan. 29, 2015. (File photo/Xinhua)

The United State has "screwed up" on its way to deal with the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright said on Tuesday.

One of the motives for China to initiate the AIIB was that the US Congress held up the voting share reform in the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other international institutions, Albright said at an event held by the Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

As China and other countries have been questioning Washington's excessive dominance in international institutions, the US executive branch has proposed to Congress to try to adjust some of the voting share in the World Bank and IMF, in some way to ensure more equitable voting shares, but Congress has delayed to ratify such a reform. "I think there has been certain amount of frustration (from China and other countries) about that," Albright said.

According to the former secretary of state, the AIIB should not be seen as some kind of Chinese power grab, but an opportunity for the US to be able to put forward ideas on transparency and regulatory issues.

The US Treasury secretary, Jacob Lew, said recently that emerging and developed economies alike are looking to other alternatives as a means of driving the global system forward, as the international community waits for Congress to approve these reforms.

Also on Tuesday, Lew made it clear that the US stands ready to welcome the AIIB as it complements existing international financial institutions and upholds high standards.

The AIIB, expected to be formally established by the end of 2015, will be an international financial institution to fund infrastructure projects in Asia. China confirmed on Tuesday that 30 countries have been approved as prospective founding members of the bank.

US President Barack Obama, left, poses with Chinese President Xi Jinping as

 he arrives for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting at Yanqi

Lake, north of Beijing on Nov. 11, 2014. (AFP Photo/Greg Baker)

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"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013. They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader. Remember where you heard it... in a strange, esoteric meeting with a guy in a chair pretending to channel. [Kryon being factious... Kryon humor] Then when you hear it, you'll know better, won't you? "Maybe there was something really there," you'll say. "Maybe it was real," you'll say. Perhaps you can skip all the drama of the years to come and consider that now? [Kryon humor again]

These leaders are going to fall over. You'll have a slow developing leadership coming to you all over the earth where there is a new energy of caring about the public. "That's just too much to ask for in politics, Kryon." Watch for it. That's just the beginning of this last phase. So many things are coming. The next one is related to this, for a country in survival with sickness cannot sustain a leadership of high consciousness. There is just too much opportunity for power and greed. But when a continent is healed, everything changes. .."

".. Many years ago, the prevailing thought was that nobody should consider China as a viable player on the economic stage. They were backward, filled with a system that would never be westernized, and had no wish to become joined with the rest of the world's economic systems. Look what has happened in only 30 years. Now, look at Africa differently …”

ASEAN has pivotal role in Beijing's regional integration plans

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-03-29

Xi Jinping, right, meets President Joko Widodo of Indonesia at the Great
Hall of the People in Beijing, March 26. (Photo/Xinhua)

The 2015 Boao Forum for Asia, currently underway in China's southern island province of Hainan under the theme "Asia's New Future: Towards a Community of Common Destiny," has revealed a good deal about China's continuing role in forming this community and the basis on which it can be established, according to Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.

The sub-forums held at the forum laid out China's blueprint for the community, according to the website.

There have been six main topics of discussion at this year's forum, including macroeconomic policy, regional cooperation, industrial transformation, political security and social welfare, with 77 formal discussion sessions. There has also been much talk of China's Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) initiative, as well as the New Silk Road Economic Belt, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road plans, East Asian economic integration and the much touted "new normal" for China's economy.

This year's Boao Forum has coincided with the end of the two sessions in China–the annual meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference–and the deadline for application to be a founding member of the AIIB on March 31. China has taken advantage of this convenient timing to discuss these concepts at length. In the middle of all the discussion centered on China however, the forum also played host to a discussion session entitled "ASEAN Community: A New Starting Point for Integration" at which foreign minister Wang Yi gave a speech. This has led many to speculate on Beijing's reasons for lending such importance to this session.

Quiet changes at the Boao Forum

That China was willing to give the floor to this session, during such a high-profile diplomatic event for the country, suggests that ASEAN integration is key to China's interests in the region and to its own trade initiatives.

Asia accounts for 60% of the world's population and according to an estimate by the Asian Development Bank, by 2050, Asia will make up 51% of the global GDP. However, it is not yet clear how regional integration will play out through this time frame. In recent decades Asia has witnessed unprecedented economic growth, increased regional trade and direct investment as well as economic and social exchanges between countries. This is not just on the economic front, but also in terms of security, in dealing with terrorism and pirates. Political and military cooperation is also starting to make headway, according to Duowei.

Compared with Europe, Africa or South America, however, Asia has traditionally been held back by geographical issues, which have prevented institutionalized cooperation, with only informal meetings between leaders and ministerial-level summits. There is also a need for an effective negotiation mechanism in Asia. Beijing clearly hopes that its new initiatives can resolve this.

At the national level, the ten countries that make up ASEAN have undergone different paths of political, cultural and economic development, but as an organization, they make up a collective of 600 million people, linked by river ways as well as maritime and overland routes, stretching through Eurasia to the Pacific. This is of strategic importance for China's planned "Belt and Road" initiative, as ASEAN countries serve as the gateway to the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. ASEAN countries were also among the earliest initiators of economic integration in Asia, setting out first from preferential trade conditions, to free trade agreements, until they eventually formed an economic community.

This is not the first time Beijing has dedicated a platform to talks between ASEAN countries. Beijing sees ASEAN as a testing ground for its ambitions to implement its strategic entry into Eurasia and so has played a key role in facilitating integration within the organization. From 1991 onward, after then foreign minister Qian Qichen visited the 24th ASEAN leaders' summit as a guest at the invite of host country Malaysia, China's cooperative relationship with the organization began in earnest. This led to regional economic cooperation initiatives surrounding the Mekong river and the Gulf of Tonkin and China subsequently played a role in facilitating negotiations over the ASEAN Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and its predecessor.

President Xi Jinping invited the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, on a state visit on the eve of the forum from March 25-28. On March 26 the two leaders issued a joint statement announcing that they would strengthen the strategic partnership between their countries. The joint statement also reaffirmed Beijing's support for ASEAN's role in regional integration as well as for the ASEAN+3 mechanism - talks between ASEAN countries, South Korea, China and Japan. As Indonesia is often perceived as the major driver behind ASEAN, the move is likely another sign of the importance Beijing is placing on the organization.

The idea of a "Community of Destiny" was first mentioned in a report from the 18th CPC National Congress in November 2012. The concept also featured in Xi's speech at the 2013 Boao Forum, held in April of that year. Xi also mentioned the concept while meeting with Laotian president Choummaly Sayasone in August of 2013 and in a speech at the Indonesian congress in September of the same year. On each occasion he stressed the importance of ASEAN to this community of destiny.

Li Keqiang, right, meets Joko Widodo at the Great Hall of the

People in Beijing, March 27. (Photo/Xinhua)

Related Article:

Indonesia and China eye further infrastructure cooperation

Indonesia and China eye further infrastructure cooperation

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-03-29

Li Keqiang, right, meets Joko Widodo at the Great Hall of the People
in Beijing, March 27. (Photo/Xinhua)

China and Indonesia pledged more infrastructure construction and investment cooperation during a meeting between Premier Li Keqiang of China and President Joko Widodo of Indonesia on Friday.

The Chinese government will encourage more reputable companies to invest in Indonesia and participate in the construction of high-speed railway, metro rail and port industrial parks, Li said.

He called on the two countries to conduct production capacity cooperation, through which China will help Indonesia turn its abundant resources into the material for industrialization development, and to increase two-way trade and investment.

Joko echoed Li, saying Indonesia hopes to strengthen cooperation with China in areas including energy, maritime industry, agriculture, aviation and tourism.

He welcomed Chinese investment and voiced support for the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), saying he hoped the AIIB could contribute to the region's economic development.

Indonesia officially joined the China-proposed AIIB in November 2014, making it a founding member.

With regards to China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) relations, Li hailed the positive role played by Indonesia in promoting the sound development of ties.

Li said China was ready to work with ASEAN to maintain the peace, development and prosperity of east Asia.

After meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Li and Joko also attended a bilateral economic cooperation forum, on the sidelines of which companies from the two countries signed around 30 deals worth US$40 billion, according to Suryo Bambang Sulisto, president of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Sulisto told the forum that China's investment in Indonesia's mining and maritime industry would bring good benefit to the country and Indonesia hoped to take advantage of China's economic growth.

Li said the two countries both had big populations, which means huge markets. They are complementary in terms of different industrialization processes. The two sides should combine China's advantage of technology and capital with Indonesia's advantage of market and resources to promote a coordinated upstream and downstream development.

The premier also pledged to encourage Chinese companies to increase investment to Indonesia.

Joko said Indonesia had demand for high-speed railway, port, airport, power plant and industrial parks. Indonesia will provide a good investment environment for Chinese companies.

Joko was invited by President Xi Jinping for a state visit. He will also go to Boao, in south China's Hainan province, to attend the annual Boao Forum for Asia conference.

Joko also met with Xi and top legislator Zhang Dejiang.

Li Keqiang reaffirms AIIB cooperative stance

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-03-25

Li Keqiang, right, meets Takehiko Nakao in Beijing, March 23. (Photo/CNS)

The Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, on Monday reaffirmed cooperation between the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and existing financial institutions.

The AIIB will take an open and inclusive attitude and be complementary to existing development banks, said Li at a meeting with the president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Takehiko Nakao .

The AIIB will strengthen the region's communication, social and economic development, Li said.

Nakao said the ADB was ready to cooperate with the AIIB.

Speaking of the support of the ADB for China's social and economic development, poverty reduction and regional economic cooperation, the premier pledged further partnership with ADB and called on it to play a bigger role in poverty reduction and development.

Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland recently applied to join the AIIB as founding members, which already had 27 prospective founding members.

Nakao is in Beijing for the annual meeting of the China Development Forum, a platform for business and academic leaders to interact with China's top decision makers and economic planners.

This year's meeting has attracted more than a hundred CEOs from international corporations, experts and scholar, and leaders of international organizations.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati, managing director at the World Bank. 

(File photo/Xinhua)

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World Bank welcomes AIIB initiative: managing director

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-03-23

Sri Mulyani Indrawati, managing director at the World Bank. (File photo/Xinhua)

The World Bank welcomes the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and will closely cooperate with the China-proposed institution, the institution's managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Sunday.

"Any new initiative that will mobilize funding in order to fill infrastructure gap is certainly welcome. World Bank really welcomes the AIIB initiative," Indrawati told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

She dismissed worries that the AIIB will compete against World Bank or existing regional development banks, saying that the global need of infrastructure is huge and the market is large enough. "What's important is whether you are going to be able to match the funding with the need of infrastructure," said Indrawati.

"We will definitely open for cooperation with AIIB. Even now, we are working very closely in the beginning and looking at the setting, principle and framework of this institution," she said.

Indrawati said the World Bank will work to support and make sure that AIIB can live up to the expectation of many countries in the world who really want to see infrastructure to develop in a better and sustainable way.

"By working with us, it's going to show and prove that they (AIIB) are adopting the same principle like other international institutions, for example, like the World Bank," said Indrawati.

The AIIB aims to become an international financial institution providing support to infrastructure projects in Asia, and is expected to be established by the end of this year.

The bank has had 27 prospective founding members. Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland have applied to join the AIIB as a founding member.

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