OPEC Fund and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank advance partnership for global infrastructure funding

Photo: AIIB

The OPEC Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand their operational and strategic cooperation to finance global public and private sector projects, promoting sustainable, resilient and high-standard infrastructure development. 

OPEC Fund Director-General Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said: “We are very pleased to take our cooperation with the AIIB to the next level. This MoU signals the ambition and preparedness of our institutions to deliver more by combining our experiences and resources. The size of the global infrastructure gap is so huge that all actors, public and private, must work together. Multilateral development banks play a particularly significant role, because our lending is counter-cyclical and acts as a catalyst to mobilize additional investment.” 

“We look forward to further strengthening our collaboration with the the OPEC Fund and fostering a deeper partnership in exploring common strategic areas of interest,” said AIIB President and Chair of the Board Jin Liqun. “This MoU will allow the AIIB and the OPEC Fund to leverage our respective resources to more effectively develop sustainable infrastructure projects. It will also enable the AIIB to scale-up efforts to unlock private capital for our members to Expanded partnership between the two institutions will unlock financing for sustainable infrastructure projects finance infrastructure for tomorrow.” 

To date, the AIIB and the OPEC Fund have co-financed five projects in excess of US$1 billion in Bangladesh, Egypt, Nepal, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. The new cooperation agreement will help to identify co-financing and co-investment opportunities for projects and programs of common interest including energy, water, transport, digital and social infrastructure in health and education.