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BEIJING, Jun 27 (APP): A top Pakistani economic official has praised the Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a new model of multilateralism, citing its critical support after the country’s 2022 floods, and called for developing nations to have a greater voice, and even veto power, at global financial institutions.
Speaking at a roundtable for the AIIB’s 10th anniversary held in Beijing, Kazim Niaz, Pakistan’s Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, positioned Pakistan as a key partner of the bank and a strong advocate for its governance model, which he said gives emerging economies more influence.
“We have always viewed AIIB as a development partner of strategic importance and great potential,” Niaz said. “Its inclusive governance framework and consensus-oriented decision-making approach are core characteristics that we highly appreciate.”
As a founding member, Pakistan has worked with AIIB on projects ranging from clean energy and urban metro systems to digital infrastructure, Niaz noted. He praised the bank’s “Lean, Clean, and Green” identity and its “fast and flexible” financing channels, which are critical for a country facing significant infrastructure deficits, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Friday.
Niaz singled out the bank’s performance following Pakistan’s historic 2022 floods for special mention, highlighting its collaboration with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. “The innovative support provided by AIIB in its financing instruments had a huge positive impact on our post-flood reconstruction work,” he said.
Looking forward, Niaz said Pakistan seeks to deepen its partnership with AIIB to build smart infrastructure to withstand severe climate shocks like heatwaves, floods, and water stress.
In a broader appeal, Niaz argued that the world’s interconnected crises, from debt to climate change, demand a unified front from developing countries.
Developing countries need to unite and ensure they have a substantive voice on the boards of directors and governors of multilateral development banks (MDBs), he urged. The countries, previously underrepresented in these institutions, need to gain greater influence on key issues, even a veto power, he added.
He called for MDBs to evolve from simple financiers into “treasure troves of knowledge,” helping nations build project implementation capacity, ensure debt sustainability, and use their platforms to “de-risk” private sector investment.
Niaz noted that AIIB is a leader in this shift. “AIIB represents a new type of multilateralism… a new development paradigm,” he said. It is built on mutual trust and shared priorities, which gives developing countries great confidence that they are capable of working together to solve their own problems, he concluded.