The traditional infrastructure of yesterday — roads, railways, seaports, airports — has evolved into “smart seaports and smart airports. That’s the infrastructure of tomorrow,” said Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB.
As its name patently states, infrastructure forms the backbone of the young multilateral development bank, created by China in 2016 as a counterweight to Western-led MDBs and now boasts an AAA credit rating and 109 member states. But just as other MDBs such as the World Bank are rethinking their mission, AIIB is trying to get with the times as well.
Today, for example, AIIB wants to build up digital infrastructure like internet services in its client countries and take advantage of artificial intelligence in its projects, among other innovations. “So, throughout the whole process, the infrastructure implementation and construction will be in a very new way, and the operation of the infrastructure will also be green, to the extent possible,” Jin told Devex on the sidelines of the Global Inclusive Growth Summit, hosted by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth in Washington, D.C. — Devex was the media partner.
About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
