The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is aiming to bolster infrastructure investment in countries less able to cope with the Covid-19 outbreak, with funds targeted at areas that improve public health, healthcare and information and communications technology.
The AIIB says that low income countries are vulnerable due to the impact of infrastructure debt together with the coronavirus and economic downturn that is expected to accompany it. This will lead to many nations to struggle to find the investment eeded to stimulate economic growth, which can be as high as 10% of GDP.
Jin Liqun, the AIIB’s president, said: "It is our duty to be flexible and responsive in a time of crisis so our members can continue investing in sanitation, healthcare and technology-enabled infrastructure.
"We will work with our board of directors, members and partners to adjust to this new reality, providing scaled up and targeted investment in critical sustainable infrastructure to protect the people we serve and the generations that follow."
AIIB’s research has pointed to a correlation between health security and infrastructure quality.
Image: AIIB President Jin Liqun (Wikimedia Commons)
