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Austria checks for membership of AIIB: FM spokesman

Xinhua, March 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Austrian Finance Ministry on Friday said that Austria was "positive" about the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and "now checks for the membership."

"Austria has already had close economic and political ties with the Asian region and has always been so far very positive about international projects," Johannes Frischmann, spokesman for Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling, told Xinhua in a written Interview.

As the application deadline of March 31 draws near, more European countries confirmed intentions to join the AIIB and showed great interests in the China-proposed initiative.

After Germany, France and Italy confirmed on Tuesday their respective intentions to become the China-based AIIB founding members in the wake of Britain's application last week, Luxembourg has also submitted its candidacy, Finance Ministry of Luxembourg Pierre Gramegna confirmed to Xinhua on Wednesday.

Concentrating on the region's poorer countries and sustainable economic development, AIIB plans to finance for energy, transport and telecommunications infrastructure, urban and rural development, as well as the environment sector.

Twenty-one countries, including China, India and Singapore, signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing in October last year to build the AIIB. Endit