AIIB to complement ASEAN infrastructure need: Malaysian official

Malaysia supports China's initiative of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which will help ASEAN countries to fulfill the need of infrastructure investment, a senior Malaysian official told Xinhua.

Malaysia was among the 21 countries that signed an agreement last year to establish the AIIB, whose prospective founding members have since hit 57.

"I know there was initial skepticism by some parties before, but I am happy that everybody has now embraced it including the World Bank," Abdul Wahid Omar, Minister of the Prime Minister's Department who in charge of the Economy Planning, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

He pointed out that AIIB's capital will be 100 percent dedicated to the investment in infrastructure, compared with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

"AIIB will complement the work that had been done by World Bank and ADB, and indeed it will enable many infrastructures be implemented, especially in the ASEAN region," he said.

A study by ADB in 2009 predicted that Asian will need 8 trillion U.S. dollars on infrastructure investment between 2010 and 2020.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said this week that his country supports China's efforts to promote an inclusive regional growth agenda through a series of initiatives, including the AIIB and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, "both of which are expected to increase investment flows into the ASEAN region." Endi