Interview: AIIB to serve new effective multilateral channel for Vietnam, China to communicate, says Vietnamese expert

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will serve as a new effective multilateral channel for Vietnam and China to communicate with each other based on recognized standards, a Vietnamese expert said.

The inaugurating ceremony marking the opening of AIIB will be held in Beijing on Saturday. The series of opening activities will last from Saturday to Monday.

"I hope that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will become a bank with international standard, having transparent and equal conditions in lending criteria, not being affected by political conditions. With the criteria, we hope that the AIIB will achieve successes," Tran Viet Thai, deputy director of the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies under Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Diplomatic Academy, told Xinhua in a recent interview in the Vietnam's capital.

"The AIIB was quickly put into operation after a short period of time. It can be said that this is a record in the world as there are not many countries and banks can do that in a short time," Thai noted.

Talking about the joining of Vietnam in the AIIB, Thai said "The participation of Vietnam in the AIIB as one of the founding countries is of great significance in Vietnam's policy of multilateralization, diversification and integration".

"As a founding member, Vietnam can join hands with China and other 50 members to actively negotiate and set up operational rules of the bank."

"Since implementing opening up policies in the past decades, this is the first time Vietnam has been directly engaged in setting up a bank which has significant role in the region and the world. Therefore, participating in the AIIB has special meaning to Vietnam," said the expert.

"Vietnam has participated in the AIIB since the beginning and stands ready to cooperate with other countries, including China, to make AIIB a successful bank in the region and the world."

"The AIIB is expected to be a new channel for Vietnam to attract more capital resources for socio-economic development, especially that of infrastructure. The demand for infrastructure construction has been huge while capital resources remain limited. We hoped that via the AIIB, Vietnam can attract more financial resources for development, especially for the construction of infrastructure including roads, seaports and airports."

According to Thai, when becoming a middle income country, Vietnam will find it more difficult in approaching non-refundable aids and preferential loans from foreign partners.

"We expect that the AIIB will become a tool in Vietnam's foreign diplomacy, thus bringing more options for Vietnam in seeking international assistance. We also hope that the bank will create more employment opportunities for Vietnamese experts in financial and banking sector if they meet professional requirements."

The Vietnamese expert also said that apart from the advantages in capital attraction, participating in the AIIB will strengthen the political position of Vietnam in international arena.

"We expect that the AIIB will achieve efficient operation and become an effective tool in capital mobilization," he said.

"We hope that the AIIB will achieve successes. In the long term, the AIIB can expand its operational areas to others, including securities," he proposed.

"Initially, the bank should set up an operational system, which should be a transparent multilateral mechanism including personnel of various nationalities. I think that the AIIB will be a strong bank if it is operated in a right track," Thai added. Endit