Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) President Zou Jiayi visited Spain, Germany, France and Italy July 6-10 to engage with key European shareholders and partners on the Bank’s strategic priorities, including operations in nonregional members, strengthening of upstream project preparation, and enhancing AIIB’s role in addressing members’ evolving infrastructure needs. The visits were also an opportunity to deepen cooperation with European partners in support of sustainable infrastructure development.
Zou met with Spain’s First Vice President and Minister for Economy, Trade and Enterprise Carlos Cuerpo Caballero; Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance Lars Klingbeil and State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance Jeanette Schwamberger; France’s Director-General of the Treasury Bertrand Dumont; and Italy’s Head of International Financial Relations at the Ministry of Economy and Finance Manuela Nenna. She also engaged Germany’s Federal Minister for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Carsten Schneider; President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde; German development agency GIZ Chair Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel; President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Alvaro Lario; and Chief Executive Officer of asset manager Natixis Mohammed Kallala, alongside other multilateral and private-sector partners.
Discussions focused on how AIIB can deliver greater value for members by combining larger-scale financing with high-quality project design, innovative financing solutions and stronger partnerships. Zou invited members to consider strengthening AIIB’s Project Preparation Special Fund (PPSF) through contributions, and outlined the Bank’s scalable, structured approach to mobilizing private capital, offering investors transparent well-defined criteria to coinvest with AIIB.
Counterparts expressed support for AIIB’s ambition to increase development impact while underscoring the importance of preserving its focus on Asia, a lean operating model, high standards and financial sustainability as the Bank continues to grow. They welcomed deeper collaboration with AIIB, bilateral development financial institutions and the private sector, particularly through cofinancing, upstream project preparation and private capital mobilization. They also explored sector-specific cooperation, including on climate finance, climate-resilient infrastructure, nature-based solutions, agricultural infrastructure, irrigation and sustainable rural infrastructure and rural connectivity. On the Bank’s nonregional member operations, shareholders welcomed continued dialogue and signaled support for an approach anchored firmly to the benefits for Asia, regional connectivity and global public goods.
Overall, European shareholders and partners’ reaffirmed confidence in AIIB’s long-term strategic direction and expressed strong interest in expanding practical cooperation with European development finance institutions and the private sector as the Bank continues to implement its mission to finance Infrastructure for Tomorrow.
