The Federal Government of Australia has announced the commitment as a founding member of the the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

According to the Treasurer of Australia, Joe Hockey, Australia has committed to contributing A$930 million into the AIIB over the next five years, making it the sixth largest shareholder.

The bank has been initially capitalised with US$50 billion, about 50% of them has been funded by China.

In late March we reported that South Korea and Turkey had confirmed plans to become funding member of the AIIB after the decision of three European countries, Italy, France and Germany, to join the AIIB.

Also in March we published that Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne announced that UK intended to become a prospective founding member of the AIIB. UK was followed by major European nations France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria.

New Zealand became on January 5th the 24th nation to sign on and join as a founding member the AIIB. Previously, in November 2014, we reported that Indonesia had decided to join the AIIB and one month before twenty-one Asian countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish the AIIB.

According to sources Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have declined to become founding members. A total of 57 countries have been approved to be signed on as founding members of the AIIB since it was floated in October 2013.

Once fully operational the AIIB will support access to finance for infrastructure projects across Asia, using a variety of support measures, including loans, equity investments, and guarantees, to boost investment across a range of sectors including transportation, energy, telecommunication, agriculture and urban development. This support can complement the work already done in the region by existing Multilateral Development Banks such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.