Okonjo-Iweala Appointed Into Asian Bank’s Advisory Panel

Ex-Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been
appointed a member of the international advisory panel of Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB).

Mr Song Liyan, AIIB Senior Communication Officer, in a
statement made available to newsmen on Friday, announced that Okonjo-Iweala
would join 10 other key persons on the panel.

“The Panel provides impartial, objective and independent
advice to the President, allowing the Bank to benefit from the international
experience and expertise of panel members,” Liyan said.

He quoted AIIB President, Jin Liqun, as saying that the
panel members would advise the bank on the development of its strategy.

“It is a great honour to convene such an experienced and
diverse group of international leaders to advise on the development of the
Bank’s strategy.

“I have no doubt that the advice the panel provides will
help shape the development of the Bank in the years ahead.

“I could not ask for a better group of ambassadors to help
promote our new Bank to the world,” Jin said.

The panel members are former Bank Negara Malaysia governor
Dr Zeti Aziz, former Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, and former Swedish
finance minister Anders Borg.

The others are former Timor-Leste finance minister Emilia
Pires, former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern and former Japanese
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Global Foundation secretary-general Steve
Howard.

Others include Korea National Diplomatic Academy chair
professor and former South Korean deputy prime minister and strategy and
finance minister Dr Oh-Seok Hyun.

Former U.S. ambassador Paul Speltz and London School of
Economics professor and former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-Hwa are the
remaining panel members.

AIIB, a multilateral international development bank was set
up on December 25, 2015, with an initial capital of 100 billion U.S. Dollars
(RM419bn), one million shares and an initial paid-up capital of 20 billion U.S.
Dollars.