AIIB president warns of trade 'headwinds' facing Asia

The head of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB) highlighted the "tough headwinds" facing Asian economies. Speaking on the sidelines of the World Government Summit in Dubai earlier this week, AIIB Chief Jin Liqun said the "burning issue" for the region is how to resolve trade disputes.

The development bank president also highlighted the daunting infrastructure investment gap facing Asia, saying "research results indicate that Asian countries need at least one trillion dollars every year, for the next decade". Asked how to tackle the issue, Jin spoke of the importance of cross-border infrastructure projects which create "more output for less input".

The AIIB aims to increase investment by around 20 percent this year, planning to finance projects worth four billion dollars, up from the 3.3 billion dollars it backed in 2018. But Jin has also emphasized quality over quantity approach to future projects, saying he wanted to move forward "on the basis of prudence and the basis of a meticulous feasibility study".

The development bank has 93 member countries and has financed some 7.5 billion dollars of projects since it began operations in 2016. Established with the backing of the Chinese government much of its spending has focused on Asian countries and those associated with Beijing's Belt and Road initiative.

China has at times faced criticism of lending recklessly to countries who then struggle to repay their debts, but Jin argued such comments weren't "justified", saying "it's in China's own interests to take care of the investment to make sure that those economic investments are financially rewarding and financially sustainable".