A Comparative Guide to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Natalie Lichtenstein

Describes the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's mandate, membership, finance, governance, and institutional set-up
Provides a comprehensive analysis of the similarities and differences between the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and both the World Bank and other regional development banks
As the former General Counsel of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Lichtenstein offers her unparalleled expertise
In depth coverage of the operations of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's financial operations over the last two years

A Comparative Guide to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Natalie Lichtenstein

Description

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, first opened in 2016, is a 100 billion dollar multilateral development bank purpose-built to support infrastructure projects that enhance regional economic productivity.

Its arms reach far: in its first two years, AIIB has financed transport systems such as national motorways in Pakistan, railways in Oman, and rural roads in India; energy projects including natural gas pipelines in Azerbaijan and hydropower plants in Tajikistan; and the redevelopment of impoverished areas in Indonesia. Initiated by China, its membership is global, with regional powers from Korea to Saudi Arabia, and key players from Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

In a text that will appeal to general readers and legal specialists alike, Natalie Lichtenstein examines the Bank's mandate, investment operations, finance, governance, and institutional set up, as well as providing detailed analyses of the similarities and differences it has with other development banks - charting AIIB's story so far and anticipating its future.

A Comparative Guide to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Natalie Lichtenstein

A Comparative Guide to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Natalie Lichtenstein

Author Information

Natalie Lichtenstein, Former Inaugural General Counsel, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Natalie Lichtenstein was the Inaugural General Counsel at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). As Chief Counsel for the 57-country negotiations that led to AIIB's founding as an international development bank, she was the principal legal adviser and drafter for its Charter. That work drew on her 30-year legal career at the World Bank, where she advised on lending operations in China and other countries for the first 20 years, and served in senior positions in institutional governance and reforms for her third decade. As a young lawyer at the US Treasury Department, she worked on development bank issues and normalization of US relations with China. She has taught Chinese law in the US since the 1980s, and consulted on Chinese legal development. She is an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a member of the Oxford International Organizations (OXIO) Advisory Board. She received an AB summa cum laude in East Asian Studies from Harvard University and a JD (East Asian Legal Studies) from Harvard Law School.

A Comparative Guide to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Natalie Lichtenstein

Reviews and Awards

"By placing the AIIB in a historical and comparative context, A Comparative Guide to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank could not have arrived at a better time." -- Maria Adele Carrai, Pacific Affairs

"A Comparative Guide to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's major contribution is to provide a comparative framework of reference to understand in what ways the AIIB is different or similar to other MDBs, as it is only through comparison that one can have a better understanding." -- Maria Adele Carrai, Pacific Affairs