Ludger Schuknecht, vice president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), highlighted how the world's second-largest multilateral development bank has expanded beyond just building up connectivity to help improve sustainability and disaster readiness across the continent.
The AIIB concluded its annual meeting in Uzbekistan on Thursday. It welcomed its 110th member after its Board of Governors approved the application of the island nation of Nauru in Uzbekistan on the same day.
The just-ended event marks the first time the AIIB has hosted its annual meeting in Central Asia, setting a milestone that bears great significance to the region, according to the bank vice president.
"We had [Uzbek] President [Shavkat] Mirziyoyev speak at our opening ceremony. This was a very impressive speech, because this was not just making promises, but it was showing that the country is delivering with its progress to improve people's lives, reducing the poverty rate, increasing the access to electricity, improving connectivity through roads and, of course, contributing to decarbonization by reducing the carbon-dioxide emissions. And some of our projects are directly affecting people's wellbeing, if we do urban development or the water projects, having access to clean water, having good sanitation so that you don't get sick from sewage, having roads that you can travel from one place to another in half the time. That is very tangible benefits for people and improving their quality of life," he said.
When asked about the expansion of AIIB members to 110, Schuknecht explained the bank's global impact.
"What we in our collaboration needs to show is some Asian connectivity, some Asian connection: trade, digital, roads, ports, airports, but the reason why we can finance outside Asia is global public goods, especially decarbonization, fighting climate change. Also in the pandemic, it has been fighting the pandemic with support for countries' vaccination efforts, etc. Now that the pandemic is over, it has fallen away but we also have actually our members who have asked us to also provide financing in the case of certain emergency situations, natural disasters. If they want us us to that, to also then finance, for instance, infrastructure rehabilitation. We are doing that in Turkey and Pakistan," Schuknecht said.
The vice president also described how the AIIB leverages the unique resources of the Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan to enhance regional development.
"When we came, we visited our Masdar solar energy project, not far from Samarkand, a very impressive project of 220 Megawatt solar energy, so, a really big one financed by AIIB. But it is a non-sovereign project which means it involves the private sector. So, in Uzbekistan, we do not just have sovereign projects, we also have non-sovereign projects, private sector projects, which is part of our mission that we do not just finance governments, but we also want to have the infrastructure financing with the help of private capital. So, this solar energy project, which is a really impressive project, is one. We have a road project, Bukhara road, we have the water project coming up that is also supported now by one of our members as a donor for technical assistance," said Schuknecht.
AIIB boosts sustainability, emergency preparedness across continent: bank VP
Foreign diplomats and scholars are looking closely at this year's "two sessions", saying China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) will not only chart the nation's economic and technological priorities but also reshape global value chains.
The fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the nation's top political advisory body, opened on Wednesday, followed by the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Thursday. Together known as the "two sessions," these meetings offer a comprehensive view into China's development priorities.
Global observers emphasized that the 15th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint guiding the nation's economic, social, and technological priorities over the next five years, marks a decisive shift toward high‑quality growth anchored in advanced technologies, with ripple effects across the world.
"The two sessions will discuss China's five-year plan, which is heavily oriented toward China's major technological development. I believe this is important because it represents the new blueprint for China's economy, which is now oriented toward the renowned high-quality development, and this will undoubtedly impact the entire world. I think it is worth studying. This is very important for Latin America. It will help us integrate more intelligently into global value chains and into all aspects of the major development that China is promoting in iconic industrial sectors, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and space development, where Latin America also has much to contribute beyond just commercial growth," said Gustavo Sabino Vaca Narvaja, former Argentine Ambassador to China.
"The two sessions are a major political milestone in China, and this year's gathering carries even greater significance as this year marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. This plan represents not only a blueprint for China, but also a guide for other countries. Instruments like the five-year plan effectively provide greater certainty and predictability for the rest of the world," said Chilean scholar of international relations Ignacio Araya Heredia.
"This is a particularly important date, especially due to the fact that the next Five-Year Plan shall be positioned and we're going to see what its main elements shall be. Serbia, which has a very high degree of steel friendship with the People's Republic of China, can expect further assistance in identifying the most prominent areas of Serbian economy and being helped by its great partner, such as it has been done in the previous period, from one part with establishing the main infrastructure projects, but also reshaping the industrial sector of Serbia, not just Serbia, but the region as a whole," said Veljko Mijuskovic, assistant professor of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade.
Beyond the policy framework, experts also pointed to China's achievements in green energy and technological innovation as models worth emulating.
Tomasz Bielinski, adjunct professor at the University of Gdansk's Faculty of Economics, said the robotics displays at the 2026 China Media Group (CMG) Spring Festival Gala reflected China's broader push in technological innovation.
"I was really impressed about the robotics. I'm very impressed with Chinese development in the technological field, we can still make great deals with Chinese businessmen and we can cooperate together to use this technology for both the good of China and the European Union. I'm aware of the innovation especially in autonomous drive on the on the Chinese side," he said.
"We hope for more of China's economic cooperation, especially in trade and also in investment. Also, and the other focus, if I talk about the focus of the development, don't forget about the green energy. We know that China is great in the electric vehicle field. So because China's electric vehicles in Indonesia nowadays, since couple of years ago, are very, very popular," said Al Busyra Basnur, president of the Indonesia-China Friendship Association.
Observers see China's new five-year plan driving high-quality development, global tech shifts
