Japan will
provide $40 million to the Asian Development Bank to promote high-level
technology as part of efforts to boost quality infrastructure in Asia, Finance
Minister
Taro Aso said on Saturday.
"Japan
has been promoting quality infrastructure in Asia in close collaboration with
the bank," Aso told the ADB's annual gathering in Yokohama.
"Enhancing quality of infrastructure in terms of lifecycle cost and
environmental and social considerations is important."
The money
will be provided over a two-year period to a newly created fund of the ADB, he
said.
Aso's
remarks came as China's increasing presence in infrastructure finance has
alarmed some Japanese policymakers, who worry that Beijing-led Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) may overshadow the Japan-U.S.-led ADB.
The AIIB is
viewed by some as a challenger to both the Western-dominated World Bank and the
ADB, which is primarily funded by Japan and the United States.
Partly to differentiate
itself, the ADB has broadened its activities beyond infrastructure such as
financing of steps for poverty reduction, healthcare and education.
ADB
President Takehiko Nakao told the annual gathering that investment in
infrastructure would remain a priority.
"Asia
will need $1.7 trillion per year in investments in power, transport,
telecommunications and water through 2030," he said on Saturday.
On Thursday,
Nakao said the ADB would cooperate with China's development finance and
infrastructure plans under its "One Belt, One Road" initiative,
shrugging off the view Japan and China are competing for influence through
development finance.
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