Timezones: 7:00 - 9:00 PM CST

Current infrastructure investment is on track for a $15 trillion global shortfall by 2040. Much of this is in developing economies, where connectivity infrastructure such as ports, power transmission and telecommunications lines are required to link communities and achieve economic and human potential. And to achieve global low-carbon development, rapid transformation is needed to reach carbon neutrality by mid-century. Estimates indicate between $1.6 and $3.8 trillion will be needed through 2050 to transform the energy system alone.
 
To address this challenge—and the need to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic—the new Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF), set up by China’s Ministry of Finance, offers a new approach. Launched in 2020, the Fund has been described as a “bridge” between the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), itself the world’s largest infrastructure investment program. The fund, seeded with an initial $180 million from China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, Cambodia and the Philippines, could provide a new multilateral interface to the BRI and therefore drive green infrastructure development in its 100+ countries, spread across all continents, as well as through partnerships with other infrastructure financing institutions.
 
Co-sponsored by WRI China and the AIIB, this event will feature high-level remarks from Jiayi Zou, Vice Minister of Finance for the People’s Republic of China; Liqun Jin, President and Chair of the Board, AIIB; Manish Bapna, Interim President & CEO, World Resources Institute; Aniruddha Dasgupta, Global Director, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities who will speak on climate-smart connectivity; Erik Berglof, Chief Economist, AIIB, who will speak on greening global value chains; and many more.

Speakers

  • Jiayi Zou, Vice Minister of Finance, the People’s Republic of China
  • Liqun Jin, President and Chair of the Board, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
  • Erik Berglof, Chief Economist, AIIB
  • Manish Bapna, Interim President & CEO, World Resources Institute
  • Aniruddha Dasgupta, Global Director, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities
  • Andrew Steer, President and CEO, Bezos Earth Fund (tbc)
  • Alvin Ng, Vice President & General Manager, Digital Solutions, Asia Pacific, Johnson Controls
  • Ahmed Kouchouk, Vice Minister of Finance for Fiscal Policy and Institutional Reforms, Arab Republic of Egypt
  • Ranjit Lamech, Regional Director, Infrastructure, East Asia and Pacific Region, The World Bank
  • Sujata Gupta, Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Division, East Asia Department, The Asian Development Bank
  • Zhongjing Wang, CEO, MCDF Secretariat
  • Shen Min, Deputy General Manager, Global Finance Department, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)

Moderators

  • Zhongjing Wang, CEO, MCDF Secretariat
  • Joachim von Amsberg, Vice President, Policy and Strategy, AIIB