BRICS Bank to Finance Technological Innovation Projects

The New Development Bank set up by the BRICS plans to provide lending to technological innovation projects, its vice president Zhu Xian has said.

Established to meet emerging economies’ funding needs, the multilateral lender approved loans worth $1.5 billion last year, mainly to finance clean energy and infrastructure developments in BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, PTI reported.

The BRICS’ share of the world economy shot up from 8.2% in 2002 to 22.2% in 2015. The BRICS now represents two thirds of the developing world’s economy.

The bank aims to foster technological innovation in developing nations through its financing, capability building and knowledge sharing, Zhu said Saturday at a financing forum held in Xiamen city, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. This year’s BRICS summit will be held in Xiamen in September.

Zhu said such lending priority will set the bank on a new path different from the one taken by traditional multilateral financial institutions.

The developing nations account for more than 35% of the world economy, but lack an equal share of deciding power in traditional multilateral lenders, Zhu said.

Trillions of dollars are needed every year as the developing world strives to upgrade industries and develop new energy sector. “That will be the priority of  NDB and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank,” Zhu said.

He said China has accumulated rich experience in technological innovation on infrastructure projects and is open to share such experience with other developing nations, the report said. “We will frame the BRICS NDB as a knowledge bank through its project financing and knowledge sharing,” Zhu said.

The NDB was established in 2014 with an initial fund of $100 billion pooled from five BRICS countries.