SHANGHAI, May 30. /TASS/. The New Development Bank (NDB) established by the BRICS member states should remain open for the admission of new members that share its agenda, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of the NDB Board of Governors and Board of Directors.
"It is important that the bank rely on its own resources and the internal resources of its shareholder countries, and not be afraid to be ambitious in carrying out its agenda. Furthermore, it is important to remain open for the admission of new members, as shareholders in the bank, which share the agenda of development and cooperation with all international organizations. I am confident that the New Development Bank will successfully meet all of the challenges it faces," Siluanov said.
"The task of the bank at present is to create new things: new ties, new infrastructure, and new quality of life in shareholder countries. The processes now underway in the global financial infrastructure are creating new opportunities for the evolution of the bank. Financial, transport and logistics, and infrastructure bottlenecks in shareholder countries - all of these should be areas of operation for our bank," the finance minister said. The NDB should focus in particular on such areas as assisting technology transfers, promoting innovation, resolving food and energy security issues, developing sustainable infrastructure and fostering development potential, he noted.
It has become clear over the past year that the traditional system of international development institutions and financial relations could disintegrate rapidly, creating extra risks and costs worldwide, Siluanov stated. "Regrettably, development interests in the new reality are being put on the backburner, yielding the spotlight to politics. The mission of BRICS is to unite and not to isolate. Therefore, when the BRICS countries decided to establish the New Development Bank, we were pursuing one simple objective: to create a developing nations institution for developing economies, so that all of us have an emerging additional support tool for a development-driven agenda," the finance minister concluded.