South Asian News Network

Kathmandu, Sept 30: Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle has returned back home after participating in the annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). He had left here for Doha, the capital of Qatar, on September 26 to attend the annual meeting. The 2026 AIIB Annual Meeting took place on September 28-29. With the theme “Tomorrow’s Infrastructure: Impact and Innovation,” the Annual Meeting marked AIIB’s transition into its second decade and highlighted its continued focus on scaling up investment in sustainable infrastructure across AIIB members. The ‘Doha meeting’ was productive in expanding the bank’s investment for Nepal’s infrastructure development, transferring technology, and creating an environment for further cooperation among member countries, the Finance Minister’s Secretariat said. The meeting elected Finance Minister and AIIB Governor Dr Wagle as the Vice-Chair for 2026–27. Nepal was elected as the Vice-Chair from among the regional member countries. At the ‘Governors Business Round Table’ event held on the occasion, Finance Minister Wagle said that investment should be increased in production sectors, including in roads, electricity, communication, and information technology, along with the arrangements for necessary capital. He suggested that bank investments should be made as favorable as possible to meet the needs of a country like Nepal, attract domestic and foreign private capital, and focus on productive investments while keeping the country’s needs in mind. According to the Finance Minister’s secretariat, Finance Minister Wagle discussed with the AIIB chair and the finance ministers of member countries Qatar, India, Bangladesh, Armenia, and Georgia about bilateral interests, economic cooperation, investment expansion, and support for Nepal’s post-disaster reconstruction. Nepal has been elected vice-chair of the AIIB for the first time, and it is hoped that this will open up more opportunities for the country’s important infrastructure development through increased bank investment, technology transfer, and collaboration, the Finance Minister’s Secretariat said.