The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) newly revised environmental and social framework appears to tick all the boxes, but it includes too many loopholes and caveats that undermine accountability and public access to information.
As the U.S. and its allies strengthen their Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), they must strike a balance between fostering their domestic competitiveness, advancing geopolitical goals, and promoting growth in developing countries.
A new report featuring recently declassified documents reveals the complicated history behind Hambantota Port’s debt woes and the importance of avoiding past mistakes as the Covid-19 pandemic pushes more of China’s borrowers to the brink.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative has yet to yield any formal commitments to promote gender equity. As its competitors move ahead, Beijing must begin closing the BRI’s gender divide to achieve its development goals.
Competing visions for regional integration and development in Northeast Asia speak to its potential global significance. But for now, Northeast Asian development remains mostly promise and, even where actual progress is made, it tends to stir no shortage of controversy.