AIIB gives approval for expansion to 77 members

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank announced on Saturday that its Board of Governors has approved seven applications to join the bank, bringing its total approvedmembership to 77.The applications came fromthree regional prospective members - Bahrain, Cyprus and Samoa - and four nonregional prospective members,Bolivia, Chile, Greece and Romania.

"More and more countries are signing up to become members of AIIB because they see how internationalism can promote development in Asia, with farreaching benefits for the global economy,"said Jin Liqun, AIIB president.

"We welcome our new prospective members and thank them for joiningus inour effort tomeet infrastructure needs in the region," he said.

The seven prospective members will officially join AIIB once they complete the required domestic processes and deposit their first installment of capital with the bank.

The shares allocated to the new prospective members come from thebank's existingpool ofunallocated shares, officials said.

With 57 signatories at its launch in January 2016 and the approval of 13 prospective members in March 2017,AIIB aims to provide financing to address infrastructure needs across Asia.