PRESS RELEASES
NDB Board of Directors held its 33rd Meeting
On December 14, 2021, the Board of Directors (Board) of the New Development Bank (NDB) held its 33rd Meeting in a virtual format.
The Board welcomed the participation of Mr. Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky (Bangladesh) and Mr. Abdalla Ahmed Al Obeidli (United Arab Emirates), representing the new constituency of new members. This was the first Board meeting with Board members from new member countries of the Bank.
The Board was briefed on the project implementation focusing on disbursement and procurement, and also discussed the project pipeline.
The Board reviewed several policies concerning operations, risk management, compliance and IT and approved the proposed amendments.
An update on the Bank’s LIBOR transition progress was delivered to the Board. The Board approved the Bank’s SOFR Pricing Framework and the 2022 Funding Plan.
The Board took note of the progress of membership expansion and preparation of the General Strategy: 2022-2026.
The Board was updated on the 2021 budget utilization and approved the 2022 budget proposal.
The Board also approved a loan of RMB 3,237 million to the People’s Republic of China for the Qingdao Metro Line Six (Phase I) Project. The loan will be used for financing the construction of a 30.19 km metro line in the West Coast New Area of Qingdao, a rapidly developing economic district in the municipality.
The Qingdao Metro Line Six will carry 40% of the total passenger traffic of the West Coast New Area. It will contribute to improving transport infrastructure and coping with rapidly growing demand in passenger traffic. Key outcomes of the Project include reduced travel time for commuters, decongestion of roads and emission reduction, improved transport safety and enhanced travel comfort.
As part of ‘smart metro’ development, the Qingdao Metro Line Six will have the highest level of train automation (including unmanned driving) and subway infrastructure. In particular, Train Autonomous Circumambulate System (TACS) will allow trains to communicate with each other directly and take decisions autonomously using artificial intelligence, increasing traffic fluidity and reducing intervals between trains by more than 20%. Intelligent Subway Operations System (ISOS) will contribute to making metro more convenient for passengers by using smart technologies, such as face recognition for entrance and exit, ticketing by biometry, intelligent safety measures, etc.
With the approval of the Project, NDB’s total amount of project financing has exceeded USD 29.5 billion (canceled loans excluded).
The 21st Meeting of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and the 17th Meeting of the Budget, Human Resources and Compensation Committee took place virtually on December 13, 2021.
Background Information
New Development Bank was established with the purpose of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging market economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development.
According to the NDB’s General Strategy, sustainable infrastructure development is at the core of the Bank’s operational strategy for 2017-2021. The NDB received AA+ long-term issuer credit ratings from S&P and Fitch and AAA foreign currency long-term issuer rating from Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) and Analytical Credit Rating Agency (ACRA).