Mohammad Ishaq Dar

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will play a complementary role, with the aim of bridging the gap between supply and need in infrastructure projects in Asia, Pakistan finance minister said Friday.

"We're happy to see the bank is a reality now and we want to see progress," Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister of Finance of Pakistan, told the Global Times on the eve of the AIIB's opening ceremony that was held Saturday in Beijing. Dar represented Pakistan at the launch of the bank during this weekend.

Asia needs roughly 70 percent of world's global financing for infrastructure development and now only gets about 30 percent, and this gap has been expanded over years, Dar noted. "It will bridge that need and supply gap," he said.

The AIIB is expected to provide fund needed for infrastructure projects in the region, and it will "cooperate with other multilateral development banks such as the World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank," Dar told the Global Times Friday night.

Pakistan had been a great supporter of the idea of AIIB right from the beginning and the country is a founding member of the bank. "There were certain skepticism and criticism but now it is a reality," he said.

In terms of criticism about the slowness and extra time in international financial institutions, Dar noted that it is unfair to blame them alone. "It is the two-way tactic," he said, noting that various factors should be taken into account when deliver loans for example a country's economic performance and certain qualifications required by financial institutions.

Infrastructure projects such as energy projects and hydropower projects remain priorities in Pakistan, in which the private sector is continuing to play the most important role, Dar said. The government has "huge agenda" in getting financial support from the AIIB as well as other financial institutions, he noted. For example, the ongoing Dasu Hydropower project has been covered by the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) for its phase one, and Diamer-Bhasha dam project, estimated at a $14 billion, needs different financing channels, according to Dar.

Since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and of the Articles of Agreement (AoA), the process has been fairly positive and transparent, which has taken a number of rounds on consultations, Dar said.

During his visit, Dar will also meet Chinese Finance Minister, the President of China Development Bank (CDB), Vice President of Export and Import Bank of China (EXIM) and the Chairperson of Silk Road Fund.