Your Excellency, President Vladimir Putin,
Your Excellency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
Your Excellency, President Xi Jinping,
Your Excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa,
Your Excellency, President Jair Bolsonaro,
I am honored to report to you for the first time as President of the New Development Bank.
Let me start by thanking the Russian BRICS Presidency and all BRICS countries for the great support provided to the NDB, and of course join everyone in saying happy birthday to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Your vision and leadership have allowed the NDB to make remarkable progress since its foundation in 2015. In mere five years, we have accomplished what peer institutions took decades to achieve. We are talking about 65 projects totaling USD 21 billion. By the end of this year, we expect approvals to reach USD 26 billion.
In line with the guidance you provided during last year’s Summit in Brasília, we are better balancing our portfolio across member countries. Additionally, the private sector will represent an increasing share of our operations. We are there to support key infrastructure projects in the BRICS. Logistics, urban development, water and sanitation, energy – core development needs are all within our scope.
When it comes to COVID, the NDB is rising up to the occasion. We are working in a proactive and agile manner. USD 10 billion is our committed support through an Emergency Response Program. The first USD 5 billion are directed to finance health and social relief. The second USD 5 billion contribute to boosting economic recovery. Especially, through the creation of jobs that come from infrastructure investment and support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
In this connection, we realize the NDB’s outreach is made more effective by the work of our regional offices. This has been our experience in the Americas Office in Brazil and the Africa Center in South Africa. They are soon to be followed by the Eurasian Center in Moscow, recently ratified by the Russian Parliament, as well as our Indian Regional Office.
Excellencies, there is an immense infrastructure gap, as we all know, to be bridged in our countries. The NDB is working with all the BRICS to set up a digital platform for infrastructure investment and this initiative can produce many benefits. Crowding-in infrastructure investment is an essential objective in today’s world. A Digital Platform can help us shorten the distance between potential investors and attractive infrastructure opportunities in the BRICS.
In a challenging year such as this one, we have successfully tapped international markets. The NDB issued its inaugural dollar bonds that are contributing to fund our emergency response. The NDB enjoys today the highest credit rating assigned to any multilateral bank established solely by emerging economies. We are committed to providing competitive lending rates and our lean organizational structure and efficient use of resources help us achieve that goal.
Excellencies, since taking office in July, we have made important strides forward in the membership expansion of the Bank. Negotiations are well under way. Potential members demonstrate a strong interest in joining the New Development Bank and I am confident we will be able to announce new members very soon.
Now, Excellencies, a few words on our vision going forward. We have five top priorities for the next five years.
One, we want to position the NDB as a premier development bank for emerging economies. And we will play a leading role in the conversation on what development policy means in the 21st century.
Two, we will make progress in membership expansion, and we will do so in a gradual and responsible way.
Three, we will increase the complexity and outreach of our operations. This is key as the concept of infrastructure evolves to encompass both traditional challenges and those presented by the economy 4.0.
Four, as human talent rises to be the indispensable factor of production, the NDB must become talent-intensive. An institution ready to cope with what the future has in store.
Five, and finally, we will strengthen our role as a platform for international cooperation – one where member countries come together and work constructively on issues of their shared interest.
Thank you very much.